James, P., 2002b. “The Dendrochronology Debate”, Minerva: International Review of Ancient Art and Archaeology 13:4, 18 (original) (raw)
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Dendrochronology and Radiocarbon Dating: The Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research Connection
Radiocarbon, 2009
The field of dendrochronology had a developmental “head start” of at least several decades relative to the inception of radiocarbon dating in the late 1940s, but that evolution was sufficiently advanced so that unique capabilities of tree-ring science could assure success of the14C enterprise. The Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research (LTRR) at the University of Arizona played a central role in the cross-pollination of these disciplines by providing the first wood samples of exactly known age for the early testing and establishment of the “Curve of Knowns” by Willard Libby. From the 1950s into the early 1980s, LTRR continued to contribute dated wood samples (bristlecone pine and other wood species) to14C research and development, including the discovery and characterization of de Vries/Suess “wiggles,” calibration of the14C timescale, and a variety of tests to understand the natural variability of14C and to refine sample treatment for maximum accuracy. The long and varied relationship of...
Interpreting Radiocarbon Dates Using Evidence from Tree Rings
Radiocarbon, 2004
Often it is not possible to date a sample of wood from the final growth ring of the tree from which it came. In these cases, an “old-wood offset” is apparent. A number of quantitative approaches for the assessment of this offset are available, dependent on the actual tree rings that have been dated. A range of examples are given, demonstrating how such radiocarbon measurements can be interpreted using additional information from archaeology and dendrochronology.
Precise dating of historic wood with dendrochronology and radiocarbon Applications for vernacular architecture in western China. 2010
The scientific basis: Environmental factors, mostly climatological conditions produce inter-annual variations of tree-ring width of a tree species in a specific area. In years with a favorable climate, wide rings are formed whereas in years with unfavorable weather, narrow tree rings are generated. Tree-ring patterns of trees growing within one area reflect a characteristic regional pattern of growth variations; therefore, tree-rings can by synchronized and annually dated. The assignment of an exact calendar date to each treering is the basis for dendrochronology, i.e., the determination of the age of the wood with the help of tree-ring patterns. Introduction to Dendrochronology Variations of wide and narrow rings in a piece of juniper wood. Ring boundaries are marked by the darker latewood bands. Subboreal Neolithic Period Present time Early past Middle Ages Roman Period Roman Period Subatlantic Bronze Age Introduction to Dendrochronology 5 Stepwise development of a multimillennial tree-ring chronology To extend tree-ring chronologies into the past, tree-ring patterns from living trees are combined with tree-ring series derived from historic buildings, archaeological sites or subfossil wood from natural deposits. The oldest existing tree-ring chronology is from southern Germany and spans more than 10,000 years.
Methodologies for dating wooden artefacts
IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering, 2020
In recent years, constant progress has been made with regard to wood-dating techniques. In Italy, both the number and length of dendrochronological reference chronologies have increased so that by now the last 10,000 years are almost completely covered. This indispensable dating method has provided new ways for studying archaeological and prehistoric finds. New technologies have remarkably improved the sampling techniques, which today, in most cases, are very effective and non-evasive. Modern software now allows easy data management and statistical analyses. Apart from dendrochronology, the diffusion of isotope analysis has also had great impetus. With regard to radiocarbon dating, the calibration curve has been enriched by new data, and several peaks of cosmic emissions have been identified that, in future, can be instrumental in improving dating precision. Apart from radiocarbon, the isotope analyses of O, H and Sr, especially if linked with dendrochronology, allow to refine the information regarding dating and, in many cases, permits to determine the timber's provenance and even to define precisely the environmental conditions for the growth of the tree, from which the wood has been obtained. Today, finally, we can assert that all wood can be dated. Only the precision of dating still varies but constant progress is being made in that regard, too.
Dendrochronology: A Branch In The Ever-growing Tree Of Archaeological Aid
University of Oxford: Archaeology in Practice, 2020
Dendrochronology has for some time been a very useful tool in aiding the archaeologist. Combining the words dendro for relating to trees, and chronology for the arrangement of time, dendrochronology is a method employed by which scientists determine the near-absolute age for certain structures and sites often built long ago. While things like sedimentary superposition (the order of soil horizons being created by natural or anthropological means) can give us a pretty good idea regarding the sequence and longevity of certain periods of time, it often fails to reveal the exact date something happened-leaving us with a relative date for looking into the past. This is a simple paper written for part of my Archaeology in Practice class from the University of Oxford. It is not written as, nor intended to be, a comprehensive research paper on the topic, but a mere introduction to the benefits and aid which dendrochronology can bring to the field of archaeological research.
Vegetation history and …, 2006
Throughout the Middle Ages forests in Flanders (northern Belgium) experienced a dramatic human influence. Forests were logged for wood supply and converted to arable land. The structure of the remaining forests was altered. This, combined with the tempering influence of the Atlantic climate, results in conditions that are suboptimal for dendrochronological research. Tree-ring series of Quercus robur and Q. petraea of timber from medieval archaeological sites are often short, show abrupt growth-rate variations and are complacent. The question arises whether tree-ring series of this type are potential records of past management and whether they could constitute the basis of a reference chronology for archaeological dating. During six archaeological excavations in and around the medieval town of Ypres, cross-sections were collected. The tree-ring series could be dated back to the 12th-14th centuries, using reference chronologies from surrounding regions. The growth pattern of the short sequences displays a high similarity to tree-ring series from modern coppice. For the first time, it has been confirmed that dendrochronological analysis in Flanders is possible and can provide valuable information on medieval forest use and structure.
Facilitating tree-ring dating of historic conifer timbers using Blue Intensity
Journal of Archaeological Science, 2017
Dendroarchaeology almost exclusively uses ring-width (RW) data for dating historical structures and artefacts. Such data can be used to date tree-ring sequences when regional climate dominates RW variability. However, the signal in RW data can be obscured due to site specific ecological influences (natural and anthropogenic) that impact crossdating success. In this paper, using data from Scotland, we introduce a novel tree-ring parameter (Blue Intensity-BI) and explore its utility for facilitating dendrohistorical dating of conifer samples. BI is similar to latewood density as they both reflect the combined hemicellulose, cellulose and lignin content in the latewood cell walls of conifer species and the amount of these compounds is strongly controlled, at least for trees growing in temperature limited locations, by late summer temperatures. BI not only expresses a strong climate signal, but is also less impacted by site specific ecological influences. It can be concurrently produced with RW data from images of finely sanded conifer samples but at a significantly reduced cost compared to traditional latewood density. Our study shows that the probability of successfully crossdating historical samples is greatly increased using BI compared to RW. Furthermore, due to the large spatial extent of the summer temperature signal expressed by such data, a sparse multi-species conifer network of long BI chronologies across Europe could be used to date and loosely provenance imported material. Keywords Tree-ring dating; dendroarchaeology; Blue Intensity; conifers 1. Introduction Dendrochronology is multidisciplinary in nature and has many applications in the environmental sciences including ecology, geomorphology and climatology (Schweingruber 1996; Hughes et al. 2010; Speer 2010; Stoffel et al. 2010). The common fundamental keystone to all dendrochronological subdisciplines is the ability to ensure exact calendar dating of the tree-ring (TR) series. Crossdating is the ability to pattern-match or synchronise TR sequences between samples of the same species across a climatically homogenous region to allow the identification of the exact year in which a particular TR was formed (Stokes and Smiley 1968; Fritts 1976). One of the earliest uses of dendrochronological methods was the dating of historical structures and artefacts (so-called dendroarchaeology) and a large body of published
Dendrochronology and Past Human Activity—A Review of Advances Since 2000
Tree-Ring Research, 2007
Since 2000, important advances have been made worldwide in the dendrochronology of wood associated with past human activity and cultural heritage. This review summarizes this recent progress in regions with a longstanding tradition of using tree-ring methods, such as Europe and the USA, as well as others such as Asia where developments have been particularly rapid in recent years. The oldest wood generally originates from archaeological sites and the largest amount of wood for research comes from historical structures such as monumental and vernacular architecture. In addition to construction wood, wooden doors, ceilings, furniture, objects of art (such as panel paintings and sculptures), Medieval books, musical instruments and boats can also be utilized. Dating is the first and crucial step of the research and is often difficult even in regions where dendrochronology has a long history of use. In addition to absolute dates, dendrochronology has provided extra information that has enhanced historical knowledge from other sources. Behavioral and environmental inferencing and dendroprovenancing are becoming major areas of research in regions with well-developed networks of reference chronologies and active cooperation among laboratories. The online Bibliography of Dendrochronology and information from conferences have been indispensable in this compilation, because much work related to dendrochronology in cultural heritage is still published in ''gray'' literature, making it difficult to access.