Dendroarchaeology

Dendroarchaeology, the use of tree-ring data to address archaeological issues, has played an important role in the archaeology of the recent past. Tree-ring dates are precise and accurate to the year, and sometimes season, and have been used to calibrate other methods of dating archaeological sites. In addition to precise chronological data, tree-ring dates also contain information about past human behaviors and environmental conditions. The interpretation of dendroarchaeological dates is dependent on several factors, such as the types of dates, their number and clustering, and archaeological context. By using the principles of date interpretation and combining the different types of information available in dendroarchaeological samples, dendroarchaeologists are able to examine past human adaptation to changes in the physical, social, and technological environments.