Debated between carbon dating and tree rings for a 500 year old beam I found in a barn last fall

I pulled this old oak beam out of a falling down barn on my uncle's property near Albany. I figured carbon dating would be easy but it's $600 per sample and I'd have to ship it out. Dendrochronology was cheaper (about $150) but required a clean cross-section and matching it to known patterns. I went with the tree rings and got a match back to 1523, which was way cooler than I expected. Has anyone else gotten lucky with a local timber frame find?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_hannah4d ago

You spent $600 to find out wood is old?

seanlewis4d ago

Rich people buy the dumbest stuff.