Abstract
Dendrochronology makes use of the annual pattern of tree radial growth in temperate regions. Each year trees put on a new ring under the bark whose width varies depending on various factors among which climate. Under same climatic conditions, trees of the same species growing at the same time show similar tree-ring patterns. Then there is agreement in year-to-year variation over long periods of time, making it possible to synchronize and date them. In that way, wooden samples from trees which died at an unknown date can be dated by comparison with master chronologies. Since the production of 14C in the atmosphere is not constant, radiocarbon dates are calibrated by using 14C content of tree-rings of known ages: that converts 14C age to the true calendar age. Currently, such calibration of radiocarbon dates by tree-ring chronologies is possible over the last 12,400 years.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Arnold, B. (1996). Pirogues monoxyles d’Europe centrale. Construction, typologie, évolution (Vol. 2). Coll. Archéologie aujourd’hui, Archéologie Neuchâteloise.
Baillie, M. G. L., & Brown, D. M. (1988). An overview of oak chronologies. In E. A. Slates & J. O. Tate (Eds.), Science and archaeology (196, pp. 543–548), Glasgow 1987, Brit. Arch. Rep. Brit.
Barbetti, M., Bird, T., Dolezal, G., Taylor, G., Francey, R. J., Cook, E., et al. (1995). Radiocarbon variations from tasmanian conifers: Results from three early Holocene logs. Radiocarbon, 37(2), 361–369.
Cook, E. R., Buckley, B. M., D’Arrigo, R. D., & Peterson, M. J. (2000). Warm-season temperatures since 1600 BC reconstructed from Tasmanian tree rings and their relationship to large scale sea-surface temperature anomalies. Climate Dynamics, 16, 79–91.
de Vries, H. (1958). Variation of the concentration of radiocarbon with time and location on Earth. Proceedings of the Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen: Proceedings Series B, 61, 267–281.
Eckstein, D. (2006). Human time in tree-rings. Dendrochronologia, 24(2–3), 53–60.
Eronen, M., Zetterberg, P., Briffa, K. R., Lindholm, M., Meriläinen, J., & Timonen, M. (2002). The supra-long scots pine tree-ring record for Northern Finnish Lapland. Chronology construction and initial inferences. The Holocene, 12(6), 673–680.
Ferguson, C. W. (1969). A 7404-year annual tree-ring chronology for bristlecone pine, pinus aristata, from the White Mountains, California. Tree-Ring Bull, 29(3–4), 1–29.
Ferguson, C. W., & Graybill, D. A. (1983). Dendrochronology of bristlecone pine: A progress report. Radiocarbon, 25(2), 287–288.
Grudd, H., Briffa, K. R., Karlén, W., Bartholin, T. S., Jones, P. D., & Kromer, B. (2002). A 7 400-year tree-ring chronology in Northern Swedish Lapland: Natural climate variability expressed on annual to millennial time scales. The Holocene, 12(6), 657–665.
Kaiser, K. F., Friedrich, M., Miramont, C., Kromer, B., Sgier, M., Schaub, M., et al. (2011). Challenging process to make the late glacial tree-ring chronologies from Europe Absolute—An Inventory. Quaternary Science Reviews, 13 p. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2010.07.009.
Krapiec, M. (1998). Oak dendrochronology of the neoholocene in Poland. Folia Quaternaria, 69, 5–133.
Leuschner, H.-H. (1992). Subfossil trees. In T. S. dans Bartholin, B. E. Berglund, D. Eckstein, & F. H. Schweingruber (Eds.), Tree rings and environment. Proceedings of the International Dendrochronological Symposium, Ystad, South Sweden, 3–9 September 1990 (pp. 193–197). Lund: Lund University, Department of Quaternary Geology.
McCarthy, B. C. (2004). Introduction to dendrochronology, Ohio University, World Wide Web homepage. http://www.plantbio.ohiou.edu/epb/instruct/ecology/dendro.htm.
Naurzbaev, M. M., & Vaganov, E. A. (1999). 1957-year chronology for Eastern Taimir. Siberian Journal of Ecology, 6, 67–78.
Oberlin, C., Leroy, F., & Guibal, F. (2004). High precision 14C dating of a bronze age tree-ring chronology from the pile-dwelling settlement of Montpenèdre, Hérault, Southern France. In Proceedings of the IVth Int. Symp. Radiocarbon and Archaeology, Oxford, 9–14/04/2002, Oxford University School of Archaeology Monograph (Vol. 62, pp. 193–200).
Pearson, G. W. (1986). Precise calendrical dating of known growth-period samples using a ‘curve fitting’ technique. Radiocarbon, 28(2A), 292–299.
Pilcher, J. R., Baillie, M. G. L., Schmid, B., & Becker, B. (1984). A 7,272-year tree-ring chronology for Western Europe. Nature, 312, 150–152.
Rashit, M., Hantemirov, M., & Shiyatov, S. G. (2002). A continuous multimillenial ring-width chronology in Yamal, Northwestern Siberia. The Holocene, 12(6), 717–726.
Robinson, W. J. (1976). Tree-ring dating and archaeology in the American South-West. Tree-Ring Bull, 36, 9–20.
Roig, F., Jr., Roig, C., Rabassa, J., & Boninsegna, J. (1996). Fuegan floating tree-ring chronology from subfossil Nothofagus Wood. The Holocene, 6(4), 469–476.
Schaub, M., Kaiser, K. F., Frank, D. C., Buentgen, U., Kromer, B., & Talamo, T. (2008). Environmental change during the Allerød and Younger Dryas reconstructed from tree-ring data. Boreas, 37, 74–86.
Stuiver, M., Reimer, P. J., Bard, E., Beck, J. W., Burr, G. S., Hughen, K. A., et al. (1998). IntCal98 Radiocarbon Age Calibration, 24,000-0 cal BP. Radiocarbon, 40(3), 1041–1083.
Suess, H. E. (1965). Secular variations in the cosmic ray produced carbon-14 in the atmosphere and their interpretation. Journal of Geophysical Research, 70, 5937–5952.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2021 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Guibal, F., Guiot, J. (2021). Dendrochronology. In: Ramstein, G., Landais, A., Bouttes, N., Sepulchre, P., Govin, A. (eds) Paleoclimatology. Frontiers in Earth Sciences. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-24982-3_8
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-24982-3_8
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-24981-6
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-24982-3
eBook Packages: Earth and Environmental ScienceEarth and Environmental Science (R0)