Using dendrochronology to date old musical instruments

Dendrochronologists, Paolo Cherubini with the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research, has published a Perspective piece in the journal Science outlining the use of dendrochronology to determine the approximate age of old wooden stringed instruments. In his paper, Cherubini notes that analysis of tree rings of some instruments can be used to determine the terminus post quem—the year in which the last ring was formed.