Provenance Of Wood Research Articles

The Qijurittuq site (IbGk-3), Eastern Hudson Bay: An IPY Interdisciplinary Study

Geografisk Tidsskrift—Danish Journal of Geography 110(2):227–243, 2010 An interdisciplinary study was conducted at Qijurittuq (IbGk-3), an archaeological site located on Drayton Island along the eastern shore of Hudson Bay, Nunavik. Local Inuit made important contributions to the research. High school students participated in the field school, and elders shared their traditional knowledge. The elders expressed an interest in the source of the wood used to construct Qijurittuq's semi-subterranean dwellings, and this inspired us to expand our research in that direction. This interdisciplinary study included a reconstruction of the geomorphological and environmental history of Drayton Island, wood provenance and dendrochronology studies, research on house architecture and settlement patterns, and a zooarchaeological analysis. This paper synthesizes the preliminary results of this interdisciplinary investigation within the context of climate change. We discuss the persistence of semi-subterranean dwellings in eastern Hudson Bay long after they had been abandoned elsewhere. At Qijurittuq, their abandonment corresponds with the end of Little Ice Age. However, at the same time, the development of more permanent contact with Euro-Canadians was having a strong impact upon Inuit culture.

The Tannins of Oak Heartwood: Structure, Properties, and Their Influence on Wine Flavor

Barrels used for the aging of wines and spirits are constructed from oak heartwood. Heartwood tannins (soluble polyphenols) are the most abundant of the constituents of oak wood that are potentially extracted into the wine during aging. The structure and properties of these compounds are reviewed, as are methods of analysis. Studies of the natural variation in the concentration of heartwood tannins are summarized and show that levels are highly variable within and between individual trees and especially between wood provenance and species. Despite the abundance of heartwood tannins and their solubility in the wines, the concentration in oak-aged wines is generally lower then expected and their influence on wine flavor remains uncertain. Different studies and hypotheses concerning the influence of oak tannins during wine aging are reviewed and conclusions drawn on our current understanding of their role.