Abstract
The strength of dendrochronology is chronology. No other non-textual dating technique in the world provides the precision, accuracy, and resolution of dendrochronology. Indeed, dendrochronology is famous for dating prehistoric ruins, and Douglass’ “Bridging the Gap” is still considered one of the greatest achievements in archaeology anywhere, but what happens when samples don’t date? Should they simply be discarded as useless, stored until better chronologies and new techniques are available, or do they contain useful information for current research interests? Using undated collections from the southwestern US and northwestern Mexico, this paper discusses a variety of behavioral and environmental information present in samples, even if they cannot contribute to our chronological knowledge.
Highlights
Dendroarchaeological samples are products of both past tree growth and past human behaviors and contain three types of information: chronological, behavioral, and environmental [1]
The three types of information retained by archaeological tree ring samples are independent of each other
The absence of absolute Christian-calendar dates does not preclude delineating past human behaviors or illuminating aspects of past environmental conditions from dendroarchaeological samples
Summary
Dendroarchaeological samples are products of both past tree growth and past human behaviors and contain three types of information: chronological, behavioral, and environmental [1]. The company operated a logging and lumber operation on the Sabine River, which separates Texas and Louisiana, during the late 19th and early 20th centuries It appears that Samuel Ealy Johnson acquired a load of lumber needing to be transported by ship down the Sabine river to a Texas port (probably Houston), by railroad to San Antonio, and, by wagon the last 50 km (30 mi) from San Antonio to Johnson City. This acquisition, informs us about the economic and transportation systems operating in late 19th century Texas.
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