Dendrology is the science of studying trees. When applied to archaeology, it becomes the study of wooden remains produced by humans or dendroarchaeology.
From the living tree to the finished object, wood can be defined in three ways: a biological temporal indicator of ecology and climate history, a raw material exploited in a natural environment, and a cultural object produced by humans. Residing at the interface between human sciences and biology, archaeodendrology attempts to define the interactions between human societies and their tree-covered environment. It also contributes to the work of piecing together the history of woodworking techniques that are characteristic of ancient cultural practices, as well as that of palaeoenvironments through the exploitation of wood, how it was used and processed.
Dendroarchaeology leverages the expertise of several disciplines:
– xylology and anthracology, to determine the tree species and properties of the wood;
– dendromorphology, to define the morphology, structure and implementation of trees within archaeological objects;
– ligneous traceology, to analyse the marks of anthropic (tools, shaping, etc.) or biological (insects, fungi, etc.) origin which appear on the surface of wooden remains;
– dendrochronology, to determine the felling date of trees by recording the number and breadth of their annual growth rings;
– dendroecology, to identify ecological events linked, for example, to the climate, the environment or the impact of humans on the environment.