Keeler, Sharon

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UNH Scholars' Repository

University of New HampshireUniversity of New Hampshire Scholars' RepositoryMedia Relations Administrative Offices4-26-2001UNH Project Reconstructs a Bit of 17th CenturyHistorySharon KeelerFollow this and additional works at: https://scholars.unh.edu/newsThis News Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Administrative Offices at University of New Hampshire Scholars' Repository. It hasbeen accepted for inclusion in Media Relations by an authorized administrator of University of New Hampshire Scholars' Repository. For moreinformation, please contact nicole.hentz@unh.edu.Recommended CitationKeeler, Sharon, "UNH Project Reconstructs a Bit of 17th Century History" (2001). UNH Today. 2470.https://scholars.unh.edu/news/247011/8/17, 11'14 AMUNH Project Reconstructs a Bit of 17th Century HistoryPage 1 of 3http://www.unh.edu/delete/news/news_releases/2001/april/sk_20010426rock.htmlUNH Project Reconstructs a Bit of17th Century HistoryForestry Students Busy Identifying Trees FromHenry Hudson's 1609 PalisadeBy Sharon KeelerUNH News BureauApril 26, 2001DURHAM, N.H. -- A University of New Hampshirescientist and his students have undertaken a uniqueproject to help reconstruct a bit of 17th century history.Barrett Rock, UNH professor of forest resources, andstudents in his wood science and technology class arescrutinizing 50 samples of wood excavated last year inAlbany, N.Y. The samples were taken from the site of anew parking lot for dating by Paul Krusic, a scientistfrom Columbia University's Lamont-Doherty EarthObservatory.The wood came from remnants of old buildings, piersand the palisade originally built by Henry Hudson in1609. Archaelogists working on the site have associatedstructures and artifacts with the fall beaching of HenryHudson's ship the "Half Moon" while he wasattempting to find the northwest passage to the Orient.Rock, a scientist in UNH's Institute for the Study ofEarth, Oceans, and Space, was contacted by Krusic toidentify the pieces of wood, with the hopes ofreconstructing a picture of what the forest looked like in1609. Krusic was a UNH student 22 years ago,"My job is to date when the trees were felled forconstruction of the settlement buildings and palisade,and to extract the record of climate recorded in thewood's annual ring widths," says Krusic, who isworking with the archaelogical firm that uncovered thesite. "The wood Barry's class is working with couldgive us some idea of what type of natural, climatevariation is possible in New England. Due to the precisenature of tree-ring evidence, these dates can be resolved11/8/17, 11'14 AMUNH Project Reconstructs a Bit of 17th Century HistoryPage 2 of 3http://www.unh.edu/delete/news/news_releases/2001/april/sk_20010426rock.html to the year, which is an archaelogist's dream."Rock saw the project as a perfect opportunity to get hisstudents involved. Working teaching assistant BenWoodward in the lab, a dozen students this semester areputting theory into practice as they try to figure out thetype of tree the wood is from, its age, and other factorsabout the climate conditions under which it grew."See, this sample has no resin canals, so on first look itcould be hemlock or cedar," says Mike Gagnon ofBedford, holding up a piece of a tree that pre-datesColumbus' voyage to the New World.They compare the cellular characteristics of their woodsamples with photographs in books, and study razor-thin, cross sections under high-powered microscopes.Things like color, growth rings, evenness of grain, cell-wall thickness and "crossfield pitting" help themidentify the samples as pine, spruce or cedar, as well asthe tree's age. Crossfield pitting is one way the cells in atree trunk "communicate with one another," says Rock.Each species of tree is characterized by a specific kindof crossfield pitting, thus aiding in the identification ofeach wood sample."Good science is detective work," says Rock. "Eachpattern in the wood has a story to tell. A lot can beinferred from observation."Rock, like Krusic, is especially interested in noting howthe forest composition has changed over time."What species are no longer growing in the area today,and can this tell us things about climate and weatherback in 1609?" he asks his students. "We know, forexample, that climate change has caused species likenorthern white cedar to migrate north and spruce andbalsam to move to higher elevations. If we can identifythese species from the 1609 stockade this will helpconfirm that the forest composition in this area haschanged with climate."Growth rings also infer climate, and Rock explains tohis class that they can reveal things like whether therewere drought conditions during a specific year. Oxygenisotope levels in the wood's cellulose can be used toinfer the average temperature down to the degree.11/8/17, 11'14 AMUNH Project Reconstructs a Bit of 17th Century HistoryPage 3 of 3http://www.unh.edu/delete/news/news_releases/2001/april/sk_20010426rock.html"There's a lot of history here," says Matt Webb ofHampton Bays, N.Y., as he fingers a 400-year-oldsample of what he believes to be white pine. "I can'tthink of a better way to put what we've learned intopractice. It's exciting to be part of something biggerthan just this class. The ongoing study will help peoplebetter understand what it was like back then."Kusic will use the data gathered at UNH to add toinformation collected from other sites of the samespecies. "Reconstructing past climates and how climatechange affects human and plant distribution is bigscience now," he says. "As in the past, manycivilizations have either failed or moved due tochanging climate patterns. Understanding the dynamicsof natural variability in the climate system by lookingback into the past before CO2 fertilization, etc., is thefirst step in understanding to what degree we aremucking about with nature." Back to unh.edu. 

UNH Project Reconstructs a Bit of 17th Century History

University of New Hampshire

University of New Hampshire
University of New Hampshire Scholars' Repository
Media Relations Administrative Offices
4-26-2001
UNH Project Reconstructs a Bit of 17th Century
History
Sharon Keeler
Follow this and additional works at: https://scholars.unh.edu/news
This News Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Administrative Offices at University of New Hampshire Scholars' Repository. It has
been accepted for inclusion in Media Relations by an authorized administrator of University of New Hampshire Scholars' Repository. For more
information, please contact nicole.hentz@unh.edu.
Recommended Citation
Keeler, Sharon, "UNH Project Reconstructs a Bit of 17th Century History" (2001). UNH Today. 2470.
https://scholars.unh.edu/news/2470
11/8/17, 11'14 AMUNH Project Reconstructs a Bit of 17th Century History
Page 1 of 3http://www.unh.edu/delete/news/news_releases/2001/april/sk_20010426rock.html
UNH Project Reconstructs a Bit of
17th Century History
Forestry Students Busy Identifying Trees From
Henry Hudson's 1609 Palisade
By Sharon Keeler
UNH News Bureau
April 26, 2001
DURHAM, N.H. -- A University of New Hampshire
scientist and his students have undertaken a unique
project to help reconstruct a bit of 17th century history.
Barrett Rock, UNH professor of forest resources, and
students in his wood science and technology class are
scrutinizing 50 samples of wood excavated last year in
Albany, N.Y. The samples were taken from the site of a
new parking lot for dating by Paul Krusic, a scientist
from Columbia University's Lamont-Doherty Earth
Observatory.
The wood came from remnants of old buildings, piers
and the palisade originally built by Henry Hudson in
1609. Archaelogists working on the site have associated
structures and artifacts with the fall beaching of Henry
Hudson's ship the "Half Moon" while he was
attempting to find the northwest passage to the Orient.
Rock, a scientist in UNH's Institute for the Study of
Earth, Oceans, and Space, was contacted by Krusic to
identify the pieces of wood, with the hopes of
reconstructing a picture of what the forest looked like in
1609. Krusic was a UNH student 22 years ago,
"My job is to date when the trees were felled for
construction of the settlement buildings and palisade,
and to extract the record of climate recorded in the
wood's annual ring widths," says Krusic, who is
working with the archaelogical firm that uncovered the
site. "The wood Barry's class is working with could
give us some idea of what type of natural, climate
variation is possible in New England. Due to the precise
nature of tree-ring evidence, these dates can be resolved
11/8/17, 11'14 AMUNH Project Reconstructs a Bit of 17th Century History
Page 2 of 3http://www.unh.edu/delete/news/news_releases/2001/april/sk_20010426rock.html
 
to the year, which is an archaelogist's dream."
Rock saw the project as a perfect opportunity to get his
students involved. Working teaching assistant Ben
Woodward in the lab, a dozen students this semester are
putting theory into practice as they try to figure out the
type of tree the wood is from, its age, and other factors
about the climate conditions under which it grew.
"See, this sample has no resin canals, so on first look it
could be hemlock or cedar," says Mike Gagnon of
Bedford, holding up a piece of a tree that pre-dates
Columbus' voyage to the New World.
They compare the cellular characteristics of their wood
samples with photographs in books, and study razor-
thin, cross sections under high-powered microscopes.
Things like color, growth rings, evenness of grain, cell-
wall thickness and "crossfield pitting" help them
identify the samples as pine, spruce or cedar, as well as
the tree's age. Crossfield pitting is one way the cells in a
tree trunk "communicate with one another," says Rock.
Each species of tree is characterized by a specific kind
of crossfield pitting, thus aiding in the identification of
each wood sample.
"Good science is detective work," says Rock. "Each
pattern in the wood has a story to tell. A lot can be
inferred from observation."
Rock, like Krusic, is especially interested in noting how
the forest composition has changed over time.
"What species are no longer growing in the area today,
and can this tell us things about climate and weather
back in 1609?" he asks his students. "We know, for
example, that climate change has caused species like
northern white cedar to migrate north and spruce and
balsam to move to higher elevations. If we can identify
these species from the 1609 stockade this will help
confirm that the forest composition in this area has
changed with climate."
Growth rings also infer climate, and Rock explains to
his class that they can reveal things like whether there
were drought conditions during a specific year. Oxygen
isotope levels in the wood's cellulose can be used to
infer the average temperature down to the degree.
11/8/17, 11'14 AMUNH Project Reconstructs a Bit of 17th Century History
Page 3 of 3http://www.unh.edu/delete/news/news_releases/2001/april/sk_20010426rock.html
"There's a lot of history here," says Matt Webb of
Hampton Bays, N.Y., as he fingers a 400-year-old
sample of what he believes to be white pine. "I can't
think of a better way to put what we've learned into
practice. It's exciting to be part of something bigger
than just this class. The ongoing study will help people
better understand what it was like back then."
Kusic will use the data gathered at UNH to add to
information collected from other sites of the same
species. "Reconstructing past climates and how climate
change affects human and plant distribution is big
science now," he says. "As in the past, many
civilizations have either failed or moved due to
changing climate patterns. Understanding the dynamics
of natural variability in the climate system by looking
back into the past before CO2 fertilization, etc., is the
first step in understanding to what degree we are
mucking about with nature." 
Back to unh.edu.
 


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UNH Project Reconstructs a Bit of 17th Century History

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