RADIOCARBON DATING OF THE HISTORIC  LIVINGSTONE TREE AT CHIRAMBA, MOZAMBIQUE

Adrian  PATRUT; Roxana T.  PATRUT; Michael J.  SLATER; Laszlo  RAKOSY; Daniel A.  LÖWY; Karl F.  REDEN, von

doi:10.24193/subbchem.2020.3.11

RADIOCARBON DATING OF THE HISTORIC LIVINGSTONE TREE AT CHIRAMBA, MOZAMBIQUE

Authors

Adrian PATRUT Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Babeş-Bolyai University; Raluca Ripan Institute for Research in Chemistry, Cluj-Napoca, Romania. Email: apatrut@chem.ubbcluj. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9862-6735
Roxana T. PATRUT Faculty of Biology and Geology, Babeş-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania. Email: roxanapatrut@yahoo.com. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8691-2160
Michael J. SLATER Mozguide, Johannesburg, South Africa. Corresponding author: apatrut@gmail.com.
Laszlo RAKOSY Faculty of Biology and Geology, Babeş-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania. Email: laszlo.rakosy@ubbcluj.ro. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7793-6996
Daniel A. LÖWY Valor Hungariae, Department of Science and Innovation, Budapest, Hungary. Corresponding author: apatrut@chem.ubbcluj. https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2210-6757
Karl F. REDEN, von Department of Geology and Geophysics, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, NOSAMS Facility, Woods Hole, USA. Email: kvonreden@whoi.edu. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6413-9018

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.24193/subbchem.2020.3.11

Keywords:

AMS radiocarbon dating, Adansonia digitata, tropical trees, age determination, closed ring-shaped structure, false cavity

Abstract

The article reports the AMS (accelerator mass spectrometry) radiocarbon dating results of the Livingstone Tree, a large African baobab on the right bank of the Zambezi, near Chiramba, Mozambique. In 1858, David Livingstone, who discovered the baobab, carved his monogram on the walls of its inner cavity. In 1996, the historic baobab was uprooted when a cyclone struck the area. Several wood fragments were extracted from the remains of the toppled tree. Five samples which originate from these fragments were subsequently dated by radiocarbon. The oldest sample had a radiocarbon date of 1598 ± 17 BP, that corresponded in 1996 to a calibrated age of 1490 ± 35 calendar years. According to this value, the Livingstone Tree at Chiramba becomes one of the oldest known African baobabs, with an age of over 1500 years. The Livingstone Tree had a closed ring-shaped structure, that consisted of 4 fused stems around a false cavity and also 2 additional stems outside the ring.

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STUDIA UBB CHEMIA, Volume 65 (LXV), No. 3, September 2020

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Published

2020-09-30

How to Cite

PATRUT, A. ., PATRUT, R. T. ., SLATER, M. J. ., RAKOSY, L. ., LÖWY, D. A. ., & REDEN, von, K. F. . (2020). RADIOCARBON DATING OF THE HISTORIC LIVINGSTONE TREE AT CHIRAMBA, MOZAMBIQUE. Studia Universitatis Babeș-Bolyai Chemia, 65(3), 149–156. https://doi.org/10.24193/subbchem.2020.3.11