The Exact Month a Tree Fell

Most dates in archaeology come with centuries of uncertainty. These don’t. When a felled tree still has its bark attached, the outermost ring is unmistakably its very last — precise enough to name the month, not just the year.

Furingstads kyrka

Photo: Västgöten · Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 3.0

March, 1094
1094 AD

A pine felled at Furingstads kyrka. Its bark was still attached when it was studied — the last ring it ever grew, still intact. That’s what lets dendrochronologists name not just the year this tree came down, but the month.