Lab Work

Lab, Week 2: Dendrochronology

Dendrochronology, or tree-ring dating, is the study and analysis of wood samples from archaeological sites. Trees put on a new growth ring each year, and the thickness of the ring varies based on many factors (but especially precipitation). Scientists have established a chronology based on these different patterns of thin and thick rings that can be used to date a tree sample from an archaeological site. Dendrochronology can tell you the exact year that tree was cut down!

Tree cookies anyone?
They're great! (If you're a termite.)

Dendrochronology:
How an archaeologist gets a date! (Hey, ya' wanta' come over to my place and check out my tree rings?)

Mariah and Kelsey wait patiently as Lew rambles on about the virtues of tree ring dating. "Blah, blah, blah, blah ...."

"I learned to analyze objects I wouldn't have imagined had any
significance and how to learn from these objects."
- Mariah

Here's Kate coloring in the roof beams on a map of the roof-fall of Kiva 501 at Sand Canyon Pueblo.

Ali is busy coloring too!

Students work together to make a stem-and-leaf plot of the cutting dates to interpret when Kiva 501 at Sand Canyon Pueblo was built.

"The best part was getting to color with highlighters!
I haven't done that since elementary school!"
- Anonymous

Lew continues to ramble on about stem-and-leaf plots.
"Blah, blah, blah, blah ..."

Captions by Lew.