US-Egypt Planning Visit and Proof-of-Concept: Building a Tree-Ring Chronology for Ancient Egypt

这次规划访问由亚利桑那大学的皮尔斯·保罗·克莱斯曼领导，将为与埃及的合作者开展一个更大的联合项目奠定基础，该项目将根据当地树种建立古埃及木质考古遗迹的树轮年代学(树轮年代学)。虽然树状年代学在考古学、人类学、生态学、气候学和地质学中得到了广泛的应用，但在埃及广为人知的考古学中尚未得到广泛的应用。由该项目支持的计划访问将允许PI、两名研究生、一名高级研究员和一名支助人员访问埃及。在这次访问中，克雷斯曼博士和他的埃及合作者(法尤姆大学考古系的哈马达·萨德克博士和大埃及博物馆馆长阿尔赫赛因·侯赛因博士)将启动亚利桑那大学和法尤姆大学之间的正式合作，可能是通过一份谅解备忘录。该小组将为埃及所需的收集/存储空间做准备，规划将在埃及进行的分析，并收集活的本地树种的现代样本以供进一步研究。本项目将专门研究古埃及三种常用于木制品和建筑的本地树种：相思(Acacia Nilotica)、无花果(Ficus Sycomorus)和罗望子(Tamarix sp.)。考古木材样本可能不会出口，因此这次访问将有助于在大埃及博物馆保护中心(GEM-CC)建立树轮档案。这一档案将允许通过比较和拼凑宝石收藏的样品来绘制大型年代学地图，并将确保许多研究人员能够获得数据和材料。法尤姆大学的考古保护设施将提供专门知识和设备。第一步是确定这三个本土物种中是否有任何一个适合树序年代学；为此，在这次规划访问期间从活林中收集的现代样本将被出口到美国进行进一步研究。这项研究的更广泛的影响是相当大的，其中最大的影响可能是考古学领域。如果这项概念验证研究表明埃及本土树木可以用来发展树种年代学，这个项目将启动长期的努力，以准确地确定埃及所有历史时期的日期，可能会有年度分辨率。更有价值的、高分辨率的埃及年轮年表将使区域放射性碳校准和大规模气候分析成为可能。了解历史气候将有助于评估洪水、干旱和瘟疫可能如何影响王朝的兴衰，这些信息可能对人类现在和未来都有价值。计划中的访问还将包括两名研究生，两名都是女性，他们的论文将基于对两个现代物种样本的树状年代学评估。此外，该项目还为早期职业PI开辟了一个新的研究领域。

This planning visit, led by Pearce Paul Creasman of the University of Arizona, will lay the foundation for a larger joint project with collaborators in Egypt to establish tree-ring chronology (dendrochronology) of wooden archaeological remains from ancient Egypt based on native tree species. Although dendrochronology is widely used in archeology as well as anthropology, ecology, climatology and geology, it has not yet been widely applied to the extensive and well known archeology of Egypt. The planning visit supported by this project will allow for the PI, two graduate students, a senior researcher and one support staff person to visit Egypt. During this visit, Dr. Creasman and his Egyptian collaborators (Dr. Hamada Sadek from the Faculty of Archaeology at Fayoum University and Dr. Alhussein Hussein who is Director of the Grand Egyptian Museum), will initiate a formal collaboration between the University of Arizona and Fayoum University probably via a memorandum of understanding. The team will prepare for the collection/repository space required in Egypt, plan for analyses that will be conducted in egypt, and collect modern samples of living native tree species for further study. This project will specifically examine three native tree types that were commonly used for wooden items and construction in ancient Egypt: acacia (Acacia nilotica), fig (Ficus sycomorus), and tamarisk (Tamarix sp.). Archeological wood samples may not be exported and therefore this visit will help develop a tree ring archive at the Grand Egyptian Museum Conservation Center (GEM-CC). This archive will allow a large dendrochronology map to be developed by comparing and piecing together samples from the GEM collection and will also ensure that many researchers have access to the data and materials. The archeological conservation facility at Fayoum University will provide expertise and equipment. The first step is to determine if any of the three native species is suitable for dendrochronology; for that purpose the modern samples collected from living stands during this planning visit will be exported to the U.S. for further study.The broader impacts of this research are considerable, with the greatest impact likely to be on the field of archeology. If this proof-of-concept study indicates that native Egyptian trees can be used to develop dendrochronology, this project will launch long-term endeavors to precisely date all the historical periods in Egypt, potentially with annual resolution. More valuable still, highly resolved tree-ring chronology for Egypt will enable regional radiocarbon calibration and large-scale climate analyses. Understanding the historical climate will allow assessment of how flood, drought and pestilence may have affected the rise and fall of dynasties, information that could be valuable for humans now and in the future. The planning visit will also include two graduate students, both women, who will base their theses on the dendrochronology assessment of two of the modern species sampled. In addition, this project launches a new area of research for an early career PI.