New Britain herald., 1929-12-03
Findings Are Checked by Sunspots and Solve the Riddles of Pre-HistOr- ical Era in America.

F'' VI NllN olllAtNl tolo ltS--tllt ldl- Ing Of the scores of important h. Han ruins of cur southwest--Was announced today hy the National Geographic society.
 The answer is given in d uniuuo 'orm, a tree-ring calendar, worked aut from the study of more than 5000 cross sections of living trees Ind timbers from scores Of the ma Tor Indian settlements of our south vest.
 From Sun Spots to Timbcr>
 The quest for the missing dates Attended over years. It ranged from Astronomical study 10 sun spots, through geology. archoology and klndrcd sciences, until it Culminated n piccing together the fragmcntarv fues of timber and tree rines-evi Hence as conclusive as that of finger prints.
 Y, Two series Of National Geographic 'oclety expeditions were involved in inc results One series. comprisin. 3iSht expeditions led by Neil M. Judd explored the world famous Pueblo Bonito ruins in Chaco Caa- q 'on, New Mexico. and patiently dug rom tons of earth hundreds of art objects. household utensils and cer- .monlal appurtenances. The other ' tcrles. led by Dr. A. F.. Douglass. studied tree rings from Pueblo oonlto and dozens of other ruins.
 knew Details, But Not Dates
 Of the daily lives of the people It the giant pre-Columbian apart nent house at Pueblo Bonito, as at many other Indian ruins in Ihc HuthWest, which was North Ameri- as metropolis before Columbus 'alne. We long have known as much IS We do of the early Egyptians. babylonians, or Persians.
 AS travellers stood in amaZemcnt selore one or another of the ruins II these marvellous civilizations of Eur own continent their almost in ,'ariable question has been. How 'Id IS it:' And that has been the 'nc question which archcoIosists ;ould not answer.
 Scientific Value of Finds
 l'r. Gilbert Grosvenor. president 't the National Geographic society. assessing the value of tn finds 'l the expeditions. says:
 hey have pushed back the his nrlc horizons of the southwestern tnlted States to a period nearly hght centuries before Columbus / crossed the Atlantic,
 'Thoy have discovered not only he age of the great cornmuna, iWelilnS of Pueblo Bonito, mctrono- IS Of our aboriginal southwest, but dso nave dated some 40 other ruins NhoSe time of occupancy hitherto tad been unknown.
 MoroovcF, they have deycIoncd T. rcc-rInS calendar which can be an- 'hcd 10 all carly ruins in which dat- tblc timbers exist.
 "A collateral finding of great inter- st, yet to be developed is the nos 1ble relations between the weather scles clearly revealed in this tree AhG calendar of the southwostcrn +nlled States and similar cyclic .,ar duohs belnG recorded by a third >atlonal Geographic society cypedj- don Gin conjunction with the Smith oman lnstitution), an cypedition fhIch still is in the field, at Mount Sfukkaros, southwest Africa. mlk- us dally observations of solar ra- Gation.'
 1,2OO-I Year Weather Chart
 pr. Douglass, in his report 10 inc ;ational Geogra phic society. writes. Just as the far-famed Rosetta 'ohe provided the key to the 'f'1ten mysteries Of ancient Egypt. the collection Of an unbroken eTles Of tree rings has made clear he chronology of the Southwest.
 :. Ihese researches have carried he calendar back to 4. D. zoo in he southwest. and they have pro- fded the beginnings Of a continu- LIS weather chart for 1,oO0 years. Through this work we have aarned of some outstanding events n America which were contempo- meous with the conquest of Spain y the Moors. and we know that |rtaln Pueblo Indian settlements ferc enjoying their golden ages then William the ConQueror faced Harold the Saxon at the Battle of dastings
 ''Thc earliest beam We recovered rom Pueblo Bonto was cut A. D. 19 from tree that was o10 years ld when cut. Pueblo Bonito had cached it's golden age in 1OG7 and fas still occupied in 1127."
 Some Mesa Verde Dates
 rl In many instances, pr. Douglass cport points out. one group name applied 10 several ruins. The talkative tree rings" enabled the Splorers to date each ruin of the 1oups studied. Thus. in the Mesa 'erdc group, Cliff Palace is dated o73; Oak Tree House. HIP; Spring House, 1115; Balcony House. 119o- DOC; Square Tower House. 12O4 md Spruce Tree House, 1a16 and cGo.
 Explaining the procedure by ihich the troe-rng calendar was torked out, Dr. Douglass explains: .'"The method which we have ssed in extending tho historical alendar Of the Southwest Is the utcome of long attempt 10 read he diaries Of trees Every year tho rces in our forests show the swing f Times pendulum and put down . mark. They are chronographs ccordng clocks, by which the sue ,eedinG seasons are set down trough definite imprints. Every ear each pine adds a layer Of new iood over its entire living surface f trunk and branches.
 How Tree Registers Time "lf every year were exactly the Ano, growth rings would tell the .cr of thc tree and littIn nlnrn OnlN