Boston Archaeological Timber Tree-Ring Chronology from 372-165 BP

Massachusetts tree-ring data from archaeological timbers, covering the period from 372 to 165 calendar years before present. The dataset was produced by Krusic and archived by NOAA's World Data Service for Paleoclimatology. This study is part of the International Tree-Ring Data Bank collection MA003.

Use Cases

• Reconstructing past climate variables like temperature or precipitation from the tree-ring width time-series.
• Cross-dating archaeological timber samples from the Boston region using the established chronology.
• Analyzing growth patterns in tree-ring parameters to study historical environmental stress events.
• Calibrating radiocarbon dates for the 372-165 BP period using the dendrochronological record.

Strengths

• Data covers a 207-year period (372-165 BP), providing a multi-century climate proxy.
• Archived by NOAA's authoritative World Data Service for Paleoclimatology, ensuring long-term preservation.

Limitations

• The exact sample size (number of tree cores or timbers) is unspecified, limiting statistical confidence assessment.
• Geographic scope is limited to a single location (Massachusetts), reducing broad climatic representativeness.
• Data is temporally stale, with a last updated date of 1785, indicating no recent revisions.

Provenance

Source

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI), World Data Service (WDS) for Paleoclimatology.

Collection Method

Tree-ring analysis (dendrochronology) of archaeological timbers.

Time Range

372 to 165 calendar years before present (BP).

Freshness

null

Geography

Massachusetts, United States Of America.