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

在杰弗里·迪恩博士的指导下，斯蒂芬·纳什先生将为他的博士论文收集数据。他将检查一些帮助建立和推广树轮测年技术的科学家的档案和未发表的文件，并将分析开创这一方法的实验室的样本清单。他希望了解树状年代学的发展如何影响美国的考古学实践，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，美国的考古学家还无法确定史前事件的年代，而且年代都是相对的，而不是绝对的。树轮测年是目前使用的许多技术中的第一种，它可以确定绝对日期。它最早是在美国西南部开发的，现在在该地区得到广泛使用。由于树木年表是基于对年轮厚度变化的分析，而年轮厚度又取决于当地的气候事件，因此年表必须在不同地区独立制定。纳什指出的是，在它的早期历史上，研究人员曾在远至阿拉斯加的多个地区建立年轮年表。然而，最终所有人都被抛弃了，只有在美国西南部，这项技术才站稳脚跟。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。考古学严重依赖技术，在很大程度上是由新分析技术的发展推动的。纳什的研究结果将远远超出年轮测年本身。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 He will examine the archives and unpublished documents of a number of scientists who helped to found and expand the technique of tree ring dating and will analyze sample lists from laboratories which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.