Out here, in BC Canada Forestry Land where the softwood lumber so dreaded
and so unfairly taxed by the US Government originates, we use preselected
"Datum Trees" throughout the Province for comparison, working with the
sample tree as close as possible to the site of the source of the log or
timber to be dated.   Samples from those "Datum Trees" become shared markers
for the profession.   The skill is in discerning and accommodating the
natural variations that creep into the ring forms of living samples,
sometimes clouding or confusing but rarely totally preventing an analysis.
A project for a dendrochronologist working here at the moment is the study
of growth patterns and incidence of forest fires over time compared with
climate changes over time.

In the rain forest on the coast, they are blessed with those big trees that
are well over a thousand years old, and many museums have slabs with labels
pinned on showing when Charlemagne ruled or Columbus pissed in the ocean.
I had a friend who was secretly making a very special coffee table for her
family from a large slab like that, for many weeks meticulously hand sanding
the end grain to a smooth polish before oiling it and putting the finished
table quietly in the living room as a surprise for her parents.   When her
father, a rustic logger of the old school, arrived home from work that day,
he strode into the house with his axe as usual and simply planted it in the
convenient piece of wood in the living room on his way to the kitchen.
Never noticed, she said.

God lives in the details.

cp in bc


----- Original Message -----
From: "William Gould" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Tuesday, February 15, 2005 9:40 AM
Subject: Re: [BP] DENDROCHRONOLOGY IN THE NORTHEAST


> Dendrochronology is the counting of tree rings but the simplicity of the
> concept stops there.  To practice Dendrochronology, you have to establish
a
> reliable calendar for a species of wood, Oak is generally chosen in
southern
> New England, in the area where you want to date timbers.  You do that by
> taking repeated borings for analysis.  When the samples from different
> buildings and timbers in the test area can be dated reliably the test area
> can be expanded until the calendar no longer works.  The greater Boston
> calendar area has been reliable in Johnston,  RI, 50 miles south while not
> reliable northwest of Boston by a lessor distance.  It is a trial and
error
> thing.  It is reliable within an area unless timbers were used from
outside
> the calendar area.  As forests were cut off materials had to be obtained
> elsewhere.  So, there may be a date where Dendrochronology may no longer
be
> effective.  What has been discovered is that trees may be harvested and
not
> used at the same time. There was a four variation in the dates of timbers
> used in a barn on Boston's north shore.  These types of results help us
> understand the methods employed three centuries ago.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> on 2/15/05 1:14 AM, Ruth Barton at [log in to unmask] wrote:
>
> > I never have heard of dendrochronology before but I do so hope some  you
> > folk can come to this because it is less than an hour from me so I could
> > get there to meet you all.  Ruth
> >
> > PS:  I could even take you out to meet some of our native trees.
> >
> >
> > At 4:56 PM -0500 2/14/05, Gabriel Orgrease wrote:
> >> *
> >>
> >> DENDROCHRONOLOGY IN THE NORTHEAST:
> >>
> >> A RESEARCH TOOL COMES OF AGE.
> >>
> >> A Symposium at Historic Deerfield, Deerfield, Massachusetts,
> >>
> >> co-sponsored by Historic New England.
> >>
> >> Thursday, May 19 and Friday, May 20, 2005
> > --
> > Ruth Barton
> > [log in to unmask]
> > Dummerston, VT
> >
> > --
> > To terminate puerile preservation prattling among pals and the
> > uncoffee-ed, or to change your settings, go to:
> > <http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/bullamanka-pinheads.html>
>
> --
> To terminate puerile preservation prattling among pals and the
> uncoffee-ed, or to change your settings, go to:
> <http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/bullamanka-pinheads.html>
>

--
To terminate puerile preservation prattling among pals and the
uncoffee-ed, or to change your settings, go to:
<http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/bullamanka-pinheads.html>