The feasibility of using dendrochronology to obtain accumulation rates for recently accumulated peat was examined. Two charcoal layers originating from two forest fires were found at between 7 and 58 cm in the peat of Lakkasuo mire, Finland. Dendrochronology and the fire scars on Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) stumps were used to estimate the dates when the two layers were deposited (1780 and 1845 A.D.). The rate of carbon accumulation during the last 212-147 years could be calculated for different site types in the mire complex from the thickness of the peat layer above the dated charcoal layers, its bulk density and carbon content. The annual rates of carbon accumulation were 39.8-80.7 g C/m^2.