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

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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 He will examine the archives and unpublished documents of a number of scientists who helped to found and expand the technique of tree ring dating and will analyze sample lists from laboratories which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.