{"title":"The impact of the volcanic double event in AD 536 and AD 539/540 on tree-ring growth and felling activity in Danish oak trees","authors":"Hanne Marie Ellegård Larsen , Claudia Baittinger , Niels Bonde , Jonas Ogdal Jensen , Morten Søvsø , Jens Ulriksen , Morten Fischer Mortensen","doi":"10.1016/j.jasrep.2024.104689","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Tree-ring chronologies around the Northern Hemisphere have revealed the formation of extremely narrow growth rings during the mid-sixth century due to drastic climate changes caused by two or more large volcanic eruptions in AD 536 and AD 539/540. We explored the influence of these climate changes on tree-ring growth and felling activity of Danish oak trees (<em>Quercus</em> sp.) between AD 300 and AD 800. In total, 654 wooden samples from archaeological excavations were used to create a solid tree-ring chronology on a national and regional level (eastern and western Denmark). Tree-ring data from The International Tree-Ring Data Bank were used for comparison of growth patterns. Furthermore, felling dates from all samples were pooled into ten-year intervals to reveal changes in felling activity over time; a factor which reflects human activity in relation to climate changes.</p><p>The national tree-ring chronology revealed a pronounced decrease in growth in AD 536 and AD 539 (33% and 53% growth reduction relative to the level of AD 535). Regionally, the same results were found for western Denmark, while trees from eastern Denmark showed the largest growth reduction in AD 540. Furthermore, tree-ring chronologies from four sample sites did not show a conspicuous growth decrease. This regional and local variation may be due to differences in soil characteristics between eastern and western Denmark and/or local differences in climate change impacts. Other tree-ring chronologies from the Northern Hemisphere showed growth reduction in AD 536 and the years between AD 539 and AD 543 indicating regional differences in growth and climate conditions as well.</p><p>A gradual decrease in felling activity was found from AD 430 and between AD 470 and AD 550 it was almost absent. The low amount dendrochronological material from the fifth century very likely affected our results and no effect of climate changes on felling activity i.e. changes in human activity could be linked to this event.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":48150,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Archaeological Science-Reports","volume":"59 ","pages":"Article 104689"},"PeriodicalIF":1.5000,"publicationDate":"2024-09-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of Archaeological Science-Reports","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352409X24003171","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"0","JCRName":"ARCHAEOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Tree-ring chronologies around the Northern Hemisphere have revealed the formation of extremely narrow growth rings during the mid-sixth century due to drastic climate changes caused by two or more large volcanic eruptions in AD 536 and AD 539/540. We explored the influence of these climate changes on tree-ring growth and felling activity of Danish oak trees (Quercus sp.) between AD 300 and AD 800. In total, 654 wooden samples from archaeological excavations were used to create a solid tree-ring chronology on a national and regional level (eastern and western Denmark). Tree-ring data from The International Tree-Ring Data Bank were used for comparison of growth patterns. Furthermore, felling dates from all samples were pooled into ten-year intervals to reveal changes in felling activity over time; a factor which reflects human activity in relation to climate changes.
The national tree-ring chronology revealed a pronounced decrease in growth in AD 536 and AD 539 (33% and 53% growth reduction relative to the level of AD 535). Regionally, the same results were found for western Denmark, while trees from eastern Denmark showed the largest growth reduction in AD 540. Furthermore, tree-ring chronologies from four sample sites did not show a conspicuous growth decrease. This regional and local variation may be due to differences in soil characteristics between eastern and western Denmark and/or local differences in climate change impacts. Other tree-ring chronologies from the Northern Hemisphere showed growth reduction in AD 536 and the years between AD 539 and AD 543 indicating regional differences in growth and climate conditions as well.
A gradual decrease in felling activity was found from AD 430 and between AD 470 and AD 550 it was almost absent. The low amount dendrochronological material from the fifth century very likely affected our results and no effect of climate changes on felling activity i.e. changes in human activity could be linked to this event.
期刊介绍：
Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports is aimed at archaeologists and scientists engaged with the application of scientific techniques and methodologies to all areas of archaeology. The journal focuses on the results of the application of scientific methods to archaeological problems and debates. It will provide a forum for reviews and scientific debate of issues in scientific archaeology and their impact in the wider subject. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports will publish papers of excellent archaeological science, with regional or wider interest. This will include case studies, reviews and short papers where an established scientific technique sheds light on archaeological questions and debates.
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