Dendrochronology is not a new method for attaining high-precision dates for archaeological and historic remains of timber. But the extent to which dendrochronology is utilized to attain detailed precision of the dating of complex wooden structures can suffer from the fact that the method is often applied in commercial archaeology, where the extent of analysis is severely limited by cost constraints. Instead of lamenting the potentially lost levels of detail that might have slipped through over the years, it is hoped that by presenting the potential of high chronological precision, that necessitates extensive sampling of timber and wood remains on archaeological sites, a new future will be promoted, in which new wide-ranging sampling strategies will become a more normal practice in archaeology, in both the research and commercial spheres. In this paper, I present some case studies where extensive tree-ring analysis of well-preserved wood remains have resulted in annual chronological detail, allowing an insight into the processes of building, and into the duration of structures that comprised the built environment of past peoples' lives. In addition, we should not discuss precision dating for urban archaeological study without also touching on the subject of timber trade and timber provenance. Tree-ring studies are increasingly providing us with high precision provenance identification, not just for shipwrecks, barrels and other 'portable' objects. It is also allowing us to map trade in bulk structural timber. These analyses are providing us with insights into links between territories.

Widespread forest dieback is a phenomenon of global concern that requires an improved understanding of the relationship between tree growth and climate to support conservation efforts. One priority for conservation is the Atlas cedar (), an endangered species exhibiting dieback throughout its North African range. In this study, we evaluate the long-term context for recent dieback and develop a projection of future growth by exploring the periodic variability of its growth through time. First, we present a new tree-ring chronology (1150-2013 CE) from the Middle Atlas mountains, Morocco. We then compare the new chronology to existing chronologies in Morocco and use principal components analysis (PCA) to isolate the common periodic signal from the seven longest available records (PCA, 1271-1984 CE) in the Middle and High Atlas portions of the range. PCA captures 55.7% of the variance and contains significant multidecadal (˜95 yr, ˜57 yr, ˜21 yr) periodic components, revealed through spectral and wavelet analyses. Parallel analyses of historical climate data (1901-2016 CE) suggests that the multidecadal growth signal originates primarily in growing season (spring and summer) precipitation variability, compounded by slow-changing components of summer and winter temperatures. Finally, we model the long-term growth patterns between 1271-1984 CE using a small number (three to four) of harmonic components, illustrating that suppressed growth since the 1970s - a factor implicated in the dieback of this species - is consistent with recurrent climatically-driven growth declines. Forward projection of this model suggests two climatically-favourable periods for growth in the 21st century that may enhance current conservation actions for the long-term survival of the in the Middle and High Atlas mountains.

A time series intervention analysis (TSIA) of dendrochronological data to infer the tree growth-climate-disturbance relations and forest disturbance history is described. Maximum likelihood is used to estimate the parameters of a structural time series model with components for climate and forest disturbances (i.e., pests, diseases, fire). The statistical method is illustrated with a tree-ring width time series for a mature closed-canopy Douglas-fir stand on the west slopes of the Cascade Mountains of Oregon, USA that is impacted by Swiss needle cast disease caused by the foliar fungus, (Rhode) Petrak. The likelihood-based TSIA method is proposed for the field of dendrochronology to understand the interaction of temperature, water, and forest disturbances that are important in forest ecology and climate change studies.

I present a new software that links a program for image analysis (SigmaScan), one for spreadsheets (Excel) and one for statistical analysis (R) for applications of tree-ring analysis. The first macro measures ring width marked by the user on scanned images, stores raw and detrended data in Excel and calculates the distance to the pith and inter-series correlations. A second macro measures darkness along a defined path to identify latewood-earlywood transition in conifers, and a third shows the potential for automatic detection of boundaries. Written in Visual Basic for Applications, the code makes use of the advantages of existing programs and is consequently very economic and relatively simple to adjust to the requirements of specific projects or to expand making use of already available code.

In the present study, 208 furniture and 168 coopered vessels from three Austrian museums were examined. Dendrochronology was used to date objects and to extract further information such as the necessary time for seasoning, wood loss through wood-working and methods of construction. In most cases sampling was done by sanding the cross section and making digital photographs using a picture frame and measuring digitally. The dendrochronological dates of the sampled furniture range between 1524 and 1937. The group of furniture includes cupboards, chests, tables, benches, commodes and beds. In many cases furniture was artfully painted and sometimes even shows a painted year. With the help of dendrochronology it was proved that some objects had been painted for some time after construction, or had been over-painted. Most furniture, however, was painted immediately after completion. In this case, the seasoning and storage time of the boards and the wood loss due to shaping can be verified. As an average value, 14 years have passed between the dendrochronological date of the outermost ring and the painting. The time span includes time of seasoning and storage and the rings lost by wood-working. This leads, on the one hand to a short storage time of less than 10 years and on the other hand to very little wood loss due to manufacturing. Those boards being less shaped turned out to be back panels of cupboards, therefore they are recommended to be sampled for dating. Coopered vessels were dated between 1612 and 1940. There was evidence that staves were split and not sawn in many cases. The staves were often split out of the outermost part of the tree and hardly any wood was worked away which was proved by the close dendrochronological dates of the single staves of a vessel. Since there is a short time of storage and only little wood loss through wood-working, dating of objects without a waney edge becomes reasonable.

This paper presents a multi-century, maximum latewood density (MXD) chronology developed from living and sub-fossil spruce trees from the Eastern Alps. The chronology is continuous from 88AD to 2008AD. This time series has been analysed with respect to its possible use for climate reconstruction. Correlations with climatic data showed strong dependence between MXD of growth rings and temperature of April, May, June, July, August and September and a weaker, negative dependence with precipitation of May and September. For solar radiation a positive relationship was noted for April, July, August and September. Light rings were frequently observed within the analysed samples and the climate of years with light rings was examined. Mean monthly temperatures in January, June, August, September and October, averaged during light ring years, were cooler than during years without light rings. Precipitation was also significantly reduced in March during light ring years. In turn, solar radiation during light ring years has significantly lowered values in February and August. The occurrence of light rings was often positively related to strong volcanic events.