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

Reviews of 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.

This volume is a landmark study of advances in dendrochronology that allow researchers to reconstruct the past climates of certain areas. The first five chapters detail the base data and outline the statistical manipulation necessary to reconstruct past precipitation levels based on tree ring width. While seeming overly detailed, these chapters confirm the exciting and statistically persuasive nature of the study’s results. Ten-year averaged values revealed that Arroyo Hondo was founded during a period characterized by wet springs and then fully abandoned in a decade characterized by the severest drought in the 1,000 years represented in the dendrochronology chart.

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.

This volume’s importance transcends the Arroyo Hondo project because of its methodology’s great applicability to similar studies in other areas. The end results of the authors’ rigorous study are precipitation charts for the Santa Fe area spanning the period from A.D. 985 to 1971. This is a rare study in which the quality of the experimental data actually merited the high level of statistical treatment employed. Congruence between precipitation levels and momentous events in the site’s occupation and life history suggest an environmental driving force. The pueblo was first established about A.D. 1300 in a period of increasing precipitation. It was finally abandoned around A.D. 1420 after a catastrophic fire and a major drought.

Lyon, Fern

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

A study generated with computer technology and full of tables, charts, and graphs.

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.

This 4th volume in a future 10 volume series on the site of Arroyo Hondo includes well-presented and thorough data.

Phillips, Aileen Paul

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

Arroyo Hondo is a 14th century town that has been the focus of a multidisciplinary research project initiated in 1979. The authors’ approach is much more than a simple translation of tree-ring widths into precipitation variability. The great precision presented in this book is instead the result of a complex and exciting statistical analysis.

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.

This is a statistical reconstruction of climate at Arroyo Hondo using tree ring chronologies as a data base. Inferences of precipitation level suggest that moisture and drought played a large role in population changes at the site.