LOR DS

TR EE R INGS
THE

OF
THE

TREE RING DATING

DENDROCHRONOLOGY

TR EE R INGS are concentric

circles, each circle representing
an annual growthvisible in the
cross section of a felled trees
trunk.

WHEN
GROWING
SEASON STARTS,
LARGE CELLS
ARE ADDED TO
THE WOOD.

BY THE END OF
THE GROWTH
SEASON, CELL
PRODUCTION
HAS CEASED ALL
TOGETHER.

The thickness of
the trees may
vary according
to the trees age
and annual
climatic
variations

Tree-ring dating

Methods

Conifer Tree Ring

earlywood
appears light in color
cells have thin walls, large
diameter
latewood
appears dark in color
cells have thick walls, small
diameter

Angiosperm Tree Ring

Early wood cells have large
diameter vessels
Late wood cells: small
diameter vessels

Ring Width Variation

This picture of a conifer wood
sample shows . The rings display
much variation:
1.variation in total ring width:
a light and a dark band
2.variation in latewood width:
just the dark bands
3.variation in latewood density:
darkness of dark band

Tree-ring dating

APPLICATION

I. LONG MASTER SEQUENCES AND

RADIOCABON
Tree-ring dating has proved possible to
check and calibrate radiocarbon dates
The experiment on California
bristlecone pine (Pinus aristata)
Matched samples from living trees with
rings from dead ones in arid
environment, E. Schulman and C. Wesley
Ferguson, built up an unbroken sequence
back from that present to as far as 6700
BC. This sequence was then used for
calibration of radiocarbon dates.

II. CLIMATE RECONSTRUCTION

Tree-ring laboratories are trying to analyze
data on annual variability in rainfall from
the trees in different chronologies.
Variation in tree rings is due to variation in
environmental conditions when they were
formed. Thus, studying this variation leads to
improved understanding of past
environmental conditions.
The tree-ring chronologies provide a basis for
reconstructing changing climate conditions
over the past two thousand years.

III. DIRECT TREE RING DATING

One can obtain an
archaeologically useful
absolute date by
matching the preserved
timber with part of the
master sequence

DOUGLAS-DEAn EXPERIMENT
Pueblo Indians
built their
dwellings from
trees such as
the douglas fir
and pinon pine
that have
yielded ring
sequences

DOUGLAS-DEAn EXPERIMENT
A.E Douglass established that the
Betatakin,
cliff-dwelling
in
Arizona, dated around AD 1270
Jeffrey Dean returning to the
site in the 1960s, collected 292
tree-ring samples and used
them to document not only the
founding of the settlement but
also its expansion room by room
following its abandonment.

Tree ring dating does

not necessarily need
additional equipment
or substances to be able
to analyze the specimen

It could provide clues for

ecologists about possible
disturbances that may
affect the forest.

Compared to other absolute

dating methods, tree ring
dating doesnt need to alter
the sample (change in
composition) for analysis.

Tree ring dating costs less

than other absolute
dating methods, therefore
it has an economic
advantage.

Useful trees for tree ring dating

only grow on environment in
which climate variation exists.
*affected by amount of rainfall,
temperature, and cloud cover

The method requires a

substantial piece of wood
with no less than 50 years
worth of rings so that the
pattern will be established
without doubt.

The utilization of tree

ring dating slowed down
in certain areas due to
lack of trees.

Context in which the

archaeological sample
is found affects the
usefulness of the
sample.

If you like it, then you should have put a ring on it