The Olive Tree of Vouves

Two sets of scientists have dated this olive and their answers differ by two thousand years. Ring analysis by Oliver Rackham and Jennifer Moody, published in 1996, established a floor and no more: at least 2,000 years old. Scientists at the University of Crete have since put it at 4,000, a figure now repeated from the Greek press to Forbes, and one that would make it the oldest living olive known anywhere. Neither number can be checked. The tree's heartwood rotted away centuries ago, which is what happens to ancient olives rather than a fault in this one, and it removes the material any dating method needs. English Wikipedia's summary is blunt: the exact age cannot be determined, and there is no agreed scientific method for dating olive trees at all. The trunk is not in dispute. It measures 12.5 metres around and 4.6 metres across, hollowed into a twisting shell with the grain running in curves. The tree still fruits, grafted with the Tsounati cultivar, and the Region of Crete declared it a protected natural monument in 1997. Branches from it were woven into victory wreaths at the Athens Olympics in 2004 and Beijing in 2008. Two Geometric-period cemeteries were found nearby, which tells you people were here three thousand years ago and nothing whatsoever about the tree.