Tell-Tale Trees: Historical Dendroarchaeology of Log Structures at Rocky Mount, Piney Flats, Tennessee

Grissino-Mayer, Henri D.; Gevel, Saskia L. van de

doi:10.1007/bf03377294

Cited by 35 publications

(23 citation statements)

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“…For example, the Rocky Mount Historic Site north of Johnson City, Tennessee, was reportedly built between 1770 and 1772, but our detailed analyses of 88 logs in two structures show these were built instead between 1826 and 1830 (Grissino-Mayer and van de Gevel 2007;GrissinoMayer et al 2008). The Marble Springs Historic Site features two log houses, one of which was once thought to belong to Tennessee's first governor, John Sevier, but the house was built over 20 years after his death in 1815 (see Slayton et al 2009, this volume).…”

Section: The Need For Dendroarchaeology In the Southeastmentioning

confidence: 87%

“…The site did yield, however, 15 measured and crossmatched series from 9 pieces of wood with an interseries correlation of 0.59. throughout the Southeast (Mann 2002;Reding 2002;Wight and Grissino-Mayer 2004). Since 2000, we have been fortunate to become involved with many intriguing, challenging, and controversial cases for which tree-ring dating has proven useful and definitive (see Grissino-Mayer and van de Gevel 2007;Henderson et al 2009, this volume;and Slayton et al 2009, this volume). This volume illustrates not only the diversity of issues that can be addressed, but more so the interdisciplinary nature of dendrochronology.…”

Section: A Brief Historymentioning

confidence: 99%

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Preface An Introduction To Dendroarchaeology In the Southeastern United States

Grissino-Mayer¹

2009

Tree-Ring Research

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Dendroarchaeology has a discontinuous history in the Southeastern United States, mostly because of misconceptions (the Southeast is too mesic), bad sampling practices (no standard protocol exists for preserving prehistoric wood samples), and a lack of reference tree-ring chronologies long enough to date wood from the abundant prehistoric sites. The majority of archaeological applications in recent years has focused on the dating of historic sites and structures to verify the documented year(s) of construction largely in response to requests from historical agencies to verify when a particular structure was built. We have found that most structures are one to two generations younger than their reported date(s) of construction, but most agencies find this information useful as tree-ring dating lends historical credibility to any site. The future of dendroarchaeology in the Southeast is encouraging but many more trained experts are needed to meet the demand of dating historical structures and sites. Furthermore, once a sampling protocol becomes standardized for retrieving wood from prehistoric sites, the potential for absolute dating of these sites is enormous given that abundant wood is archived in locations throughout the Southeast.

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Section: The Need For Dendroarchaeology In the Southeastmentioning

confidence: 87%

Section: A Brief Historymentioning

confidence: 99%

Preface An Introduction To Dendroarchaeology In the Southeastern United States

Grissino-Mayer¹

2009

Tree-Ring Research

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“…Once a convincing graphical match was found, the inner and outer dates were recorded as well as the outermost ring type (Bannister 1962;Nash 1999;Grissino-Mayer and van de Gevel 2007): B: bark is present, indicating the outer ring is fully intact (certainly a cutting date); r: outermost ring is continuous and intact around a smooth (patina) surface, but no bark is present (considered a cutting date); v: the date is within a few years of the cutting date, based on presence of sapwood; vv: impossible to determine how far the outer ring is from the true outer surface (no sapwood and rings in the heartwood are likely missing).…”

Section: Dendrochronological Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

From Blockhouse To Hog House: The Historical Dendroarchaeology Of the Swaggerty Blockhouse, Cocke County, Tennessee, U.S.A

et al. 2009

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The Swaggerty Blockhouse has historical and cultural significance for Tennessee because it is believed to be the only remaining 18 th Century blockhouse in the state. We incorporated analyses of artifacts obtained from archaeological excavations coupled with tree-ring dating techniques to determine the possible year of construction of the structure. A nearby reference tree-ring chronology from Norris Dam anchored the Swaggerty Blockhouse tree-ring chronology from 1674 to 1859. The assemblages of artifacts (nails, ceramics, and window glass) recovered from the site corroborated the construction date and provided a clear understanding of the structure's use as a barn for storage and hog processing. Based on our analyses, the historic Swaggerty ''Blockhouse,'' originally believed to have been built by James Swaggerty in 1787, is instead a small cantilever barn built by Jacob Stephens in 1860 and used for hog farming.

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“…Establishing a range of dates for an archaeological site based on tree-ring dates, however, can be difficult, as timbers can be stored, reused, and replaced throughout the occupational history of a site (Dean 1996(Dean , 1997Grissino-Mayer and van de Gevel 2007). To minimize possible errors when interpreting crossdated cutting dates, observations are based on the degree of temporal clustering associated with these dates (Ahlstrom 1985;Stahle 1979;Grissino-Mayer and van de Gevel 2007). The cutting dates of our samples do provide initial construction dates of the leaching vats at Cagle Saltpetre Cave.…”

Section: Cutting Datesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Douglass 1921Douglass , 1935Stallings 1939;Smiley 1951;Schulman 1952;Bannister 1965Bannister , 1969Nash 1996). In the southeastern U.S., dendrochronology has been used only sparingly in archaeological research on prehistoric sites (Hawley 1938;Bell 1952) and historic structures (Stahle 1979;Stahle and Wolfman 1985;Langley 2000;Bortolot et al 2001;Mann 2002;Wight and Grissino-Mayer 2004;Grissino-Mayer and van de Gevel 2007). Contributing to this paucity of studies is a long history of regional timber exploitation and deforestation in the southeastern U.S. that has removed many of the older tree specimens required for developing the reference chronologies needed to date archaeological samples.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Dendroarchaeology Of Cagle Saltpetre Cave: A 19^thCentury Saltpeter Mining Site In Van Buren County, Tennessee, U.S.A

Blankenship

Pike²,

DeWeese

et al. 2009

Tree-Ring Research

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During the historic mining episodes at Cagle Saltpetre Cave, wooden leaching vats needed for the lixiviation of calcium nitrate from mined sediments (from which saltpeter was then produced) were constructed and used in the cave. When mining operations ceased, these features were abandoned and preserved in situ, some remaining virtually intact. Their remarkable preservation enabled tree-ring dating of timbers associated with these vats to be accomplished. Tree rings from oak planks used in the construction of the leaching vats were measured to 0.001 mm precision on a Velmex measuring system. Using COFECHA software, we crossdated the measurement series to both the Norris Dam State Park and Piney Creek Pocket Wilderness white oak reference chronologies, spanning the years from 1633 to 1982, obtained from the International Tree-Ring Data Bank. Graphical comparisons via scatter plots were inspected to ensure correct temporal placements. The final chronology developed from 39 dated series correlated very highly with the Norris Dam State Park reference chronology (r 5 0.49, n 5 170 yrs, t 5 7.29, p , 0.0001) and verified that our site chronology extends from 1692 to 1861 The results of our analyses indicate that saltpeter was mined and processed at the site during separate episodes throughout the 19 th Century. Additionally, saltpeter-processing technology changed throughout the course of the mining operations.

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Tell-Tale Trees: Historical Dendroarchaeology of Log Structures at Rocky Mount, Piney Flats, Tennessee

Cited by 35 publications

References 8 publications

Preface An Introduction To Dendroarchaeology In the Southeastern United States

Preface An Introduction To Dendroarchaeology In the Southeastern United States

From Blockhouse To Hog House: The Historical Dendroarchaeology Of the Swaggerty Blockhouse, Cocke County, Tennessee, U.S.A

The Dendroarchaeology Of Cagle Saltpetre Cave: A 19^thCentury Saltpeter Mining Site In Van Buren County, Tennessee, U.S.A

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Tell-Tale Trees: Historical Dendroarchaeology of Log Structures at Rocky Mount, Piney Flats, Tennessee

Cited by 35 publications

References 8 publications

Preface An Introduction To Dendroarchaeology In the Southeastern United States

Preface An Introduction To Dendroarchaeology In the Southeastern United States

From Blockhouse To Hog House: The Historical Dendroarchaeology Of the Swaggerty Blockhouse, Cocke County, Tennessee, U.S.A

The Dendroarchaeology Of Cagle Saltpetre Cave: A 19thCentury Saltpeter Mining Site In Van Buren County, Tennessee, U.S.A

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The Dendroarchaeology Of Cagle Saltpetre Cave: A 19^thCentury Saltpeter Mining Site In Van Buren County, Tennessee, U.S.A