This is shown by research conducted by archaeologist Ronald Visser, in which he combined a large dataset of annual ring data with archaeological and historical data.
Archaeological gold
"Almost nowhere else is so much well-preserved organic material, including wood, found as in the Netherlands," Visser says. "This is our archaeological gold. This unique situation makes research like mine possible."
Production of wood
In addition to researching a large dataset of annual ring data, Visser also investigated its production. "What we find archaeologically is only a fraction of the amount of wood used in the past. Wood production took place mainly in forests, just like today. There are clear indications that forestry methods such as selection, clearcutting or coppicing were used in Roman times."
New tool
Visser has developed a new method for determining the origin of wood. This used a large dataset of annual ring data combined with archaeological and historical data. Due to the lack of a good method for examining such a large dataset, research was also conducted to develop a method to examine this data in a transparent and open manner to determine the provenance of wood. In the process, a new practical tool has been developed that enables network analysis of annual ring data."
Open science
Visser: "The research has shown that you can determine the origin of wood well using annual ring research and a large data set. Using network analysis to determine provenance makes it possible to visually display statistical similarity. It is a good and transparent method to determine provenance. The study has also shown that transparency and reproducibility are of importance and open science is a good framework for that."