Dissertation Research: Archives Analysis of the Development of Archaeological Tree-Ring Dating

在Jeffrey Dean博士的指导下，Stephen Nash先生将为他的博士论文收集数据。他将研究一些科学家的档案和未发表的文件，这些科学家帮助发现和扩展了树木年轮测年技术，并将分析率先采用这种方法的实验室的样本清单。他希望了解树木年代学的发展如何影响美国考古学的实践，以及考古学本身如何指导这项技术的发展方向。直到20世纪20年代，美国的考古学家还没有办法确定史前事件的年代，而且年表都是相对的，而不是绝对的。树木年轮年代测定法是现在用来确定绝对年代的许多技术中的第一个。它最初是在美国西南部发展起来的，现在在该地区广泛使用。由于树木年代学是基于对年轮厚度变化的分析，而年轮厚度变化又依赖于当地气候事件，因此年代学必须在不同地区独立发展。纳什指出，在其早期历史中，研究人员曾在远至阿拉斯加的许多地区工作，以建立树木年轮年表。然而，最终所有这些都被放弃了，只有在美国西南部，这项技术才得到了应用。纳什先生希望研究这一过程，并理解为什么会出现不同的结果。这项研究之所以重要，有几个原因。考古学在很大程度上依赖于技术，并在很大程度上受到新分析技术发展的推动。纳什先生的研究结果将远远超出年轮测定本身。该项目还将帮助培训一位有前途的年轻科学家。

Under the direction of Dr. Jeffrey Dean, Mr. Stephen Nash will collect data for his doctoral dissertation. He will examine the archives and unpublished documents of a number of scientists who helped to found and expand the technique of tree ring dating and will analyze sample lists from laboratories which pioneered this approach. He wishes to understand how the development of dendrochronology affected the practice of archaeology in the United States and also how archaeology itself served to guide the direction the technique took. Until the 1920s, archaeologists in the United States had no means to date prehistoric events and chronologies were all relative rather than absolute. Tree ring dating provided the first of the many techniques now employed which can assign absolute dates. It was first developed in the Southwestern United States and is now widely used in this region. Because dendrochronology is based on the analysis of variation in the thickness of annual tree rings which in turn are dependent on local climatic events, chronologies must be developed independently from region to region. What Mr. Nash notes is that early in its history, researchers worked in a number of areas as far afield as Alaska to establish tree ring chronologies. Ultimately however all were abandoned and it is only in the Southwestern U.S. where the technique took hold. Mr. Nash wishes to examine this process and understand why different outcomes emerged. This research is important for several reasons. Archaeology is heavily technique dependent and is driven, in significant measure, by the development of new analytic techniques. The results of Mr. Nash's study will extend well beyond tree ring dating itself. The project will also assist in the training of a promising young scientist.