 | What Is Dendrochronology?
Each year a tree lives, a new ring of wood appears in its trunk. Theserings can be counted, and the total number reveals the tree's age. Each ofthese rings vary in size, and this variation is related to the climate. A thick ring indicates favorable growing conditions, meaning plenty of water and sun, and mild weather. A thinner ring suggests harder times, perhaps drought, a cold summer, or a damaging forest fire. This pattern of thick and thin rings is shared by all the trees growing in a particular region at the same time.
The study of tree rings, and the information they contain, is known asdendrochronology. By matching ring patterns in living trees to patterns inold timbers, scientists have created a record of climatic changes reachingdeep into prehistory.
Dendrochronology: This term comes from a combination of three Greek words: "dendron," meaning tree, "chronos," meaning time, and "logos," meaning the science of. Together, they mean the scientific study of climatic changes through the examination of tree ring patterns.
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