NOVA Online | The Vikings | Build a Tree Timeline - Homework Help

NOVA Online | The Vikings | Build a Tree Timeline
by Rick Groleau
PBS.org

If you're the skeptical type, you might raise an eyebrow when you hear that a particular Viking ship was built in the year 819. How could anyone determine the age of such an aged object so precisely, especially when there are absolutely no records to verify the date?

Well, tree-ring dating, or dendrochronology, can be this precise, and even more so. Dendrochronologists showed that an ancient wooden road uncovered in southwestern England not only was built in 3806 B.C., but that the trees used for the road were chopped down in the winter of that year (the winter of 3807-3806). The science can also reveal the origin of old pieces of wood. In one case, archeologists determined not only the age of a Viking ship found in Denmark, they also learned that it was built in Ireland.

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