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On the Eve of Urbanization: Bayesian Model Dating for Medieval Turku

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 February 2016

M Oinonen*
Affiliation:
Finnish Museum of Natural History - LUOMUS, University of Helsinki, Finland Docent, University of Turku, Finland
E Hilasvuori
Affiliation:
Finnish Museum of Natural History - LUOMUS, University of Helsinki, Finland Finnish Environmental Institute, Helsinki, Finland
H Mehtonen
Affiliation:
Finnish Museum of Natural History - LUOMUS, University of Helsinki, Finland
K Uotila
Affiliation:
Muuritutkimus ky, Kaarina, Finland Laboratory of Dendrochronology, University of Eastern Finland, Finland
P Zetterberg
Affiliation:
Laboratory of Dendrochronology, University of Eastern Finland, Finland
*
2Corresponding author. Email: markku.j.oinonen@helsinki.fi.

Abstract

The era of early urbanization in Finland coincides with large variations in the atmospheric radiocarbon concentration around the 13th–14th centuries AD. Therefore, the uncertainties of an individual 14C date are too large to support studies of this time period effectively. In this work, we have employ tree-ring wiggle-matching methodology and used Bayesian modeling of dates to account for stratigraphical a priori information within Aboa Vetus Museum, Turku, Finland. The wiggle-match method helps significantly to overcome the calibration-curve-induced challenges within 14C dating. The results of the dating model agree with the typological dates of the archaeological finds and illustrate a gradual evolution of urbanization in one of the oldest cities in Finland.

Type
Archaeology of Eurasia and Africa
Copyright
Copyright © 2013 by the Arizona Board of Regents on behalf of the University of Arizona 

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