Southwestern Archaeological Tree-Ring Dating

亚利桑那大学年轮研究实验室(LTRR)是北美西部考古年轮年代的唯一来源。在国家科学基金会的持续支持下，LTRR对LTRR和其他考古学家从阿拉斯加到秘鲁，从太平洋到密西西比河收集的树轮样本进行了测年项目。NSF的支持使该计划能够跟上对考古年轮日期、信息和援助日益增长的需求，并保持高生产水平和较短的周转时间。平均而言，该项目从每年提交的4000多个考古年轮样本中产生了1000多个年轮数据。这些数据被整合到相关的考古学背景中，以构建精致的文化序列，并检查过去人类行为的重要问题，如果没有准确、高分辨率的时间控制，这些问题是无法解决的。这些主题包括绝对的地点和地区年表、社会组织、群体间互动以及对自然和社会环境的文化适应。此外，该计划还将把考古树轮测年扩展到西南沙漠、大盆地、大平原、落基山脉、阿拉斯加和墨西哥等新地区。该项目的准确测年和年表构建对于理解人类行为、人与环境的互动以及社会文化的稳定、变异、变化和进化过程至关重要。无论是直接还是间接(通过树轮年代的陶瓷)，树轮测年奠定了西南史前年代学和该地区有记录的历史的许多方面的基础。该项目还为树枝气候重建提供了数据，这些数据与其他古环境学科的重建相结合，如地质学、花粉分析、火山学和微量元素研究。除了阐明过去的环境过程外，这些综合重建还为研究人类行为和环境变异性之间的相互关系提供了坚实的经验基础。最后，该项目努力将研究扩展到以前被认为不适合考古树轮测年的地区，这一努力正在取得成果。根据多年前获取的样本得出的日期，为索诺兰和奇瓦瓦沙漠的考古年代学确定了绝对日期的‘枢纽点’。该项目具有广泛的更广泛的影响。它的发现被整合到亚利桑那大学和其他学术机构的人类学、地球科学和其他学科的本科生和研究生课程中。此外，该项目与K-12项目互动，为来自世界各地的访问学者提供指导，并促进对政府、美洲原住民和私人考古学家和资源管理人员的实地培训。LTRR树轮样本收集和数据档案是无与伦比的、易于获取的考古研究资源，一个正在开发的数字数据库将提高这些收集的研究价值。更多地了解人类对文化和环境变化的长期适应，以及对环境进程的更多了解，有助于制定和执行环境和社会政策。项目人员为联邦、地方和部落土地管理机构制定管理文化和自然资源的政策作出了直接贡献。

The Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research (LTRR) at the University of Arizona is the sole source of archaeological tree-ring dates in western North America. With continuing National Science Foundation support, LTRR operates a dating program for tree-ring samples collected by LTRR and other archaeologists from Alaska to Peru and from the Pacific Ocean to the Mississippi River. NSF support allows the program to keep pace with the growing demand for archaeological tree-ring dates, information, and assistance and to maintain high production levels and short turnaround times. On average, the program produces more than 1,000 tree-ring dates from 4,000+ archaeological tree-ring samples submitted annually. These data are integrated into relevant archaeological contexts to construct refined cultural sequences and examine important issues of past human behavior that cannot be addressed without accurate, high resolution temporal control. Among these topics are absolute site and regional chronologies, social organization, intergroup interaction, and cultural adaptation to physical and social environments. In addition, the program fosters the expansion of archaeological tree-ring dating into new regions such as the Southwestern deserts, Great Basin, Great Plains, Rocky Mountains, Alaska, and Mexico.The project's exact dating and chronology building are crucial to understanding human behavior, human-environment interactions, and processes of sociocultural stability, variation, change, and evolution. Either directly or indirectly (through tree-ring dated ceramics), tree-ring dating underlies the chronology of Southwestern prehistory and many aspects of the documented history of the region. The project also provides data for dendroclimatic reconstructions that are combined with reconstructions produced by other paleoenvironmental disciplines such as geology, pollen analysis, volcanology, and trace element studies. In addition to illuminating past environmental processes, these integrated reconstructions provide a solid empirical foundation for examining interrelationships between human behavior and environmental variability. Finally, the project's efforts to expand research into areas previously thought to be unsuitable for archaeological tree-ring dating are bearing fruit. Dates derived from samples acquired many years ago identify absolutely dated 'hinge points' for archaeological chronologies in the Sonoran and Chihuahuan Deserts.The program has a wide range of broader impacts. Its findings are integrated into undergraduate and graduate classes in anthropology, geosciences, and other disciplines at the University of Arizona and other academic institutions. In addition, the project interacts with K-12 programs, provides instruction for visiting scholars from around the world, and facilitates field training for governmental, Native American, and private archaeologists and resource managers. The LTRR tree-ring sample collection and data archives are unparalleled, easily accessed resources for archaeological research, and a developing digital database will enhance the research value of these collections. Increased understanding of long-term human adaptation to cultural and environmental variability and enhanced knowledge of environmental processes help develop and implement environmental and social policy. Project personnel have contributed directly to formulating policy for managing cultural and natural resources by federal, local, and tribal land management agencies.