Ancient woods hold significant historical, cultural, and scientific values due to their long history and widespread distribution. Dating ancient woods is essential for understanding and preserving wooden cultural relics, tracing the development of human civilization, and uncovering ancient climatic changes and ecosystem evolution. This paper introduces the principles of three scientific dating methods: radiocarbon (14C) dating, dendrochronological dating, and infrared/near-infrared spectroscopic dating. It also summarizes the current status of ancient wood dating research based on these three methods both domestically and internationally, and analyzes the advantages, limitations, and development directions of the three methods. In summary, radiocarbon dating is the most commonly used method, it may result in errors when applied to ancient woods. Dendrochronological dating is currently the most accurate method for dating ancient woods, but there is a lack of long tree-ring chronologies suitable for this purpose in China. Infrared/near-infrared spectroscopic technology, on the other hand, provides a promising new method for the dating of ancient woods. This paper is expected to inspire and assist those who are involved in the preservation and scientific research of wooden cultural relics.
