Reading the Rings: How Trees Reveal the Past

To understand our recent past, we can turn to recorded history.
In the UK, we are fortunate to have written records covering hundreds of years. But what if we want to go further back? How do we know the precise age of a medieval building or a Bronze Age coffin? And more importantly, how do we know if our modern climate is unusual?
In this talk, Dr Darren Davies, a Physical Geographer from Swansea University, will introduce dendrochronology: the science of analysing tree rings. Moving beyond traditional dendrochronology, this talk will examine how analysing the chemical composition of tree rings is transforming the field, from dating ‘undatable’ samples to providing a greater understanding of past climates.
At the end of the talk, there will be an opportunity for questions and to handle and examine timbers dated to different periods over the last 5,000 years, including samples from The Museum of Gloucester that have played an important role in ongoing research.