December 22, 2007: Pub in a Tree

[xoxoxoBruce]

Originally Posted by tulzscha

Also, how do you radiocarbon-date something that's still alive? Traditionally, it has to die first to stop taking in carbon-14, then you can calculate based on the remaining amount of the radioactive...

They all grow solid, the center rots out at some point, and the hollow has to be cleaned out by people or critters. I should guess that center dead wood could be carbon dated, not to the age of the tree, but the point the center rotted out.