German Tree-Ring Chronology from 320 to 157 BC

NOAA/WDS Paleoclimatology archives a tree-ring chronology from a violin made by Johannes Jais in Mittenwald, Germany. The data covers the period from 320 to 157 calendar years before present (BP). It is maintained by the NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information under the World Data Service for Paleoclimatology.

Use Cases

• Reconstruct past climate variables like temperature or precipitation using the annual tree-ring width series.
• Cross-date historical artifacts by comparing the violin's ring-width pattern against regional master chronologies.
• Analyze long-term environmental trends in Western Europe during the period 320-157 BP.
• Calibrate radiocarbon dating for the late pre-Roman Iron Age in Central Europe using the precisely dated tree-ring sequence.

Strengths

• Covers a 163-year continuous time series from 320 to 157 BP.
• Sourced from a historically significant instrument, providing precise dendrochronological dating.

Limitations

• Limited geographic scope to a single location in Mittenwald, Germany.
• Unknown sample depth (number of cores/trees) used to build the chronology.
• Data freshness is unclear as the record's last update is listed as 1793.

Provenance

Source

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

Collection Method

Tree-ring analysis (dendrochronology) of wood from the 'Ratcliff - Mittenwald Johannes Jais Violin'.

Time Range

320 to 157 calendar years before present (BP).

Geography

Mittenwald, Germany, Western Europe.