Promise and perils of tree-ring dating musical instruments

In a Perspective, Paolo Cherubini highlights the value of dendrochronology – an objective and nondestructive method – in assessing the authenticity of musical string instruments. Stringed instruments, particularly those created by the luthiers of northern Italy during the 17^th and 18^th centuries, notably the Stradivari family, are among the most valued and appreciated works of art in the world. Widely regarded as superior in tonal qualities, these instruments have been the preferred choice of musicians for centuries. However, it can be difficult to verify the authenticity of these musical instruments – a simple examination of their style and design, both of which are prone to forgery, is often insufficient to confirm the makers. Thus, the authenticity of some instruments has been long disputed. Here, Cherubini discusses the use of dendrochronological methods in establishing the age and provenance of these highly valuable works of art. Dendrochronology uses the characteristic patterns of annual growth rings of trees – features prominently displayed on the wooden fronts of stringed instruments – to determine the age of the wood used in its construction and the potential region from which it was sourced. Unlike carbon dating and isotope analysis, dendrochronology is the only objective nondestructive method that can provide a date after which an instrument could have been made. While the approach is useful, Cherubini emphasizes that it is important that musicians and art collectors understand limitations of dendroecological authentication. The method does not provide an exact date of construction but rather a date before which it was certainly not made; it can be further limited by the availability of reference tree ring chronologies. "Dendrochronology enables the objective verification of date attributions made on the basis of art history and stylistic criteria and offers a distinctive nondestructive, scientifically sound analytical technique when correctly applied," writes the author.