{"id":5661,"date":"2026-01-26T11:54:21","date_gmt":"2026-01-26T10:54:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ceza.de\/english\/?page_id=5661"},"modified":"2026-01-26T11:54:22","modified_gmt":"2026-01-26T10:54:22","slug":"archives","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/ceza.de\/english\/archives","title":{"rendered":"Archives"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>The Hohenheim tree-ring archive is one of Europe\u2019s most important dendrochronological collections. With samples from about\u202f35,000 well\u2011preserved trees \u2013 mostly oak and pine&nbsp; &#8211; packed in ~3,000 crates, it provides a continuous, absolutely dated chronology from 10,460\u202fBC to today (12,460 consecutive growth rings). The series underpins today\u2019s IntCal20 radiocarbon calibration and is a cornerstone for archaeological dating and high\u2011resolution climate research.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Beginning<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The Austrian botanist Bruno Huber started the collection in the 1940s at the University of Munich. His former assistant, Prof. Dr. Bernd Becker brought the archive to the University of Hohenheim in the 1970s. During a large variety of projects sub\u2011fossil river oaks, archaeological timbers and living\u2011tree cores from across Central Europe were collected \u2013 mainly the regions of southern Germany along the rivers Main and&nbsp; Danube. By systematically measuring and cross\u2011dating ring widths, Becker\u2019s team produced the first continuous Late\u2011Glacial\/Holocene master curve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The collection in numbers<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Species: Primarily <em>Quercus robur\/petraea<\/em> and <em>Pinus sylvestris<\/em><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Sample size: discs up to 1\u202fm in diameter, slices a few cm thick, drill core samples<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Measurement precision: annual rings scanned and measured to 0.01\u202fmm (1\/100\u202fmm) accuracy<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Supporting data: original field logs, index cards, photographs and legacy digital files now migrated into an SQL archive<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>~15,500 further dendrochronological measurements (without physical samples in the archive)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Overall, around ~24,200 dated measurements<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">A new home in Mannheim<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>A staged relocation, funded by the Klaus\u202fTschira Foundation, ran from 2015 to 2020. The first 300 crates (&gt;\u202f5\u202ft) arrived in May&nbsp;2015; the last truckloads were unloaded by late&nbsp;2020. Climate\u2011stabilized storage, digital inventory management and photo documentations are in place, and public access to the digital catalogue is planned in the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Why the archive matters<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Absolute dendrochronological dating of archaeological wood using the archives long chronologies<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Climate proxies: ring widths and densities trace temperature, rainfall and ecological stress back to the Younger Dryas; using stable isotopes (\u03b4\u00b9\u00b3C, \u03b4\u00b9\u2078O, \u03b4\u00b2H) to generate annually resolved climate reconstructions spanning the full 12,000-year chronology; the archive\u2019s depth and \u2248 44,000 specimens provide ample material for highly replicated, statistically robust series.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Radiocarbon calibration: the <sup>14<\/sup>C data measured on the wood samples remain the backbone of the Northern\u2011Hemisphere IntCal20 dataset. Current and future research projects use and will use wood material from the archive to extend the calibration curve with high temporal resolution.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Cross\u2011disciplinary infrastructure: the archive is linked with CEZA\u2019s radiocarbon and stable-isotope laboratories, enabling current and future cross-disciplinary analyses<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Collaborate with us<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>We invite researchers to explore the archive\u2019s potential. Whether your focus is:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Dendrochronology<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Palaeoclimate reconstruction<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Radiocarbon calibration<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Methodological advances in tree\u2011ring science<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Art history or monument research<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>We would be happy to discuss possible collaborations.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Looking forward, we aim to&nbsp;expand the archive&nbsp;through the collection of new wood samples from relevant contexts such as gravel pits and archaeological sites. We are actively looking for collaborators to join us in these efforts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We are also open to providing a&nbsp;secure and research-oriented home for other dendrochronological archives&nbsp;that may need to be relocated. If you\u2019re interested in working with the archive \u2014 whether for a collaborative research project or sample contribution \u2014&nbsp;get in touch with us. We\u2019d be glad to explore possibilities together.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" src=\"https:\/\/ceza.de\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/11\/projekte-ausbau-dendrochronologie.webp\" alt=\"Shard is illuminated\" class=\"wp-image-1979\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ceza.de\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/11\/projekte-ausbau-dendrochronologie.webp 1200w, https:\/\/ceza.de\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/11\/projekte-ausbau-dendrochronologie-300x200.webp 300w, https:\/\/ceza.de\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/11\/projekte-ausbau-dendrochronologie-768x512.webp 768w, https:\/\/ceza.de\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/11\/projekte-ausbau-dendrochronologie-1024x683.webp 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"bg-ceza-900 has-background\">Do you need further information or do you have any questions?<br>Please feel free to <a href=\"https:\/\/ceza.de\/english\/enquiry\">contact<\/a> us.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Hohenheim tree-ring archive is one of Europe\u2019s most important dendrochronological collections. With samples from about\u202f35,000 well\u2011preserved trees \u2013 mostly\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1979,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"editor_notices":[],"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-5661","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Archives - CEZA EN<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/ceza.de\/english\/archives\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Archives - CEZA EN\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Hohenheim tree-ring archive is one of Europe\u2019s most important dendrochronological collections. 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