The Past Climate of Arroyo Hondo, New Mexico Reconstructed From Tree Rings

The Past Climate of Arroyo Hondo New Mexico Reconstructed From Tree Rings
Martin R. Rose, Jeffrey S. Dean and William J. Robinson, 1983, School of American Research Press, Santa Fe, New Mexico, Arroyo Hondo Archeological Series, Volume 4

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At the time of the Arroyo Hondo Pueblo project, dendroclimatology, the study of the interrelationships between trees and climate, had entered a new age as the result of advancing concepts, techniques, and equipment. This monograph reflects the maturing sophistication of the discipline. The application of dendroclimatic methods to the wealth of tree-ring specimens from Arroyo Hondo Pueblo was beneficial for all concerned. For the authors of this volume, Arroyo Hondo provided the raw material necessary for the first attempt to “use archeological tree-ring chronologies as a database for quantitative reconstructions of climatic variables for the prehistoric period.” This study offered a unique record of climatic variability: the reconstruction of annual and seasonal precipitation in inches from AD 985 to 1970.

The dendroclimatological study reported in this volume provides significant insights into the chronology of the prehistoric sequence of events at Arroyo Hondo Pueblo. So close is the correlation between the precipitation changes reflected by tree rings and the major developments seen in the archeological record that causal relationships between the two are considered.

The work of Rose, Dean, and Robinson contributes significantly to an understanding of the cultural dynamics of Arroyo Hondo Pueblo. Their approach to reconstructing climate from tree rings is much more than a simple translation of tree-ring widths into precipitation variability. Only a complex and exacting statistical analysis can produce the precision of results achieved in this study, which has proved invaluable to archaeologists throughout the Southwest.

Volume Index

Reviews for The Past Climate of Arroyo Hondo, New Mexico, Reconstructed from Tree Rings

Adams, E. Charles

1982 Review of The Past Climate of Arroyo Hondo, New Mexico, Reconstructed from Tree Rings, by Martin R. Rose, Jeffrey S. Dean, and William J. Robinson. American Antiquity 1982: 911-914.

Bice, Richard A.

1981 Review of The Past Climate of Arroyo Hondo, New Mexico, Reconstructed from Tree Rings, by Martin S. Rose, Jeffrey S. Dean, and William J. Robinson. Albuquerque Archaeological Society Newsletter 16(7): 6-7.

Lyon, Fern

1981 Southwestern Bookshelf. New Mexico Magazine September 1981: 56. 

Meighan, Clement

1981 Review of The Past Climate of Arroyo Hondo, New Mexico, Reconstructed from Tree Rings, by Martin S. Rose, Jeffrey S. Dean, and William J. Robinson. The Masterkey 55: 156. 

Phillips, Aileen Paul

1981 Looking at Books. The New Mexican July 23: D-6 – D-7.

Reis, J. R.

1981 Review of The Past Climate of Arroyo Hondo, New Mexico, Reconstructed from Tree Rings, by Martin S. Rose, Jeffrey S. Dean, and William J. Robinson. Books of the Southwest August 1981: 7.