Discovering the Hidden Histories of Wooden Heritage on the Troodos Mountains
Researchers from the Cyprus Dendrochronology Laboratory are uncovering histories hidden in the walls, roofs and furnishings of some of the island’s most celebrated structures. The “Tracing History and Environment with Tree Rings in Cyprus” (TREE) Project supported by the Research and Innovation Foundation builds on the partnership between The Cyprus Institute, Cornell University’s Tree Ring Laboratory, the Department of Antiquities, and the Department of Forestry. The TREE Project studies the cultural heritage of Cyprus through the scientific method of dendrochronology, or tree-ring dating. Dendrochronology allows precise dating of wooden materials through the careful study of tree-rings formed every year, and is the key analytical approach to explore dating and historical use of wood materials in buildings and other material culture.
As the first lab of its kind in the island, the Cyprus Dendrochronology Laboratory has been hard at work studying the rich wooden heritage of the Cyprus. Among the numerous monuments featuring historic wood are the UNESCO Painted Churches of the Troodos. These monuments are a key reference for the art and cultural history of the Mediterranean during the Byzantine-Medieval periods. While the significance of these Cypriot sites has been widely recognized and studied, historians and archaeologists continue to debate key aspects of this rich inheritance. Efforts to date the unique Byzantine-Medieval heritage of Cyprus have thus far relied heavily on stylistic associations and the occasional written records, consequently, the capacity to accurately date these rich heritage contexts remains limited. Dendrochronology provides a secure timeframe that enriches our collective knowledge of these buildings. Results provide us with a more precise dating of their construction, as well as, a better understanding of the complex building histories of the UNESCO Painted Churches and their artefacts. The dendrochronological method can also help to recognize, date, and even source timber used for a variety of purposes across time. Such data can enrich the reconstruction of the evolution of medieval-post-Byzantine architecture and artwork on Cyprus.
The dendrochronological study of the UNESCO Painted Churches has established the basis of a real biography of some of Cyprus’ most prized monuments. Tree-rings provide invaluable records of past climate and environment conditions and thus can contribute accurate data about the history of the Troodos forests giving scholars a better understanding of the environmental context of world heritage. The dendrochronologists of Cyprus continue to discover new data and unknown histories that shape the ways we see our wooden heritage and its place in our understanding of the past.
