The Prehistory of the Eastern Mediterranean: Dendrochonological, Radiocarbon, and Dendrochemical Approaches

东地中海的史前史：树状昆虫学、放射性碳和树状化学方法

• 批准号: 9905389
• 负责人: Peter Kuniholm
• 金额: $ 38.6万
• 依托单位: Cornell University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 1999
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 1999-07-01 至 2002-06-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=9905389&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Prehistory; Eastern; Mediterranean; Dendrochonological; Radiocarbon

With National Science Foundation support, Dr. Peter Kuniholm and his collaborators will continue to construct a master dendrochronology for the Eastern Mediterranean and to provide precise dates for sites of archaeological interest. `Dendrochronology`, or tree ring dating, is the most accurate dating technique available to scientists. Because the thickness of wood rings which trees add annually is affected by temperature and rainfall, these vary from year to year and it is possible to start with living trees, plot a thickness curve back from a known starting date and then extend the series further backwards in time with the addition of samples from geological and archaeological contexts. One can take wood of unknown age from archaeological sites and match it against the master curve to determine the absolute age of the rings. Dr. Kuniholm and his colleagues have single-handedly worked for many years to construct such a master chronology for Greece, Turkey and other countries in the Eastern Mediterranean. This has resulted in a chronology which covers some 6,500 of the last 9,200 years. The longest part of the chronology is 2,160 years long and absolutely dated from B.C. 2687 to 627. Over the next three years the team will work to fill gaps by visiting and analayzing wood from over 91 sites in the eastern Mediterranean. The group will also also conduct elemental analysis on a large series of decadal and single year samples to determine trace element composition. Dr. Kuniholm's research indicates that changing elements can serve as markers for major climatic events such as volcanic eruptions. Location of these signals could both serve to date past events and to help in tree ring correlation. The project is extremely important because the resulting sequence will permit the absolute dating of large numbers of archaeological occurrences. Because the laboratory involves many undergraduate students it will continue to play an important role is science education.

在国家科学基金会的支持下，Peter Kuniholm 博士和他的合作者将继续构建东地中海的主要树木年代学，并为考古遗址提供精确的日期。 “树木年代学”，或树木年轮测定，是科学家可用的最准确的测定技术。由于树木每年增加的木年轮厚度受到温度和降雨量的影响，这些厚度每年都会有所不同，因此可以从活树开始，从已知的起始日期绘制厚度曲线，然后通过添加来自地质和考古环境的样本，进一步向后延伸该系列。人们可以从考古遗址中取出年龄未知的木材，并将其与主曲线进行匹配，以确定年轮的绝对年龄。库尼霍尔姆博士和他的同事多年来一手为希腊、土耳其和东地中海其他国家构建了这样一个主要年表。由此形成了涵盖过去 9,200 年中约 6,500 年的年表。年表中最长的部分长达 2,160 年，并且绝对可以追溯到公元前。 2687 至 627。在接下来的三年里，该团队将通过访问和分析来自地中海东部超过 91 个地点的木材来填补空白。该小组还将对大量十年和单年样品进行元素分析，以确定微量元素成分。库尼霍尔姆博士的研究表明，元素的变化可以作为火山爆发等重大气候事件的标志。这些信号的位置既可以用于确定过去事件的日期，也可以帮助进行树轮相关。该项目极其重要，因为由此产生的序列将允许对大量考古事件进行绝对年代测定。由于实验室涉及许多本科生，因此它将继续在科学教育方面发挥重要作用。