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

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为东地中海构建主树木年代学，并为考古遗址提供精确的日期。“树木年代学”，或称树木年轮测年，是科学家可用的最准确的测年技术。由于树木每年增加的年轮厚度受温度和降雨量的影响，这些每年都有变化，因此可以从活树开始，从已知的开始日期绘制厚度曲线，然后通过添加地质和考古背景的样本将该系列进一步向后延伸。人们可以从考古遗址中提取未知年代的木材，并将其与主曲线进行匹配，以确定年轮的绝对年龄。Kuniholm博士和他的同事们多年来一直致力于为希腊，土耳其和东地中海其他国家构建这样一个主年表。这导致了一个年表，涵盖了过去9,200年中的6,500年。年表中最长的部分长达2，160年，绝对可以追溯到公元前2687年至627年。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91个地点的木材来填补空白。该小组还将对大量十年和一年的样本进行元素分析，以确定微量元素的组成。库尼霍姆博士的研究表明，变化的元素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来确定过去的事件，也可以帮助树木年轮的相关性。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定年。由于实验室涉及许多本科生，它将继续发挥重要作用，科学教育。

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.