The Archaeology Data Service, the Digital Collaboratory for Cultural Dendrochronology and the ARIADNE project are pleased to announce the publication of a new Guide to Good Practice on Dendrochronological Data in Archaeology.
http://guides.archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/g2gp/Dendro_Toc
Dendrochronology is an important tool in cultural-heritage research to determine the exact calendar age of ancient wood. Such age determinations contribute significantly to assessments of the meaning of archaeological and architectural structures in terms of their chronological and cultural context. Obtaining absolute dates through dendrochronology results in tree-ring measurement series that, when combined, are useful for the reconstruction of former trade/exchange networks, the former landscape and its uses, wood technology and other topics. Therefore it is essential that measurement series are deposited in trusted repositories and made available for follow-up research.
This new Guide to Good Practice, by Peter Brewer and Esther Jansma, provides good-practice guidance for the collection and archive of dendrochronological data in the context of archaeological and historical research. The guide is aimed at both those creating dendrochronological datasets, and those that commission dendrochronological analyses. This guide does not cover the methods involved in dendrochronological analyses, but focuses on how to describe and archive the digital data and metadata involved in these analyses.