Dendroarchaeology 3 types of Information
Chronological: dating
Behavioral: wood use practices
Environmental: species, reconstructions The Single Most Important Factor: PAST HUMAN BEHAVIOR Human-Environment Interaction: A Complex Matrix
Human Systems Environmental Systems
Ideological Biotic
Social Abiotic
Technological Atmospheric Remember: Wood as a Resource Dendroarchaeology: Sampling
• Architecture • Arboreal • Artifactual • Where on the Beam? • Charcoal • Excavated Dendroarchaeology: Dating
• Types of Dates • Cutting Dates – B, G, L, r, c, v • Near Cutting Dates – +B, +G, +L, +r, etc. • Noncutting Dates – ++ dates – vv dates Interpreting Dates
• Most important Factors – 1. Behavior of Prehistoric People • Species selection, wood use & modification – 2. Behavior of Archaeologists • Site selection & Sampling – Behavior of Dendrochronologists • Proper surfacing, dating Interpreting Dates
All Dates Stem & Leaf • Date Clustering (n=30) 158 7 • Identifying Anomalous •*** * Dates •174 336 •175 48 • Beam Reuse/Recycling •176 78999 •177 1157 • Repair/Remodeling •178 0001112355 •179 0227 • Deadwood use •180 5 ***** It is CONTEXT**** Presenting Tree-Ring Dates: Stem-and-leaf Plots
Savage Homestead Tree-Ring Dates (Underline indicates cutting date) Decade Year 182 3 190 789 191 016 192 558888999 193 01111112233333333333333344444444444445555566666666666666666666666666 77777777777777777777777777777777777777788888888888999999999999999999999999 194 000 The Enciero Box Site, NM
Marker Rings Terminal Rings: Structure Contemporaneity Structure Seasonality Dendroarchaeology: Behavior
• Species Selection – Availability – Procurement Logistics • Tree selection – Size – Shape/growth form • Structure type/function – Habitation – Animals, etc. Beam Procurement: LBJ NP, Texas
• Pinus palustris
Calusa Timber Co.
Shipping and Rail: ca. 600 miles Dendroarchaeology: Behavior
• Beam Procurement – Ax type, burn, etc. • Beam Modification – Length, limb trim etc • Beam Stockpiling • Beam Reuse • Remodeling/Repair • Deadwood Use Dendroarchaeology: Environment
16 Climatic 15 14 Reconstruction 13 12 • Signal Type? 11 10 • (Precip or 9 Temp) 8 7 Archaeological 6 5
Wood? InchesPrecipitationof 4 3 Living & dead 2 trees? 1 0 1700 1710 1720 1730 1740 1750 1760 1770 1780 1790 Year A.D. Dateless Environmental Information: Cueva Bringas, Sonora, Mexico
False Rings-- monsoons? Today’s Case Studies
Range Creek Fremont & Anglo
Zuni Mtn Peeled Trees
Dinetah Pueblitos Dendroarchaeology in Range Creek, Utah
Chronology building Archaeological Sampling 12 Fremont era 11
A 10 n Historic period n 9 u a 8 l
( 7 P I r n 6 e c c h 5 i e
p s 4 ) i 3 t a 2 t i 1 o n 0 800 900 1000 1100 1200 1300 1400 1500 1600 1700 1800 1900 2000 Year
Range Creek Reconstructed Precipitation AD 800-2005 Range Creek Dendroarchaeology
Anglo Homesteads
Fremont Granaries Range Creek Dating
Fremont Granaries (n=44) Anglo Homesteads (n=4) Samples N=197 Samples (N=69) Dates (n=16--- 8%) Dates (N=53– 77%) Cutting Dates (n=4) Cutting Dates (N=33) Dating Differences: The Chronology?
AD 820-940: 52 rings with value, 10 “B” rings, 16 rings value >5
AD 1750-1870: 47 rings with value, 4 “B” rings, 18 rings value >5 Range Creek Behavior: Species Selection
Species Use at Range Creek 75 70 65 60 55 50 45 40 35 30 25 20 15
Number of Samples of Number 10 5 0 Douglas-fir Juniper Pinyon PopulousPopulus Non-con Quercus Tree Species
Historic samples Prehistoric samples Implications for Dating Success? Dates derived from Douglas-fir (n= 67) and pinyon (n=2) only Notched box-and-whiskers plot, b/w Range Creek Behavior: DF Beam Size
Prehistoric DF samples: Radius Ave.= 43.28mm Radius S.D. = 20.46mm Radius Min = 20mm Radius Max = 100mm
Historical DF Samples: Radius Ave.= 85.6mm Radius S.D. = 28.27 Radius Min = 34mm Radius Max = 137mm
Difference significant at .oo1 level Today’s Case Studies
Zuni Mtn Peeled Trees Zuni Mtn Peeled Trees
Possible uses:
Starvation food
Medicine
Sweets Three Cambium Peeled Tree Sites
Milk Ranch Canyon
Quaking Aspen
Lost Lake Zuni Mtn Peeled Trees: Sampling
Archaeological bit Increment borer for for scar face sides & opposite face All Zuni Mountain Peeled Tree Dates
N 1855-1890 u 24 m Lost 22 b Lake e 20 Dates r 18 Quaking o Aspen 16 f Dates 14 D a 12 t MRC Dates e 10 s 8
6
4
2
0 1855 1860 1865 1870 1875 1880 1885 1890 Year
Face Dates Peel Dates El Malpais Reconstructed Annual Precipitation 1850-1990 Milk 22 Ranch A 21 Canyon 1915 n 20 1920 n u 19 a 1930 18 l Lost Lake 1941 17
P 16 r Ave = 15.4 e 15
c 14 i 13 p Q Aspen 12 ( 1925 i n 11 ) 1880 1904 1951 10 1850 1860 1870 1880 1890 1900 1910 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 Year
Thanks to Henri Grissino-Mayer Today’s Case Studies
El Malpais Historic Homesteads The Savage Homestead
Locus 3
Locus 2
Locus 1
El Malpais Cabins: Sampling
Coring with the electric drill
Sawing cross sections Species Use: Feature 8: The Dugout
Ponderosa superstructure Split juniper wall logs Beam Procurement: Feature 17 The Shed
Trimming Slats from Sawmill Frame door, windows, footers, top All Ponderosa, except Juniper corner posts Savage Homestead Tree-Ring Dates (Underline indicates cutting date)
Decade Year 182 3 190 789 191 016 192 558888999 193 0111111223333333333333334444444444444 5555566666666666666666666666666 777777777777777777777777777777777777777 88888888888999999999999999999999999 194 000 Savage Homestead Sequence 1950s? Initial Construction: Locus 1 dated 1934, repair 1936 Locus 2: Initial construction dated fall 1935 (FE12) 1939 most construction 1936-1938 1935 Locus 3: Construction almost all 1937 1940 Fall 1939 1936 FE 14 & FE 15—Construction Spring 1940 1934 Site Abandonment 1940s? Arroyo Cutting early 1950s? Savage Homestead: Oral History
John L. Savage
Childhood: 10-12 1935-1938