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The AD 775 peak in Δ14C (henceforth, M12) was first measured by Miyake et al. and has since been confirmed globally. Here we present earlywood and latewood Δ14C values from tree rings of pinyon pine (Pinus edulis) from Mummy Cave, Canyon de Chelly National Monument, Chinle, Arizona, USA, for the period AD 770–780. These data reconfirm the timing of M12 and show a small rise in Δ14C in AD 774 latewood. Allowing for the delay in lateral transfer of radiocarbon produced at high latitude, this suggests that 14C peak production occurred in late winter or spring of AD 774. Additionally, Δ14C decreased slightly in the earlywood of AD 775 and increased in the latewood of AD 775 to a higher level than that observed in AD 774.

The 14C peak in AD 775 (M12) has been measured and confirmed globally in several studies since it was first measured in annual tree rings by Miyake et al. (2012). However, M12 data measurements in early- and latewood are limited. This paper presents the Δ14C values in early- and latewood from AD 762–776 Zelkova serrata tree rings from Bangu-dong, Ulsan, South Korea (35°33′N, 129°20′E). The results indicate no early rise in Δ14C values in the latewood of AD 774 in this sample located at mid-latitude. A comparison of the results of this and previous studies suggests latitude dependence (Büntgen et al. 2018); that is, the early rise of Δ14C in AD 774 was not observed at mid-latitudes in South Korea but was observed at high latitudes in Finland. The half-oxidation time of 14C was estimated from a detailed analysis of a small bomb peak in AD 1962. Based on the half-oxidation time, the Δ14C rise in the latewood, but not in the earlywood, of AD 774 in Finland, and the absence of a Δ14C rise in both the early- and latewood of AD 774 in South Korea, the 14C spike was estimated to have been produced from late April to mid-June in AD 774.

This paper reports the results of tree-ring dating and accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) wiggle-matching for wooden Buddhist statues stored at the Eungjindang Hall of Neunggasa Temple, South Korea. Among 23 statues, 10 were successfully dated by tree rings. The cutting date of logs used for the statues was determined as some time between late fall 1684 and early spring 1685 when the bark ring (AD 1684) completed latewood formation. The 95.4% confidence interval of a radiocarbon date (cal AD 1688–1713, 2 σ), which was obtained by wiggle-matching 7 samples of a statue, is similar to the dendro-date (AD 1684). A historical document recorded that the statues in the Eungjindang of Neunggasa were dedicated in July 1685. The dendro-date and written record indicate that Eungjindang statues were made within 3–8 months after log cutting. This seems rather short if we consider the period required for natural drying to avoid defects such as cracking and crooking.