樹輪年代學，又稱樹木年輪學、樹輪學（詞源解釋：源自，樹木；，時間；，學科。）是一種透過對樹木年輪進行科學分析而測定年代的方法。這門學科是 20 世紀上半葉由亞利桑那大學教授，樹輪研究實驗室的創辦人發展起來的。在考古學、美術史、領域有重要應用價值。 樹輪年代學用於確定樣本的精確年代，特別常用於確定因為年代較近，用放射性測年僅能給出大致時段，無法確定精確年代的樣本。然而，為了精確給出一棵死亡樹木的年代，需要獲得包含樹木外沿的完整樣本 大多數經過加工的木板無法滿足這樣的要求。這種方法還能用來確定某些事件發生的時間或環境變化速率（大多數時候與氣候變化有關），或者確定考古發掘的木材、工藝品或建築的年代，比如古代版畫的年代。這種方法也用於檢查放射性測年的資料，以校準碳同位素測年的精度。The term dendrochronology was coined in 1928 by the American astronomer Andrew Ellicott Douglass 18671962 Douglass AE 1928 Climatic Cycles and Tree Growth Vol II A Study of the Annual Rings of Trees in relation to Climate and Solar Activity Washington DC USA Carnegie Institute of Washington p 5 From p 5 One can see that in all this we are measuring the lapse of time by means of a slowgeared clock within trees For this study the namedendrochronologyhas been suggested ortreetime樹上新生的細胞會在靠近樹皮處形成一層。一棵樹的生長速率會因為當年的氣候變化而發生有規律的變化，在樹幹上生成可見的生長輪。樹幹的每一輪都標誌著一個樹木經過了一個完整的季節週期或者一年的變化。GrissinoMayer Henri D nd The Science of Tree Rings Principles of Dendrochronology Department of Geography The University of Tennessee archived from the original on November 4 2016 retrieved October 23 2016 直到 2020 年，準確的北半球樹木年輪資料已經回溯至 13910 年之前。van der Plecht J Bronck Ramsey C Heaton T J Scott E M Talamo S August 2020Recent Developments in Calibration for Archaeological and Environmental Samples Radiocarbon 62 4 10951117 doi101017RDC202022 目前還有一種較新的測年方法，利用每一個年輪的氧同位素之變化來測年。這種方法稱為 同位素樹木年輪法（isotope dendrochronology），可以用於測定因為年輪太少或過於相似，不適於使用傳統樹木年輪法測定的樣本。Loader Neil J Mccarroll Danny Miles Daniel Young Giles H F Davies Darren Ramsey Christopher Bronk August 2019Tree ring dating using oxygen isotopes a master chronology for central England Journal of Quaternary Science 34 6 475490 Bibcode2019JQS34475L doi101002jqs3115 歷史 希臘植物學家泰奧弗拉斯托斯首次提出樹木具有輪線。Theophrastus with Arthur Hort trans Enquiry into Plants volume 1 London England William Heinemann 1916 Book V p 423 From p 423 Moreover the wood of the silverfir has many layers like an onion there is always another beneath that which is visible and the wood is composed of such layers throughout Although many sources claim that Theophrastus recognized that trees form growth rings annually this is not trueFor the history of dendrochronology see Condensed from James H Speer Fundamentals of Treering Research Tucson Arizona University of Arizona Press 2010 Chapter 3 History of Dendrochronology pp 2842 達芬奇 14521519 在《繪畫論》中則第一次指出樹木的輪線乃是年輪，其厚度有樹木發生的條件決定。See Leonardo da Vinci Trattato della Pittura Rome Italy 1817 p 396 From p 396 Li circuli delli rami degli alberi segati mostrano il numero delli suoi anni e quali furono più umidi o più secchi la maggiore o minore loro grossezza The rings around the branches of trees that have been sawn show the number of its years and which years were the wetter or drier according to the more or less their thickness Sarton George 1954 Queries and Answers Query 145 When was treering analysis discovered Isis 45 4 383384 Sarton also cites a diary of the French writer Michel de Montaigne who in 1581 was touring Italy where he encountered a carpenter who explained that trees form a new ring each year1737 年，法國博物家 HenriLouis Duhamel du Monceau 與布豐考察了生長條件與樹木年輪形狀之關係。du Hamel de Buffon 27 February 1737 De la cause de lexcentricité des couches ligneuses quon apperçoit quand on coupe horisontalement le tronc dun arbre de linégalité dépaisseur de different nombre de ces couches tant dans le bois formé que dans laubier Archived 20150509 at the Wayback Machine On the cause of the eccentricity of the woody layers that one sees when one horizontally cuts the trunk of a tree on the unequal thickness and on the different number of layers in the mature wood as well as in the sapwood Mémoires de lAcadémie royale des science in Histoire de lAcadémie royale des sciences pp 121134 他們發現，1709 的嚴冬造成了獨特的深色樹輪，成為後來歐洲諸多自然學家的參考資料。du Hamel de Buffon 4 May 1737 Observations des différents effets que produisent sur les végétaux les grandes gelées dhiver et les petites gelées du printemps Archived 20150509 at the Wayback Machine Observations on the different effects that the severe frosts of winter and the minor frosts of spring produce on plants Mémoires de lAcadémie royale des science in Histoire de lAcadémie royale des sciences pp 273298 Studhalter 1956 p 33 stated that Carl Linnaeus 1745 1751 in Sweden Friedrich August Ludwig von Burgsdorf 1783 in Germany and Alphonse de Candolle 18391840 in France subsequently observed the same tree ring in their samples 在美國，Alexander Catlin Twining 18011884 在 1933 年提出，樹木年輪的模式可以用來同步各種樹木的年代，因此可以用於重建整個地區從前的氣候條件。Alexander C Twining 1833 On the growth of timber Extract of a letter from Mr Alexander C Twining to the Editor dated Albany April 9 1833 Archived May 14 2015 at the Wayback Machine The American Journal of Science 24 391393 英國博物學家查爾斯巴貝奇（Charles Babbage）提出，可以使用樹木年輪學來定年泥碳沼中殘餘的樹木甚至地層 1835 1838。See Anon 1835 Evening meeting at the Rotunda Archived 20150514 at the Wayback Machine Proceedings of the Fifth Meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science held in Dublin during the week from the 10th to the 15th of August 1835 inclusive pp 116117 Charles Babbage 1838 On the age of strata as inferred from rings of trees embedded in them Archived 20150515 at the Wayback Machine The Ninth Bridgewater Treatise A Fragment 2nd ed London England John Murray 1838 pp 256264 19 世紀後半葉，關於樹輪的科學研究與樹木年輪學的應用逐漸多了起來。1859 年，德國 美國裔的土地測量員 Jacob Kuechler 18231893 使用交叉定年法檢查了橡樹 Quercus stellata 的年輪，試圖以此分析西得克薩斯州的氣候。See Jacob Kuechler August 6 1859 Das Klima von Texas The climate of Texas Texas StaatsZeitung Texas state newspaper San Antonio Texas p 2 The droughts of western Texas The Texas Almanac for 1861 pp 136137 see especially p 137 Archived 20151102 at the Wayback Machine1866 年，德國植物學家、昆蟲學家和森林學家 Julius Ratzeburg 18011871 觀察到樹木年輪可能受到昆蟲侵害的影響。J T C Ratzeburg Die Waldverderbniss oder dauernder Schade welcher durch Insektenfrass Schälen Schlagen und Verbeissen an lebenenden Waldbäumen entsteht The deterioration of forests or lasting damage that arises from feeding by insects debarking felling and gnawing on living forest trees vol 1 Berlin Germany Nicolaische Verlag 1866 p 10 Archived 20151001 at the Wayback Machine From p 10 Die beiden auf Taf 42 Fig 6 mit dem Durchschnitt Fig 7 und Fig 1 mit dem Durchschnitt Fig 2 dargestellten Zweige hatten in dem Frassjahre 1862 einen doppelt so starken Jahrring als in dem vorhergehenden angelegt und auch der hier nicht abgebildete Ring des jährigen Triebes war bei den gefressenen stärker as der eines nicht gefressenen Both branches that are presented in plate 42 fig 6 with the crosssection in fig 7 and fig 1 with the crosssection in fig 2 had produced in the defoliation year of 1862 a growth ring that was twice as strong as in the preceding one and so was the ring of the yearold shoot not illustrated here stronger in the case of the defoliated tree than one that was not defoliated 到了 1882 年，這一觀察就已經寫入了森林學教科書。Franklin Benjamin Hough The Elements of Forestry Cincinnati Ohio Robert Clarke and Co 1882 pp 6970 Archived 20151001 at the Wayback Machine1870 年代，荷蘭天文學家雅各布斯卡普坦 18511922 使用交叉定年法重建了荷蘭和德國的氣候。1881 年，瑞士 奧地利森林學家 Arthur von SeckendorffGudent 18451886 也開始使用交叉定年法。See Seckendorff Arthur von 1881 Beiträge zur Kenntnis der Schwarzföhre Pinus austriaca Höss Contributions to our knowledge of the black pine Pinus austriaca Höss Mitteilung aus dem forstlichen Versuchswesen Oesterreichs Report from the Austrian Department of Forestry Research Vienna Austria Carl Gerold Verlag 1881 66 pages Speer 2010 p 36 從 1869 到 1901 年，德國森林病理學教授 Robert Hartig 18391901 撰寫了一系列論文，討論樹木年輪的解剖學和生態學問題。Speer 2010 p 36371892 年，俄國物理學家 Fedor Nikiforovich Shvedov Фёдор Никифорович Шведов 18411905 寫到，他已經使用樹木年輪預測了 1882 至 1891 年期間的乾旱。See Шведов Ф Shvedov F 1892 Дерево как летопись засух The tree as a record of drought Метеорологический Вестник Meteorological Herald 5 163178 Speer 2010 p 37 20 世紀初，天文學家 A E Douglass 在亞利桑那大學建立了樹木年輪研究所。Douglass 希望更好地理解太陽黑子活動與週期對地球氣候的影響，而氣候的變化則進一步記錄在樹木年輪之中 換句話說，太陽黑子 氣候 樹輪。 注釋 Category 考古學分支 Category 儲存與修復 Category 樹木學 Category 年代學