Tree Ring Dating

Tree ring dating is known as dendrochronology. Most people have at some point counted the tree rings as a child to work out hold old the tree is? Archaeology technology has now given us a very good tool to use called dendrochronology. Each year trees lay down a growth ring underneath the bark and, because variation in thickness of these rings in many trees depends largely on variations in climate, cross sections through many trees will show a pattern of thick and thin rings, each representing a one-year growth.

We can match the pattern of the growth rings between several trees and pieces of timber; a pattern covering a considerable period can be constructed. When a pattern has been established and securely tied in to known dates, matching it with part of the established pattern of rings can date timber of unknown dates.

However, a pattern that cannot be tied to known dates is known as floating chronology. This method is limited since any particular pattern is only valid within a small distance of the place of origin of the wood used to establish the pattern. Not every type of f tree can be dated the variation and the thickness of its growth rings, so not every piece of wood can be dated by this method.

The pattern of growth rings can upset by very local conditions, such as a tree close to freestanding water. The fluctuating climate to a good tree ring pattern consequently dendrochronology is not widely used in Britain, and is mainly employed for dating medieval timbers.

Variation in the annual growth rings of trees is partly dependent on climate, and climate varies from region to region. This makes it possible to build up `master-chronologies' of growth rings, stretching back thousands of years, for individual regions. A wooden artefact need only be tested against various regional chronologies to find the `best fit', and hence its likely place of origin. Over the past few years, a number of chronologies have been established in Europe, and large tracts of the continent are now covered.

These resources are maintained by and © Webmaster of these pages No part of any of this text or pictures must be copied without consent All Rights Reserved. All information published on this site is corrected and was working when the site was launched by its owners