Church of the Nativity oak, Palestine - PSE002 Additional Site Information Mauro Bernabei, Jarno Bontadi Measurement type: Total ring width Reference: Mauro Bernabei and Jarno Bontadi. 2012. Dendrochronological analysis of the timber structure of the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem. Journal of Cultural Heritage, Vol. 13, No. 4, pp. e54–e60, December 2012. DOI: 10.1016/j.culher.2012.10.002 Abstract: The roof rafters and the lintels of the trabeated system of the Church of the Nativity were analysed, determining their tree species, dating the structural timber and, thereby, identifying the principal building/ restoration phases and maintenance operations of the Basilica. The likely provenance of the timber was also determined, giving insight into the commercial trade routes of the time and the prevailing geopolitical connections. The roof timber of the Church is mainly oak, cedar and European larch, whereas its lintel beams consist entirely of cedar. The larch and oak timber was dated dendrochronologically, whereas the cedar could only be dated by radiocarbon analysis. The high correlation values between the Basilica's larch chronology and Alpine reference chronologies for the species indicate that the larch timber originates from the Eastern Alps. The oak site chronology correlates best with Turkish oak master curves made from Istanbul building timber, thereby pointing to a Turkish/Anatolian provenance of the Basilica's oak timber. Individual samples were measured either on photographs or directly on wood, as follows: BNK001 Photographic sampling BNK002 Photographic sampling BNK003 Photographic sampling BNK004 Photographic sampling BNK005 Photographic sampling BNK006 Wood BNK007 Photographic sampling BNK008 Photographic sampling BNK009 Photographic sampling BNK010 Photographic sampling BNK011 Photographic sampling BNK012 Photographic sampling BNK013 Photographic sampling BNK014 Photographic sampling BNK015 Photographic sampling BNK016 Photographic sampling BNK017 Photographic sampling BNK018 Photographic sampling BNK019 Photographic sampling BNK020 Photographic sampling BNK021 Photographic sampling BNK022 Photographic sampling BNK023 Photographic sampling BNK024 Photographic sampling BNK025 Photographic sampling BNK026 Photographic sampling BNK027 Wood BNK028 Photographic sampling BNK029 Photographic sampling BNK030 Photographic sampling BNK031 Photographic sampling BNK032 Photographic sampling BNK033 Wood COFECHA output: Chronology file name : PSE002.CRN Measurement file name : PSE002.RWL Date checked : 09NOV16 Checked by : B. Bauer Beginning year : 1396 Ending year : 1848 Principal investigators: Mauro Bernabei Jarno Bontadi Site name : Church of the Nativity Site location : Palestine Species information : QUSP OAK Latitude : 3142 Longitude : 03512 Elevation : M Series intercorrelation: 0.409 Avg mean sensitivity : 0.208 Avg standard deviation : 0.527 Avg autocorrelation : 0.623 Number dated series : 33 Segment length tested : 50 Number problem segments: 38 Pct problem segments : 32.76 PART 5: CORRELATION OF SERIES BY SEGMENTS: Church of the Nativity oak 09:25 Wed 09 Nov 2016 Page 5 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Correlations of 50-year dated segments, lagged 25 years Flags: A = correlation under .3281 but highest as dated; B = correlation higher at other than dated position Seq Series Time_span 1400 1425 1450 1475 1500 1525 1550 1575 1600 1625 1650 1675 1700 1725 1750 1775 1449 1474 1499 1524 1549 1574 1599 1624 1649 1674 1699 1724 1749 1774 1799 1824 --- -------- --------- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- 1 BNK001 1396 1541 .16B .38 .51 .59 .62 2 BNK002 1428 1547 .50 .45 .46 .62 3 BNK003 1427 1553 .52 .35 .47 .59 .56 4 BNK004 1426 1576 .62 .68 .62 .58 .50 .44 5 BNK005 1468 1577 .15B .18B .20B .30A .21A 6 BNK006 1512 1579 .34 .23B .06B 7 BNK007 1453 1590 .37 .47 .37 .19B-.02B 8 BNK008 1484 1592 .48 .45 .51 .32A 9 BNK009 1504 1600 .37 .45 .30A .29A 10 BNK010 1416 1626 .21B .37 .65 .62 .38 .07B .18A .54 .48 11 BNK011 1553 1628 .28B .54 .56 12 BNK012 1445 1639 .30B .26B .27B .23B .07B .14B .40 .26A 13 BNK013 1489 1651 .37 .34 .35 .53 .61 .56 .57 14 BNK014 1606 1651 .74 15 BNK015 1605 1653 .60 16 BNK016 1612 1656 .41 17 BNK017 1611 1660 .73 18 BNK018 1604 1660 .67 .73 19 BNK019 1615 1660 .48B 20 BNK020 1626 1664 .24A 21 BNK021 1617 1665 .55 22 BNK022 1608 1667 .78 .68 23 BNK023 1619 1669 .48 .48 24 BNK024 1616 1670 .58 .52 25 BNK025 1610 1670 .53 .23B 26 BNK026 1611 1673 .63 .39 27 BNK027 1637 1728 .50 .40 .34 .28B 28 BNK028 1604 1729 .02B .22B .40 .48 .36 29 BNK029 1629 1774 -.03B .10B .46 .54 .67 30 BNK030 1672 1776 .43 .42 .55 .50 .48 31 BNK031 1639 1799 .11B .14B .19B .05B .27A .62 32 BNK032 1737 1801 .31B .36 .37 33 BNK033 1752 1848 .45 Av segment correlation .18 .45 .43 .45 .42 .32 .24 .47 .53 .39 .29 .38 .36 .44 .48 .37 PART 7: DESCRIPTIVE STATISTICS: Church of the Nativity oak 09:25 Wed 09 Nov 2016 Page 9 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Corr //-------- Unfiltered --------\\ //---- Filtered -----\\ No. No. No. with Mean Max Std Auto Mean Max Std Auto AR Seq Series Interval Years Segmt Flags Master msmt msmt dev corr sens value dev corr () --- -------- --------- ----- ----- ----- ------ ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- -- 1 BNK001 1396 1541 146 5 1 .430 1.39 2.56 .424 .529 .216 2.73 .447 -.001 1 2 BNK002 1428 1547 120 4 0 .529 1.02 2.12 .429 .818 .205 2.64 .403 .015 1 3 BNK003 1427 1553 127 5 0 .493 1.09 2.53 .327 .459 .220 2.68 .505 .011 1 4 BNK004 1426 1576 151 6 0 .543 1.09 2.33 .497 .832 .191 2.81 .476 -.035 2 5 BNK005 1468 1577 110 5 5 .229 1.20 2.28 .325 .510 .189 2.68 .440 .005 1 6 BNK006 1512 1579 68 3 2 .266 .84 3.33 .443 .596 .230 2.71 .620 -.012 3 7 BNK007 1453 1590 138 5 2 .320 .84 2.24 .294 .606 .224 2.82 .455 -.015 1 8 BNK008 1484 1592 109 4 1 .397 1.45 2.78 .456 .565 .229 2.77 .535 .053 1 9 BNK009 1504 1600 97 4 2 .337 1.59 3.51 .722 .778 .237 2.57 .383 .009 1 10 BNK010 1416 1626 211 9 3 .350 .84 1.56 .177 .587 .150 2.49 .322 -.046 2 11 BNK011 1553 1628 76 3 1 .408 .62 .92 .136 .648 .159 2.64 .598 .082 1 12 BNK012 1445 1639 195 8 7 .234 .95 1.74 .250 .590 .192 2.45 .357 -.016 1 13 BNK013 1489 1651 163 7 0 .480 1.06 2.50 .401 .682 .220 2.85 .464 -.033 1 14 BNK014 1606 1651 46 1 0 .743 3.09 6.31 1.057 .537 .248 2.73 .509 -.019 2 15 BNK015 1605 1653 49 1 0 .600 2.95 6.41 1.193 .730 .247 2.48 .425 .010 2 16 BNK016 1612 1656 45 1 0 .412 3.84 14.28 3.014 .889 .237 2.44 .511 -.040 1 17 BNK017 1611 1660 50 1 0 .727 3.17 5.97 1.003 .739 .188 2.74 .574 .077 1 18 BNK018 1604 1660 57 2 0 .656 2.52 4.59 1.035 .602 .288 2.48 .390 -.056 1 19 BNK019 1615 1660 46 1 1 .485 3.18 5.31 .947 .538 .233 2.57 .480 -.074 2 20 BNK020 1626 1664 39 1 1 .241 3.68 6.11 .994 .566 .207 2.69 .606 -.026 4 21 BNK021 1617 1665 49 1 0 .547 3.11 6.80 1.190 .724 .225 2.75 .605 -.030 2 22 BNK022 1608 1667 60 2 0 .752 2.85 4.53 .718 .439 .211 2.42 .454 -.017 1 23 BNK023 1619 1669 51 2 0 .483 3.03 5.03 .912 .483 .262 2.58 .518 -.039 2 24 BNK024 1616 1670 55 2 0 .531 2.47 4.25 .644 .527 .209 2.68 .631 .090 1 25 BNK025 1610 1670 61 2 1 .465 2.96 7.37 1.706 .848 .241 2.66 .458 .041 1 26 BNK026 1611 1673 63 2 0 .480 1.61 2.82 .554 .469 .286 2.49 .438 -.038 1 27 BNK027 1637 1728 92 4 1 .353 .90 1.85 .372 .763 .224 2.75 .428 -.051 1 28 BNK028 1604 1729 126 5 2 .195 1.57 3.45 .643 .735 .206 2.81 .456 -.025 1 29 BNK029 1629 1774 146 5 2 .356 1.01 2.11 .379 .766 .183 2.65 .457 -.062 2 30 BNK030 1672 1776 105 5 0 .448 1.42 2.85 .436 .635 .204 2.68 .506 -.056 2 31 BNK031 1639 1799 161 6 5 .287 1.00 2.61 .363 .776 .173 2.65 .388 -.008 1 32 BNK032 1737 1801 65 3 1 .315 .85 1.54 .256 .294 .268 2.83 .461 .008 1 33 BNK033 1752 1848 97 1 0 .446 .53 .77 .082 .017 .161 2.52 .428 .009 3 --- -------- --------- ----- ----- ----- ------ ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- -- Total or mean: 3174 116 38 .409 1.46 14.28 .527 .623 .208 2.85 .455 -.012