[Magazine] The Biblical Archaeologist. Vol. 40. No 4

43 Pages·1977·9.71 MB·English

ISSN: 0006-0895
BIBLICAL
_1(_
ARCHEOLOGIST
DECEMBER 1977
VOLUME4 0 NUMBER4
The gods commanded total destruction
Enlil did an evil deed on the peoples.
Atrahasis II viii 34-35
Biblical Archeologist is published quarterly
Published with the financial assistance of (March, May, September, December) by the
ZION RESEARCH FOUNDATION American Schools of Oriental Research. Its
purpose is to provide the general reader with
Boston, Massachusetts an accurate scholarly yet easily understand-
A nonsectarian Protestant foundation able account of archeological discoveries and
for the study of the Bible their bearing on the biblical heritage.
Unsolicited mss. are welcome but should be
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topyright C 1978 American Schools of
Oriental Research. Annual subscription:
$10.00. Current single issues: $2.50. Printed
in the United States of America.
Editor:
David Noel Freedman, The University of
Michigan
Editorial Committee:
Frank M. Cross, Harvard University
Edward F. Campbell, Jr., McCormick
Theological Seminary
John S. Holladay, Jr., University of Toronto
H. Darrell Lance, Colgate-Rochester Divinity
School
Credits
"Wood from Mt. Ararat: Noah's ArkT': The
photo on p. 139 is used with permission of
Sun Classic Pictures, Inc.; the photos on
pp. 140-41, copyright @ 1974 Logos Inter-
national, reprinted by permission; "Lab
Report P-1620" on p. 142 and the "Dendro-
chronological Chart" on pp. 144-45, Radio-
carbon Laboratory, University of Pennsyl-
vania.
"The Atrahasis Epic and Its Significance for
Our Understanding of Genesis 9": the copy
on the cover and pp. 151 and 172 are
published by the permission of the Trustees
of the British Museum; the copy on p. 153 is
published by permission of the Clarendon
Press.
"The First Two Seasons at Tell Halif": all
photos were made by Patricia O'Connor,
designhouse, Barat College, Lake Forest,
Cover
IL.
"I, Justus, Lie Here": all photos and map
A copy of Tablet I, column i, of the Atrahasis Epic. supplied by J. Kaplan.
FBIBLICAL
ARCHEOLOGIST
Lloyd R. Bailey 137 WOOD FROM "MOUNT ARARAT":
NOAH'S ARK?
Fragments of beams found on a Turkish mountain peak are
analyzed by various methods to determine whether they are in
any way related to Noah's ark.
Tikva Frymer-Kensky 147 THE ATRAHASIS EPIC AND ITS
SIGNIFICANCE FOR OUR
UNDERSTANDING OF GENESIS 1-9
Enlil, in a fit of anger at the raucous behavior of humankind,
destroys everyone except Atrahasis and those who cohabit his
ark. How does this Babylonian story help us understand the
biblical account of the flood?
Joe D. Seger and Oded Borowski 156 THE FIRST TWO SEASONS
AT TELL HALIF
A small bowl with a pomegranate molded at its center
provides a clue for the identification of Tell Halif.
Jacob Kaplan 167 "I, JUSTUS, LIE HERE": THE DISCOVERY
OF BETH SHEARIM
Two boys chasing a fox find an extensive catacomb, resulting
in the first excavations by Israeli archeologists.
134 LETTER TO THE READERS
135 NEWS FROM THE FIELD
172 COLOPHON
Letter to the Readers
THE FLOOD AND OTHER MATTERS
Speculation about the Flood Story and the possi- amalgam of the interaction of multiple influences. Never-
bility of locating Noah's Ark, or remains of it, on top theless behind the oldest traditions found in Near Eastern
of Mt. Ararat is a hardy perennial. In recent years sources, there may well be an actual flood of gigantic
widespread publicity has been given to a series of proportions dating from one of the pluvial periods
expeditions to the mountain country of Turkey, and (corresponding to the great glacial advances) many
reports of sensational discoveries have appeared in the thousands of years ago. This is not quite the same thing
press and other media. More recently a book and as finding a piece of Noah's ark, but in the long run it
moving picture on the subject have been released and may be more significant for biblical and humanistic
widely circulated. Since the subject is an important studies.
one, and of great interest to readers and students of the We are also happy to include in this issue of
Bible, and in the interest of clarifying the situation, Biblical Archeologist a report on the first two seasons
which has been confused by widespread misunder- of excavations at Tell Halif in southern Judah, not far
standing of the nature of the evidence and the reliabil- from Beer-sheba. While the ancient name of the site
ity of the claims made, Biblical Archeologist is present- remains uncertain (for an intriguing possibility, see the
ing a serious scholarly study with a careful evaluation proposal in the article), there can be no doubt that it
of the available data by Professor Lloyd Bailey of was a major center of military and commercial activity
Duke University. Especially at a time when remarkable for the better part of two millennia, including the
discoveries are being reported, it is very important to heyday of the monarchy in biblical times. Future seasons
weigh claims and the evidence of them very carefully of digging should establish the identity of the site and
and to present a sober evaluation so that people will produce much additional information about its history.
not be misled by rhetorical flourishes and fancy pack- The other article reflects the broad range, geo-
aging. graphically and chronologically, of the subject matter
While on the subject of the flood, in another of Biblical Archeologist:
article Professor Tikva Frymer-Kensky of Wayne State
University calls attention to unusual parallels between "'I, Justus, Lie Here': The Discovery of Beth
the biblical account and the Akkadian version, which Shearim," by Jacob Kaplan.
otherwise differs in important respects. It is important
to remember that the story of a great flood is one of With this number we earnestly hope that the
the most widespread traditions in human culture, and long night of delays and postponements, missed
the question of possible or probable relations, literary deadlines and missing numbers, will come to an end
and cultural among them, has concerned scholars for and a new era of prompt publication and punctual
generations. A major issue is whether the stories have distribution will begin. We are deeply grateful to our
spread from a common source, being modified and members and subscribers who have kept the faith and
adapted to local circumstances in the process, or whether endured patiently, and we promise better treatment in
they arose spontaneously in different parts of the world the future.
as the result of historical experience of major cata-
clysms. It may well be that the truth lies somewhere
between the extremes, and the surviving stories are an D. N. Freedman
134 DECEMBER 1977
News from the Field extended,w hole buriala ccompaniedb y Proto-UrbanB
painted pottery types. The association of these four
chambersw ith a single shaft constitutesu nambiguous
evidencef or the relationo f the earlyt ombs at Bab edh-
Dhra, just as it throws light on the connectiono f the
Proto-Urban A and B peoples.
For the first time excavationsw erec onducteda t
the untouchedE B III site of Numeira, 13 km. south of
Bab edh-Dhra,d iscoveredi n 1973. The site is a single
period site whose remains often lie intact beneath
approximately1 1/2 to 2 m. of destructiond ebris.I n a
series of rooms built adjacentt o the southernd efensive
wall, evidencef or stone-lineds toragep its came to light.
On the floor of one room a hoardo f carbonized,w hole
grapes was retrieved, along with much pottery. The
rooms normally contained a door socket next to the
Bab edh-Dhra and Numeira entrance.T he two most importanto bjectsw ere a large
clay installation,n early 1 1/2 m. in depth with aper-
The coastal flatland along the southeasterne nd tures at the bottom, for which no parallelsh ave been
of the Dead Sea in Jordan continuest o revealn ew and
found; and a cylinders eal impressiona roundt he entire
startling material, according to Walter A. Rast and shoulder of a whole jar, showing north Syrian or
R. Thomas Schaub, co-directorso f excavationsa t Bab
Mesopotamiani nfluence.
edh-Dhraa nd Numeira.T he expeditionw as in the field
from 23 May to 7 July 1977. At the town site of Bab WALTERA . RAST
edh-Dhra, a depth of some 5 m. of Early Bronze Age VALPARAISUON IVERSITY
debris has been located in the interioro f the town. The
debrisc ontainsa continuouss equenceo f living surfaces
which, as they are excavated,a re beginningt o supply
some excellent seriationso f Early BronzeA ge material
remains in the successivep hases. On the north end of Amman Airport Temple Destroyed
the town a sturdym ud-brickw all, uncoveredi n a small
trench during 1977, may either be part of a tower or, Though the Amman airport authoritiesh ad at
more likely, the northernd efensive wall of the city in first decidedt o work togetherw ith ASOR archeologists
one of its phases.T wo bronzes pearheadsa nd a potter's and the Jordanian Department of Antiquities in re-
wheel were found in debrisa gainstt he wall. Above the constituting the Late Bronze Age Amman Airport
wall Early Bronze IV remains which had cut into it temple for touristicp urposes, it was decided, after the
contained some of the finest stratifiedE B IV pottery 1976 ASOR project had left the field and in spite of
yet found at Bab edh-Dhra. On the southwest and spirited objections on the part of the Departmento f
highest part of the city a rectangulars tructurew ith a Antiquities, to bulldoze the remainss o that the apron
large paved court and a circulari nstallationm ay be the runway could be straighteneda nd widenedt o accom-
remainso f the Early Bronze Age sanctuarya t the site. modate jumbo jets. Such is the price of expansion.
A seal impressiono n a potterys herd containinga geo- Thus, earlier reports that the temple would be pre-
metric motif also came from the site during the 1977 served have been undermined.
excavations. While the remainsw ere only about a meterh igh
Under physical anthropologistsD onald Ortner and nothing like the imposingr uins of Jerasho r other
and Michael Finnegan, the Smithsonian Institution similar Roman cities nearby, it was an important struc-
provided the support for a major study of the human ture: large quantities of burned human bone fragments
remains within the Bab edh-Dhra cemetery. A total of indicate either a center for human sacrifice (J. B.
13 shafts with 33 chambers was cleared during 1977. Hennessy, 1966 excavator) or a mortuary complex
Many of the chambers were in undisturbed condition, (ASOR excavators). Its demise is greeted with regret.
and two are being prepared for exhibit in the new Fortunately, according to the 1976 excavators
section of the Smithsonian soon to open. Particularly (see Newsletter, No. 2, Aug., 1977), nothing remained
striking was one shaft containing four chambers. Three that could have been excavated profitably.
of these contained disarticulated bone piles with EB IA LARRYG . HERR
or Proto-Urban A pottery, while a fourth had an ANDREWS UNIVERSITY
BIBLICAL ARCHEOLOGIST 135
ACOR Survey in Syria ACOR Moves to New Facilities
Following fruitful conversations in January, On 2 July 1977t he AmericanC entero f Oriental
1977 between Dr. Philip J. King, Presidento f ASOR, Research in Amman, Jordan, moved into a new two-
and Dr. Afif Bahnassi,D irector of the Departmento f story buildingn eart he 5th Circleo f Jebel Amman.T he
Antiquitieso f Syria, ASOR and ACOR planneda two- just-completed,m odern buildingh as more librarya nd
week archeologicals urvey in Syria for the summero f workroom space, as well as a hostel for up to eight
1977. The principal staff members were James and persons. The ACOR director can still be reached at
Susan Sauer, William Fulco, and David and Linda POB 2470, Jebel Amman, Amman, Jordan.
McCreery,a ll from ACOR, and Majed Mousselyf rom
the Syrian Departmento f Antiquities.T he new ACOR
four-wheel-driveT oyota Land Cruisera nd the Sauer
car were used as vehicles, and the group camped out
most nights. The main goal of the surveyw as to visit as Department of Archeology at University of Jordan
many archeological sites as possible in the major During the summero f 1977,a separateD epart-
regions of Syria, with the exception of the interior ment of Archeology was formed at the Universityo f
desert areas, so that recommendationcs ould be made
Jordan, Amman. The Departmenth ad formerlyb een
about a region for possible intensive survey work by linked with history in the Departmento f Historya nd
ASOR and ACOR in the future. Covered during the
Archeology. After Dr. Adnan Hadidi left the chair-
surveyw ere the followingr egions:( 1) UpperE uphrates; manshipo f the Departmentt o become Directoro f the
(2) Balikh;( 3) Khabur;( 4) LowerE uphrates(;5 ) Aleppo; Department of Antiquities, Dr. Safwan Tell (Islamic
(6) Coast; (7) Orontes (Homs, Hama); (8) Homs- Archeology) became the new chairman. The other
Damascus;( 9) Damascus-DeracahS. ites of all periods members of the Departmenta re: Dr. Mahmud Abu
were visited, from Lower Paleolithict o Ottoman, but
Taleb (Ancient Near EasternH istory and Languages);
the emphasisw as on the tells which were visible from Dr. KhairY assine( PalestinianA rcheology);D r. Assem-
the major roads. In all, 83 sites were visited, and
Barghouti (Classical Archeology); and Dr. Nabil
artifactsw ere collectedf rom 70 of them. In additiont o
Khairy (Nabatean-ClassicaAl rcheology).T he Depart-
the normals herdsa nd flints, a few objectsw ere found,
ment continues to offer B.A. and M.A. degrees in
including complete and restorablep ots, a fine Lower Archeology.I n addition to its ArcheologicalM useum,
Paleolithich and axe, coins, figurinef ragments,a deco- the Departmentn ow has a newly outfittedw orkroom,
rated bone fragment, and stamped jar-handles.T he where excavation results can be processedf or publica-
artifacts are now in a special room in the Damascus
tion.
Museum, and during the winter some of them will be
broughtt o ACOR in Amman as a teachinga nd study
collection. A detailed report on the survey, including
the recommendationsw hich came from it, will be
publisheds hortly in BASOR. A more popular article Belgian Committeef or Excavationsi n JordanF ormed
will also appear soon in Biblical Archeologist.
A new "Comit6B elge de Fouilles en Jordanie"
has been founded. The President,D r. P. Naster of the
University of Louvain, was an ASOR Fellow at
Baghdadi n 1947-48.H e and two other memberso f the
Committee, Mrs. D. Hombs-Fredericqo f the Mus6es
Royaux d'Art et d'Histoire and the University of
Prehistoric Survey in South Jordan Brussels,a nd Prof. H. De Meulenaereo f the Mus6es
Dr. Donald O. Henryo f the Universityo f Tulsa, Royaux d'Art et d'Histoire and the University of
working through the ACOR, Amman, carried out a Ghent, visited Jordan in October, 1977. Using ACOR
preliminary survey of prehistoric sites in the Ras en- as their base, they inspected numerous sites between
Naqb area of South Jordan during early September, Madeba and Kerak, looking for a Bronze Age-Iron
1977. Henry is now applying to the National Science Age site to excavate in the future. Tentatively they
Foundation for a grant to conduct a major survey in selected the site of el-Lahun, located on the north side
that region, starting in the summer of 1978. Jordan is of the Wadi Mojib, and they hope to return to begin
extremely rich in prehistoric remains, and this project excavations there in the late spring of 1978.
fits into ACOR's overall strategy for studying those JAMES A. SAUER
remains in the years ahead. ACOR DIRECTOR
136 DECEMBER 1977
WOOD FROM "MOUNT ARARAT": NOAH'S ARK?
LLOYD R. BAILEY
Pieces of wood, brought downf rom the slopes of a remote
peak in Turkeyi n 1955a nd 1969,h ave broughta live the claim
that the remainso f Noah's ark are still in existence.S cientific
analysis identifiest he species of the wood-and more impor-
tantly-its age.
Ever since the pre-Christian era, claims have reports, eyewitness and photographic accounts in mod-
appeared and reappeared that the great boat in which ern times, and most recently wood-retrieving expedit-
the family of the biblical figure Noah once escaped the tions in 1955 and 1969 by the French industrialist and
waters of a universal deluge had actually survived on a amateur explorer Fernand Navarra. This article will
mountain top somewhere in the Near East. In our own concern itself with the Navarra expeditions alone, and
day popular magazines, books, and even a movie sug- more specifically with the analysis and dating of the
gest that such a boat exists virtually intact and that wood fragments Navarra found on a Turkish mountain
reputable scientists have set its age at 5000 years. often identified as "Mt. Ararat." Those expeditions,
Scholarly publications, however, have all but ignored and the subsequent wood analyses, touch on many of
the topic, so that there are few reliable sources to which the critical questions and problems in the search for
students, teachers in departments of religion, and other Noah's ark and thus represent a good beginning place
interested persons can turn for informed evaluation of for the renewed scholarly discussion of the matter
the claims for a surviving Noah's ark. The present which seems so much in order.
article, part of my forthcoming book on the entire
matter, is meant to be a beginning toward filling that
scholarly void.
Belief in the continuing existence of the ark' has BackgroundP roblems
been based on a combination of evidence: ancient
Two underlying issues in the search for the ark
are the location of its landing place and the proper
Lloyd R. Bailey, Associate Professor of Old Testament at identification of its wood fragments. Ancient traditions
the Divinity School at Duke University, was one of the point to at least eight landing places for the ark,
editorso f the Supplementt o the Interpreter'Ds ictionaryo f including Jebel Judi in the Aja Range in the Arabian
the Bible (1976). What originally started out as an article on Peninsula, "Mt. Baris" (Josephus Ant. 1.3.6; possibly
the ark has now grown into a book, Where is Noah's Ark? (to in the Caucasus Range), an unnamed mountain in
be published in September 1978 by Abingdon Press). This Adiabene (Josephus Ant. 20.2.2; possibly Pira Magrun
article is the crucial chapter on the dating of the wood in the central Zagros Range), and Jebel Judi in the
recovered by Navarra. Qardu (Gordian) Range near the Tigris (according to
BIBLICAL ARCHEOLOGIST 137
Not only have wood fragments been carried down the mountain,
but a considerable amount of wood has been carried up it as well!
Targumim, Peshitta, and Muslim historians). Of the These complications cannot be ignored, and they
eight possible sites, only four appear to meet the require- provide a necessary backdrop for any scholarly attempt
ments of the biblical text: within the boundaries of the to unravel the mystery of the ark search. Navarra's
land of Ararat (i.e., Urartu of Assyrian records). Of the samples are an extremely important element in the
four, modern focus has been on a spectacular 16,950- search for the ark; they are the only specimens of wood
foot tall extinct volcano that lies on the juncture of the claimed to be "ark wood" which are available today for
Turkish border with Russia and Iran. It was called scientific analysis.
Masik (or Masis) by the ancient Armenians, Jebel al-
Harith by the Muslims, and Buyuk ("Big")A ghri Daghi Nonradiocarbon Analysis
(or Dagh) by the Turks. There is no evidence in
Armenian literature that it was thought to be the ark's During his 1955 expedition on Buyuk Aghri
landing place prior to the 1l th-12th centuries A.D. It Daghi, Navarra separated a hand-hewn beam five feet
has come to be called "Mt. Ararat" by some westerners long from beneath a glacier at an elevation of 13,000
in the mistaken assumption that Genesis 8:4 refers to a feet (fig. 1; full discussion in Navarra 1974). Specimens
specific mountain. It is this mountain that yielded "ark- of this beam were submitted for analysis at a number
wood" to earlier expeditions (Montgomery 1972: 84- of institutions in Europe and Egypt which utilized
232) and it is from this mountain that Navarra's expedi- methods of dating other than the radiocarbon method.
tions retrieved the wood specimens which will be the The results (Navarra 1974: 125-32) were as follows:
focus of our attention. a. The Forestry Institute in Madrid, Spain, used
Not only is the precise location of the landing of a method based on color and density gain. They identi-
the ark a matter for scholarly debate, but proper fied the species as white oak (Quercus pedunculata
identification of wood fragments claimed to be from Ehrh.), said to have an average density while living of
the ark may be an even more difficult task. Reports on 0.800-0.850. Based on its change in color to black and
specimens from Buyuk Aghri Daghi alone vary widely its increase in density to 1.100 (during its years atop the
with regard to the location from which they were mountain), they estimated the age of the specimen to
taken, their color (red, brown, green, blue, black), and be about five thousand years.
their hardness (soft and soggy vs. so hard that a bullet b. The Department of Anthropology and Pre-
or dagger would not penetrate them). Except for Navarra's historic Studies, the University of Bordeaux, France,
specimens, no others are available for scientific analy- using as a basis the degree of lignitization (an initial
sis. stage in the formation of coal) of the specimen, dated it
Moreover, not only have wood fragments been to a "remote antiquity." The Quercusp edunculata iden-
carried down the mountain for investigation, but a tification, incidentally, was dismissed in favor of either
considerable amount of wood has been carried up it in Quercus cerris L. (average density while fresh of 0.925)
recent times as well! We have records of two heavy or Quercus castaneifolia Mey. (average density while
crosses of wood being erected near the summit in 1829 fresh of 0.938.
by Friedrich Parrot (1855: 167-95), a scientist from the c. The Center for Forestry Research and Analy-
University of Dorpet; of a seven-foot cross erected high sis, Paris, France, is reported to have assigned an age
on the western slope by mineralogist Hermann von of forty-five hundred years to the specimen (Balsiger
Abich in 1845; of a seven-foot cross placed on the and Sellier 1976: 185), although their documents as
summit by the Russian Colonel J. Khodzko and a published by Navarra make no mention of this date or
company of 60 soldiers in 1850 (both in La Haye and of the criteria for dating. They identified the wood as
Morris 1976: 54); of a "small wooden container" left at Quercus robur L.
the summit by the Russian expedition headed by Ivan- d. An "expert" at the Cairo Museum, without
gouloff in 1902 (Montgomery' 1972: 214). In addition, conducting any scientific tests, is said to have assigned
there are reports of larger structures at lower elevations, an age of four to six thousand years.
such as the monastery of St. James at an elevation of These results, based on color, density changes,
6350 feet (Parrot 1855: 156, 238), various huts in which and the degree of lignitization, and apparently also on
the Dutch traveler Jan Struys stayed as he ascended the cell degradation and degree of fossilization, are sum-
mountain in 1670 (La Haye and Morris 1976: 24), and marized in the movie "In Search of Noah's Ark" (Bal-
even a house attributed to Noah that was reported by siger and Sellier 1976: 181). They are said to indicate
the French Dominican Jordanus in the 14th century an age of about five thousand years. Since biblical
(Montgomery 1972: 86-88). literalists date the Flood ca. 2450 B.c. (not without
138 DECEMBER 1977
difficulties, cf. De Vries 1976), this seemed to be con-
firmation that the ark not only had survived but unde-
niably had been recovered.
Evaluation of NonradiocarbonA nalyses
Therea re significantr eservationst o be expressed
about each of these analyses:e ssentially,t hey are not
based on recognizedc riteria and they involve uncon-
trolled variables. The criterion of density gain, for
example, is based on no universallya cceptedf ormula
(cf. the North Carolina State University evaluation
below). Furthermoree, ven those who use this criterion
agree that its determinationi s dependento n a perfect
identificationo f the species of wood being examined,
since each species has a peculiar average density while
growing factor. The Madrid Forestry Institute dating
noted above (5000 years) assumedt hat the species was
Dating criteria based on density, color,
and degree of lignitization are all
problematical.
Quercusp edunculataw ith an averaged ensity of 0.825
(so that the density change to 1.100 is 0.275). The
Bordeaux report, to the contrary, assumes different
species and density changes of only 0.175 or, alterna-
tively, 0.162. If we assume a linear rate of change, the
age of Navarra'sw ood would be reducedt o 3200 or
2950 years.2
The problems with the density criterion do not
even end here, we must note. Since each tree of a
species has a specific environmentw hile growing, it is
precarioust o quote an "averaged ensity"f or a species
when variations in environment can be sufficiently
extremea s to make the "average"m eaningless.F inally,
the Madrid report notes that the specimen submitted
for analysis by Navarrah ad two "consistencies:a" soft
outer area and a hard inner core. The report, as
contained in Navarra (1974: 127), is surprisingly ambig-
uous as to whether the present density of 1.100 applies
to the totality of the specimen or to the inner core
alone.
The other criteria, all based in one way or
another on degradationo f the wood, are equallyp rob-
lematical. Wood fossilization( presumablys ilicification
is meant)a nd the relatedd egradationp rocessesa re also
dependent on environmentalf actors such as available
moisture, contents of the moisture (amounts of miner- FernandN avarrap oses with the beam which he
als in solution, pH level), aeration, temperature,a nd recoveredf rom a crevassen ear the snow line on Buyuk
sedimentary setting (including pressure applied and Aghri Daghi in 1955.
BIBLICAL ARCHEOLOGIST 139
Navarra'sb eam (1955), showing the sections into which it was
subsequentlyd ivided (above). Note how the diameter (and hence
the number of annular rings) increasesf rom one end to the
other. Radiocarbont est results should vary dependingu pon the
location from which the individualt est specimensw ere taken. A
close-up of a piece of this wood (right) shows the section at the
extreme left of the top photo.
extent of oxygen exclusion). The length of time during color and hardness of the wood is characteristic of
which the environmental factors have been operative is white oak wood which has been exposed for a long
also an important variable. North Carolina State Uni- period of time to water containing iron. The tannin in
versity paleobotanists (in personal communications) the wood reacts with the iron producing the character-
have indicated that environments may differ so radi- istic color and hardness and apparently makes the
cally that 12-thousand-year-old specimens may be more wood very resistant to natural degradation" (so his
fossilized than others which are 12 million years old, letter to the University of Pennsylvania Radiocarbon
and we have learned that in the initial stages siliceous Laboratory, as quoted by Noorbergen 1974: 143; see a
fossilization may under optimum conditions be observed reference to this in Report P-1620, attached to this
in as few as 13 years (Leo and Barghoorn 1976: 27). article). Kukachka is here speaking of the 1969 wood,
Thus, no simple linear fossilization or degradation and I assume that the same remarks would apply to the
formulas for computing the age of wood specimens are 1955 specimens. Dr. Kukachka has informed me (by
feasible (e.g., x extent of fossilization or related condi- phone) that he has seen specimens of white oak which
tion indicates y amount of time which has passed). had reached a color approximating that of Navarra's
Such formulas could be derived only if (a) all the wood after having been immersed in water in a natural
environmental factors which are operative at the 13,500- setting for no more than 100 years! I assume, therefore,
foot level of Buyuk Aghri Daghi were known, (b), if that change-of-color as a means of dating the wood is
the history of the mountain were known so that we totally worthless.
could ascertain the constancy of environmental factors I have submitted the documents of the research
or their changes (we know, for example, of two volcanic institutes noted above, as published in Navarra, to the
eruptions), and (c), a control specimen were available Department of Wood and Paper Science of North
to show that wood subjected to conditions similar to Carolina State University's School of Forest Resources
those on the mountain fossilizes at a certain rate. None for evaluation. The reply included the following sum-
of this information has been determined, and no control mary:
sample is available, so that the attempts to date the
Navarra wood by these criteria are of little value. Degree of "lignitization,"g ain in wood density, cell
As for the dark color of the wood, Dr. Francis modification[ degradation]a, nd degree of fossilization
Kukachka of the U. S. Forest Service, Wood Identifi- are most unrealiablee stimates of aging of naturally
cation Bureau (Madison, WI), remarks: "The dark exposed wood. The exposurev ariablesa re so unknown,
140 DECEMBER1 977