Dating the "Undateable" - Quantitative Environmental Reconstruction and Precision Chronology Using Tree-ring Stable Isotopes

测定“不可测年”的年代——使用树木年轮稳定同位素进行定量环境重建和精确年代学

• 批准号: EP/X025098/1
• 负责人: Neil Loader
• 金额: $ 344.88万
• 依托单位: Swansea University
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Research Grant
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2023 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=EP%2FX025098%2F1
• 关键词: Dating; Undateable; Quantitative; Environmental; Reconstruction

Dendrochronology, or tree-ring dating, is the most precise dating method in science-based archaeology. It allows the growth of an individual tree ring to be assigned to a single calendar year and, where wood samples retain the bark-edge, it is possible to determine the season and the year in which the tree died, or was felled. The method can provide absolute calendar dates and has revolutionised the dating of wooden structures and artefacts across Europe. Where the trees grew under strong environmental stress, typically at high altitude or latitude, it is also possible to extract information on the climate of the past.However, dendrochronology and dendroclimatology are constrained by the length and variability of the tree-ring sequence being dated, as well as by the tree species, age and provenance. This means that a large proportion of samples, particularly those from regions such as NW Europe where climate rarely limits growth, cannot be dated or used for historical climate reconstruction.Using stable isotopes rather than ring widths, for both dating and palaeoenvironmental reconstruction, the QUERCUS project will develop the first annually-resolved isotopic chronologies for NW Europe extending c. 4,500 years to the Bronze Age. QUERCUS will advance the technique for species and regions where chronology and palaeoclimate data are most needed, to permit short sequence, inter-genus and multi-method dating of archives and artefacts that have remained undateable since the development of scientific dendrochronology.The stable isotope chronologies carry strong climate signals, and can be used to reconstruct the climate of the past even when the trees were not growing under environmental stress. Using a multi-disciplinary approach, these records, calibrated using some of the longest instrumental series in the world, will deliver unrivalled quantified reconstructions of summer climate for culturally-rich, populous regions where climatic change has impacted upon society over millennia.

树木年代学或树木年轮测定是基于科学的考古学中最精确的年代测定方法。它允许将单个树木年轮的生长分配给单个日历年，并且在木材样本保留树皮边缘的情况下，可以确定树木死亡或被砍伐的季节和年份。该方法可以提供绝对的日历日期，并彻底改变了整个欧洲木结构和文物的年代测定。当树木在强烈的环境压力下生长时，通常是在高海拔或高纬度地区，也可以提取有关过去气候的信息。然而，树木年代学和树木气候学受到所测年树木年轮序列的长度和变异性的限制，以及树种、树龄和出处。这意味着很大一部分样本，特别是来自欧洲西北部等气候很少限制生长的地区的样本，无法测定年代或用于历史气候重建。使用稳定同位素而不是环宽度来进行年代测定和古环境重建，QUERCUS该项目将为欧洲西北部开发第一个每年解析的同位素年表，延伸约 1000 年。距青铜时代还​​有 4,500 年。 QUERCUS 将推进最需要年代学和古气候数据的物种和地区的技术，以允许对自科学树木年代学发展以来一直无法确定年代的档案和文物进行短序列、属间和多方法测年。稳定同位素年代学携带强烈的气候信号，即使树木没有在环境压力下生长，也可以用来重建过去的气候。这些记录采用多学科方法，并使用世界上一些最长的仪器系列进行校准，将为文化丰富、人口稠密的地区提供无与伦比的夏季气候量化重建，这些地区的气候变化已经对社会产生了数千年的影响。

项目成果

Oxygen Isotope Dendrochronology of the Newport Medieval Ship

纽波特中世纪船的氧同位素树年代学

• DOI: 10.1080/10572414.2023.2266473
• 发表时间: 2023
• 期刊: International Journal of Nautical Archaeology
• 影响因子: 0.5
• 作者: Nayling N

Recent human-induced atmospheric drying across Europe unprecedented in the last 400 years

最近欧洲各地人为引起的大气干燥是过去 400 年来前所未有的

• DOI: 10.1038/s41561-023-01335-8
• 发表时间: 2023
• 期刊: Nature Geoscience
• 影响因子: 18.3
• 作者: Treydte K