1 00:00:00,140 --> 00:00:04,890 Do we know the date the amphitheater was built? 1b 00:00:05,140 --> 00:00:09,400 The exact date remains very uncertain. 2 00:00:09,679 --> 00:00:13,409 There are several criteria or methods for dating it: 3 00:00:13,409 --> 00:00:14,829 numismatic, 4 00:00:14,829 --> 00:00:17,439 ceramic, ceramology, 5 00:00:17,439 --> 00:00:19,179 and, of course, 6 00:00:19,179 --> 00:00:22,100 since pieces of wood have been found in the amphitheater, 7 00:00:22,100 --> 00:00:25,890 either dendrochronology, or using carbon-14, 8 00:00:25,890 --> 00:00:27,400 which measures the radiological activity. 8b 00:00:27,500 --> 00:00:32,400 What does the numismatic dating reveal? 9 00:00:32,600 --> 00:00:37,200 In fact, it concerns a coin 10 00:00:37,200 --> 00:00:40,000 that was found in the rubble of the foundations 11 00:00:40,000 --> 00:00:42,900 of one of the columns of the outer crown. 12 00:00:42,930 --> 00:00:45,300 In all likelihood it dates 13 00:00:45,300 --> 00:00:52,400 from 88-89 or 95-96 CE, during the reign of Domitian. 14 00:00:52,870 --> 00:00:55,400 Which means that in principle the monument 15 00:00:55,400 --> 00:00:58,000 cannot be older than these dates. 16 00:00:58,230 --> 00:01:00,000 Given that the coin had not been in circulation very long 17 00:01:00,000 --> 00:01:01,920 and that it is in good shape, 18 00:01:01,920 --> 00:01:05,190 we think that it was in circulation for five years at the most. 19 00:01:05,190 --> 00:01:08,000 That would bring us to 20 00:01:08,000 --> 00:01:10,300 around the year 100 CE. 20b 00:01:10,500 --> 00:01:15,300 What does carbon-14 dating reveal? 21 00:01:15,400 --> 00:01:19,800 Carbon-14 is a radioactive isotope 22 00:01:19,800 --> 00:01:23,300 contained in organic matter that disappears progressively. 23 00:01:23,500 --> 00:01:26,200 When we find organic objects, 24 00:01:26,200 --> 00:01:28,300 in this case dovetails made of wood, 25 00:01:28,300 --> 00:01:30,200 it enables us 26 00:01:30,200 --> 00:01:33,900 to obtain the date the tree was cut down. 27 00:01:34,150 --> 00:01:36,990 But it's a very broad range of dates. 28 00:01:36,990 --> 00:01:41,509 Statistically, the more of them we have, 29 00:01:41,509 --> 00:01:45,000 the more we can narrow in on the dates 30 00:01:45,000 --> 00:01:46,400 in the past. 31 00:01:46,690 --> 00:01:50,000 What I have observed, 32 00:01:50,000 --> 00:01:52,100 is that the dates are in the first quarter 33 00:01:52,100 --> 00:01:54,000 of the second century CE 33b 00:01:54,200 --> 00:01:59,000 Why not use dendrochronology? 34 00:02:00,000 --> 00:02:03,800 The interest of these wooden dovetails is that they can be dated. 35 00:02:04,050 --> 00:02:06,660 Since wood is organic matter, 36 00:02:06,660 --> 00:02:07,700 it can be dated. 37 00:02:07,979 --> 00:02:09,949 Either using carbon-14, 38 00:02:09,949 --> 00:02:12,000 or dendrochronology. 39 00:02:12,200 --> 00:02:16,079 Dendrochronology is the study of tree rings to date objects. 40 00:02:16,079 --> 00:02:18,900 Reference bases allow us 41 00:02:18,969 --> 00:02:21,389 to determine when the tree was cut down, 42 00:02:21,389 --> 00:02:22,380 and in what period. 43 00:02:22,500 --> 00:02:25,300 We can know the very year. 44 00:02:25,529 --> 00:02:27,400 The problem with these dovetails 45 00:02:27,400 --> 00:02:31,400 is that they were taken from the core of the tree. 46 00:02:31,629 --> 00:02:33,069 We are missing 47 00:02:33,069 --> 00:02:35,699 all the outer parts of the tree: 48 00:02:35,699 --> 00:02:37,839 the sapwood and the bark. 49 00:02:37,839 --> 00:02:40,749 As a result, it's hard to obtain the references we need. 50 00:02:40,749 --> 00:02:42,279 We would need lots of rings 51 00:02:42,279 --> 00:02:44,299 on these dovetails. 52 00:02:44,299 --> 00:02:46,000 Unfortunately, when they are in this shape, 53 00:02:46,000 --> 00:02:47,400 we can't say much about them. 54 00:02:47,600 --> 00:02:51,200 But with this kind of dovetail, if we find lots of them, 55 00:02:51,200 --> 00:02:52,200 in which we can see the rings, 56 00:02:52,200 --> 00:02:56,900 we may be able to establish the date using dendrochronology.