In-Built Age in Archaeological Tree-Ring Samples and Behavioral Implications

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Tree-Ring Materials as a Basis for Cultural Interpretations" session, at the 90th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Age disparities between wood and charcoal and their archaeological contexts are a common problem in archaeological chronometry. With high precision dating techniques such as dendrochronology and wiggle-matching, even small age-offsets could affect the accuracy of chronological inferences and thus behavioral interpretations. In many cases of taphonomic or anthropogenic ring-loss, sapwood-based methods for estimating cutting dates are not always applicable, especially with charcoal. In these instances, wiggle-matched TPQ dates are often reconciled with subjective or ad hoc approaches. This paper describes a method for estimating taphonomic ring loss from empirical distributions of the tree-ring dates. We then provide examples of how the technique can be applied in both radiocarbon and tree-ring dating studies to yield accurate dating in archaeological sequences.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Tree-Ring Materials as a Basis for Cultural Interpretations   •
• Society for American Archaeology 90th Annual Meeting, Denver, CO (2025)

Keywords

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 51018