#utsjoki

Researchers from the University of Padua in Italy found a juniper at Utsjoki in Finnish Lapland, which they analysed to be 1,647 years old by examining the annual rings. 

According to the researchers’ analysis, the juniper started its growth at Utsjoki in 260 CE and died in 1906. It is likely that the juniper started growing even earlier, as it is almost impossible to count all the years of the plant's life. It is the oldest shrub in the world dated by annual rings and the oldest woody plant in Europe determined with this method.

“The oldest juniper and the oldest woody plant in Finland was a 1,070-year-old specimen found in Lemmenjoki before this discovery. The age record of Finnish junipers has now been improved by almost 600 years," says Otso Suominen, Director of the Kevo Subarctic Research Institute.

The researchers were able to calculate the exact calendar years of growth for an individual juniper by cross-referencing the annual rings of several old junipers collected from the same area. The junipers allow scientists to study climate variations, exceptional weather events or other events that contributed to the growth of the juniper thousands of years ago. The data can also be used to accurately date archaeological wood material findings.

Teno, Utsjoki, Finland