Mike,
Hi, Robert is the first name but I got by my middle, Joel.
Thanks for the references, helpful but not exactly what I was hoping
for. I was hoping for references to the actual tree ring data in
which they show the ring data (pictures of rings, stats on widths,
how the correlations among trees was done etcc..). The web site you
refer to have no references included and although you/they elude to
experts saying things they are still somewhat general in nature and
don't show the sources. Are these reference the ones you are basing
your opinion on? I'm not sure I could just accept this data without
seeing the source. Not that I am doubting the particular tree ring
data but surely Baille has published his data in journals, and it is
the original journal articles that I am interested in getting my
hands on. Thanks.
Joel
>Joel (or is it Robert?),
>
>You wrote: I apologize if I missed it but I am interested in the tree ring
>data and I was wondering if you had given a reference for climatological
>interpretation of the Mesopotanian region based on tree rings. I would like
>to get the original articles for my own collection.
>
>One of the articles I originally linked to had a link to this article:
>
>http://www.asnsw.com/articles/tda-gb.htm
>
>It says in part:
>Mike Baillie is Professor of Palaeoecology at Queens University, Belfast,
>Northern Ireland. He is an authority on tree rings and their use in dating
>ancient events (every year, a tree adds a "ring" to its trunk as it grows -
>good years are represented by thick rings while bad years are represented by
>thin rings). He conducted a complete (and continuous) review of annual global
>tree growth patterns over the last 5,000 years and found that there were five
>major environmental shocks that were witnessed worldwide. These shocks were
>reflected in the ring widths being very thin. Wanting to know more, he turned
>to human historical records, and found that the years in question (between
>2354 and 2345 BC, 1628 and 1623 BC, 1159 and 1141 BC, 208 and 204 BC, and AD
>536 and 545) all corresponded with "dark ages" in civilisation.
>
>The minimal growth of trees around 2350 BC has been associated in the past
>with the eruption of a volcano in Iceland. Yet, the period in question is
>also associated with floods, the creation of new lakes, and even the start of
>Chinese history. Furthermore, Marie-Agnes Courty, an archaeologist from
>France, has claimed new data regarding a catastrophe said to have occurred in
>the Middle East. Samples from three separate regions all appear to contain a
>calcite material found only in meteorites, and analysis of debris show what
>seems to be a combination of "a burnt surface horizon and air blast."
>
>You may want to try this article which also discusses the subject matter:
>
>http://www.morien-institute.org/atlantislinks.html
>
>It says in part:
>
>The situation is summed up well by Social Anthropologist, Dr. Benny J.
>Peiser, of John Moores University, Liverpool: "At some time around 2300 BC, a
>large number of major civilisations collapsed. At the same time, there is
>widespread evidence for abrupt and widespread environmental catastrophes.
>Sudden sea-level changes, catastrophic inundations, widespread seismic
>activity and earthquake damage, changes in glacial features and a signal for
>an abrupt climatic downturn have been detected at c. 2350. A survey of some
>500 excavation reports, research papers and scientific abstract on late 3rd
>Millennium BC civilisation collapse and environmental change show a distinct
>patttern of environmental and social upheaval at this time."
>
>The evidence the BSCC is accumulating has been greatly helped by the
>dendrochronological (tree-ring) records, which are able to determine 'exact
>dates' of abrupt climate changes by virtue of the fact that each tree-ring
>represents the growth of a particular tree in a single year. The leading
>scientist in this field, Mike Baillie, an archˆ¶ologist, at Queens University,
>Belfast, in the north of Ireland, developed the computer program that allows
>any piece of wood recovered during archˆ¶ological excavations to be precisely
>dated.
>
>The dendrochronology record stretches back some 8,000 years, and throughout
>that period Baillie has noted numerous 'narrowest tree-ring events' that
>indicate poor annual growth. From this data Baillie has produced several
>dates throughout the last 5,000 years in which the climate abruptly changed,
>and he correlated these with ice-core records, marine and lake sediment
>records, pollen and paleo-climatic records.
>
>Mike
>
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