Swedish tree rings provide new evidence in support of a major, widespread environmental disruption in 1628 BC
Open accessAbstract
Pine trees, recovered from a peat bog in south‐central Sweden, are used to develop a continuous, but “floating”, 200‐year tree‐ring chronology. By wiggle matching high‐precision 14 C determinations against the radiocarbon calibration curve, the chronology is positioned at 1695–1496 BC with an uncertainty of ±65 years. One major event, denoted by four consecutive years with extremely narrow rings, indicative of highly unfavourable local tree‐growth conditions, occurred in the time window represented by the chronology. This growth depression is dated to 1637 BC (±65) and may be tentatively ascribed to the same phenomenon that caused frost damage in trees in California and a growth depression in European oak in 1628/27 BC, hence providing new evidence of a more northerly area of influence of this widespread phenomenon.
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
All the scientific dating evidence could indicate a likely date for the Santorini/Thera eruption in the later 17th century BCE potentially compatible with the 1628-1626 BCE range.
“Since we may now remove the Porsuk tree-ring growth anomaly from this discussion (see above), all the scientific dating evidence could therefore indicate a likely date for the Santorini/Thera eruption in the later 17th century BCE potentially compatible with the 1628–1626 BCE range (e.g. [66, 68, 69, 78–81, 89–92]).”
From Integrated Tree-Ring-Radiocarbon High-Resolution Timeframe to Resolve Earlier Second Millennium BCE Mesopotamian Chronology (2016) · cites this paper as [80]
The Results (page not specified in our copy) place a major environmental disruption at 1628/27 BCE and say a 1628 BCE volcanic eruption may have been Santorini. They also caution that linking tree-ring and ice-core signals to a specific volcano is problematic. The paper therefore supports compatibility with that date, but not the broader claim that all scientific dating evidence points to a likely date for the Santorini eruption; it does not establish the effect of removing the Porsuk anomaly. (LLM, conf=0.84)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredA range of tree-ring evidence around the northern hemisphere indicates unusual growth anomalies from 1628-1626 BCE plausibly associated with the cooling effects of a major volcanic eruption.
“a period when (from 1628–1626 BCE) a range of tree-ring evidence around the northern hemisphere indicates unusual growth anomalies plausibly associated with the cooling effects of a major volcanic eruption (e.g. [78–81]).”
From Integrated Tree-Ring-Radiocarbon High-Resolution Timeframe to Resolve Earlier Second Millennium BCE Mesopotamian Chronology (2016) · cites this paper as [80]
Self-check
Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.
The self-check needs the paper’s full text.
Cites
Bradley, R. S., & Fritts, H. C. (1978) · Arctic and Alpine Research · doi:10.2307/1550667 · Cited by 4,511 · see citing works
(1990) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-94-015-7879-0 · Cited by 2,450 · see citing works
Methods of Dendrochronology, Applications in the Environmental Sciences
Yamaguchi, D. K., Cook, E. R., & Kairiūkštis, L. (1991) · Arctic and Alpine Research · doi:10.2307/1551446 · Cited by 1,694 · see citing works
Influence of volcanic eruptions on Northern Hemisphere summer temperature over the past 600 years
Briffa, K. R., Jones, P. D., Schweingruber, F. H., & Osborn, T. J. (1998) · Nature · doi:10.1038/30943 · Cited by 872 · see citing works
Self-citationGreenland ice sheet evidence of post-glacial volcanism and its climatic impact
Hammer, C. U., Clausen, H. B., & Dansgaard, W. (1980) · Nature · doi:10.1038/288230a0 · Cited by 619 · see citing works
Zielinski, G. A., Mayewski, P. A., Meeker, L. D., Whitlow, S., Twickler, M. S., Morrison, M., Meese, D. A., Gow, A. J., & Alley, R. B. (1994) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.264.5161.948 · Cited by 476 · see citing works
High-Precision Bidecadal Calibration of the Radiocarbon Time Scale, AD 1950–500 BC and 2500–6000 BC
Stuiver, M., & Pearson, G. W. (1993) · Radiocarbon · doi:10.1017/s0033822200013783 · Cited by 460 · see citing works
Schweingruber, F. H. (1988) · doi:10.1007/978-94-009-1273-1 · Cited by 431 · see citing works
Frost rings in trees as records of major volcanic eruptions
LaMarche, V. C., & Hirschboeck, K. K. (1984) · Nature · doi:10.1038/307121a0 · Cited by 396 · see citing works
High-Precision Decadal Calibration of the Radiocarbon Time Scale, AD 1950–6000 BC
Stuiver, M., & Becker, B. (1993) · Radiocarbon · doi:10.1017/s0033822200013801 · Cited by 308 · see citing works
Thera and the Aegean world III
Hardy, D. A. (1990) · Medical Entomology and Zoology · Cited by 270 · see citing works
Clausen, H., Hammer, C. U., Hvidberg, C. S., Dahl‐Jensen, D., Steffensen, J. P., Kipfstuhl, J., & Legrand, M. (1997) · Journal of Geophysical Research Atmospheres · doi:10.1029/97jc00587 · Cited by 196 · see citing works
Irish tree rings, Santorini and volcanic dust veils
Baillie, M. G. L., & Munro, M. A. R. (1988) · Nature · doi:10.1038/332344a0 · Cited by 178 · see citing works
Precise Calendrical Dating of Known Growth-Period Samples Using a ‘Curve Fitting’ Technique
Pearson, G. W. (1986) · Radiocarbon · doi:10.1017/s0033822200007396 · Cited by 137 · see citing works
A Fair-Weather Cumulus Cloud Classification Scheme for Mixed-Layer Studies
Stull, R. B. (1985) · Journal of Climate and Applied Meteorology · doi:10.1175/1520-0450(1985)024 · Cited by 132 · see citing works
Anatolian tree rings and the absolute chronology of the eastern Mediterranean, 2220–718 BC
Kuniholm, P. I., Kromer, B., Manning, S. W., Newton, M., Latini, C. E., & Bruce, M. J. (1996) · Nature · doi:10.1038/381780a0 · Cited by 131 · see citing works
The Minoan eruption of Santorini in Greece dated to 1645 BC?
Hammer, C. U., Clausen, H. B., Friedrich, W., & Tauber, H. (1987) · Nature · doi:10.1038/328517a0 · Cited by 131 · see citing works
Tree-Ring Evidence for Climatically Effective Volcanic Eruptions
Scuderi, L. A. (1990) · Quaternary Research · doi:10.1016/0033-5894(90)90073-t · Cited by 119 · see citing works
Tree‐ring evidence of the widespread effects of explosive volcanic eruptions
Jones, P. D., Briffa, K. R., & Schweingruber, F. H. (1995) · Geophysical Research Letters · doi:10.1029/94gl03113 · Cited by 111 · see citing works
Self-citationEvidence of Climatic Effects in the Annual Rings of Trees
Douglass, A. E. (1920) · Ecology · doi:10.2307/1929253 · Cited by 106 · see citing works
Spurk, M., Friedrich, M., Hofmann, J., Remmele, S., Frenzel, B., Leuschner, H. H., & Kromer, B. (1998) · Radiocarbon · doi:10.1017/s0033822200019159 · Cited by 104 · see citing works
Dean, J., Meko, D. M., Swetnam, T. W., & Processes, H. (1996) · Cited by 79 · see citing works
Buckland, P. C., Dugmore, A., & Edwards, K. J. (1997) · Antiquity · doi:10.1017/s0003598x00085343 · Cited by 78 · see citing works
Vesuvius/Avellino, one possible source of seventeenth century BC climatic disturbances
Vogel, J. S., Cornell, W. C., Nelson, D. E., & Southon, J. R. (1990) · Nature · doi:10.1038/344534a0 · Cited by 62 · see citing works
New Ice-Core Evidence Challenges the 1620sBCage for the Santorini (Minoan) Eruption
Zielinski, G. A., & Germani, M. S. (1998) · Journal of Archaeological Science · doi:10.1006/jasc.1997.0227 · Cited by 37 · see citing works
A 200-Year Tree-Ring Chronology of Pine from a Raised Bog in Sweden: Implication for Climate Change?
Gunnarson, B. E. (1999) · Geografiska Annaler Series A Physical Geography · doi:10.1111/1468-0459.00071 · Cited by 22 · see citing works
Self-citationManning, S. W. (1998) · Journal of Archaeological Science · doi:10.1006/jasc.1998.0325 · Cited by 10 · see citing works
Zielinski, G. A., & Germani, M. S. (1998) · Journal of Archaeological Science · doi:10.1006/jasc.1998.0326 · Cited by 8 · see citing works
Radiocarbon dates from the Akrotiri excavations
Hubberten, H., Brüns, M., Calamiotou, M., Apostolakis, C., Filippaki, E., & Grimanis, A. P. (1990) · Helmholtz-Zentrum für Polar-und Meeresforschung (Alfred-Wegener-Institut) · Cited by 8 · see citing works
Bronze Age myths expose archaeological shortcomings? a reply to Buckland et al. 1997
Baillie, M. G. L. (1998) · Antiquity · doi:10.1017/s0003598x00086725 · Cited by 7 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
1 of the 31 references couldn’t be matched to a known paper.
Research works printed but not linked: 1
- Hardy, D.A., and A.C. Renfrew (Eds.), Theta and the Aegean World III, The Thera Foundation, London, 1990.
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Zanchetta, G., Sulpizio, R., Roberts, N., Cioni, R., Eastwood, W. J., Siani, G., Caron, B., Paterne, M., & Santacroce, R. (2011) · The Holocene · doi:10.1177/0959683610377531 · Cited by 195 · see citing works
Gagen, M. H., McCarroll, D., Loader, N. J., Robertson, I., Jalkanen, R. E., & Anchukaitis, K. J. (2007) · The Holocene · doi:10.1177/0959683607077012 · Cited by 182 · see citing works
Chronology for the Aegean Late Bronze Age 1700-1400 B.C.
Manning, S. W., Ramsey, C. B., Kutschera, W., Higham, T., Kromer, B., Steier, P., & Wild, E. M. (2006) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.1125682 · Cited by 182 · see citing works
A continuous multimillennial ring-width chronology in Yamal, northwestern Siberia
Hantemirov, R. M., & Shiyatov, S. G. (2002) · The Holocene · doi:10.1191/0959683602hl585rp · Cited by 146 · see citing works
Roy, M. L., Nicolussi, K., Deline, P., Astrade, L., Édouard, J.-L., Miramont, C., & Arnaud, F. (2014) · Quaternary Science Reviews · doi:10.1016/j.quascirev.2014.10.033 · Cited by 116 · see citing works
Dennis, R. L. H., Shreeve, T. G., Olivier, A., & Coutsis, J. G. (2000) · Journal of Biogeography · doi:10.1046/j.1365-2699.2000.00514.x · Cited by 100 · see citing works
Linderholm, H. W. (2001) · Silva Fennica · doi:10.14214/sf.574 · Cited by 82 · see citing works
Self-citationCan tree-ring chemistry reveal absolute dates for past volcanic eruptions?
Pearson, C. L., Manning, S. W., Coleman, M. L., & Jarvis, K. E. (2005) · Journal of Archaeological Science · doi:10.1016/j.jas.2005.03.007 · Cited by 68 · see citing works
Linderholm, H. W., Moberg, A., & Grudd, H. (2002) · Canadian Journal of Forest Research · doi:10.1139/x02-071 · Cited by 67 · see citing works
Self-citationEastwood, W. J., Tibby, J., Roberts, N., Birks, H. J. B., & Lamb, H. F. (2002) · The Holocene · doi:10.1191/0959683602hl557rp · Cited by 66 · see citing works
Manning, S. W., Griggs, C. B., Lorentzen, B., Barjamovic, G., Ramsey, C. B., Kromer, B., & Wild, E. M. (2016) · PLOS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0157144 · Cited by 65 · see citing works
Subfossil peatland trees as proxies for Holocene palaeohydrology and palaeoclimate
Edvardsson, J., Stoffel, M., Corona, C., Bragazza, L., Leuschner, H. H., Charman, D. J., & Helama, S. (2016) · Earth-Science Reviews · doi:10.1016/j.earscirev.2016.10.005 · Cited by 61 · see citing works
Pearson, C. L., Dale, D. S., Brewer, P. W., Kuniholm, P. I., Lipton, J., & Manning, S. W. (2009) · Journal of Archaeological Science · doi:10.1016/j.jas.2009.01.009 · Cited by 53 · see citing works
Pearson, C., Sigl, M., Burke, A., Davies, S., Kurbatov, A., Severi, M., Cole-Dai, J., Innes, H., Albert, P. G., & Helmick, M. (2022) · PNAS Nexus · doi:10.1093/pnasnexus/pgac048 · Cited by 45 · see citing works
Bronze Age volcanic event recorded in stalagmites by combined isotope and trace element studies
Siklósy, Z., Demény, A., Vennemann, T. W., Pilet, S., Kramers, J., Leél‐Őssy, S., Bondár, M., Shen, C., & Hegner, E. (2009) · Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry · doi:10.1002/rcm.3943 · Cited by 44 · see citing works
Helama, S., Vartiainen, M., Holopainen, J., Mäkelä, H. M., Kolström, T., & Meriläinen, J. (2014) · Geochronometria · doi:10.2478/s13386-013-0163-0 · Cited by 38 · see citing works
Köse, N., Akkemık, Ü., Güner, T. H., Dalfes, H. N., Grissino‐Mayer, H. D., Özeren, M. S., & Kındap, T. (2012) · International Journal of Biometeorology · doi:10.1007/s00484-012-0595-x · Cited by 32 · see citing works
Manning, S. W., Sewell, D. A., & Herscher, E. (2002) · The Annual of the British School at Athens · doi:10.1017/s0068245400017354 · Cited by 29 · see citing works
Future of dendrochronology with respect to archaeology
Baillie, M. G. L. (2002) · Dendrochronologia · doi:10.1078/1125-7865-00009 · Cited by 29 · see citing works
Helama, S., Holopainen, J., Timonen, M., Ogurtsov, M. G., Lindholm, M., Meriläinen, J., & Eronen, M. (2004) · Dendrochronologia · doi:10.1078/1125.7865.00049 · Cited by 25 · see citing works
ADVANCE-10K: a European contribution towards a hemispheric dendroclimatology for the Holocene
Briffa, K. R., & Matthews, J. A. (2002) · The Holocene · doi:10.1191/0959683602hl576ed · Cited by 23 · see citing works
Self-citationEdvardsson, J., Helama, S., Rundgren, M., & Nielsen, A. B. (2022) · Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution · doi:10.3389/fevo.2022.781882 · Cited by 18 · see citing works
Fimbulvintern, Ragnarök och klimatkrisen år 536-537 e. Kr.
Gräslund, B. (2007) · Uppsala University Publications (Uppsala University) · Cited by 18 · see citing works
Luckman, B. H. (2013) · Elsevier eBooks · doi:10.1016/b978-0-444-53643-3.00354-x · Cited by 12 · see citing works
An 854-Year Tree-Ring Chronology of Scots Pine for South-West Finland
Helama, S., Holopainen, J., Timonen, M., & Mielikäinen, K. (2014) · Studia Quaternaria · doi:10.2478/squa-2014-0006 · Cited by 10 · see citing works
Helama, S. (2023) · Dendrochronologia · doi:10.1016/j.dendro.2023.126125 · Cited by 9 · see citing works
Mourtzas, N., & Kolaiti, E. (2017) · Journal of Archaeological Science Reports · doi:10.1016/j.jasrep.2017.03.026 · Cited by 9 · see citing works
A 4500-Year Tree-Ring Record of Extreme Climatic Events on the Yamal Peninsula
Hantemirov, R. M., Gorlanova, L. A., Bessonova, V., Hamzin, I. R., & Kukarskih, V. V. (2023) · Forests · doi:10.3390/f14030574 · Cited by 7 · see citing works
Liard, F. (2019) · American Journal of Archaeology · doi:10.3764/aja.123.2.0169 · Cited by 6 · see citing works
(2010) · UvA-DARE (University of Amsterdam) · Cited by 6 · see citing works
Helama, S., Herva, H., Uusitalo, J., Moir, A., Mielikäinen, K., Nöjd, P., Oinonen, M., & Sutinen, R. (2023) · Boreas · doi:10.1111/bor.12616 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
Megascale processes: Natural disasters and human behavior
Kieffer, S. W., Barton, P., Chesworth, W., Palmer, A. R., Reitan, P. H., & Zen, E. (2009) · Geological Society of America eBooks · doi:10.1130/2009.453(06 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Was there a 4.2 ka BP event in Sweden? Evidence from peat, tree-rings and lake sediments
Bromfält, E., & Wastegård, S. (2024) · Geografiska Annaler Series A Physical Geography · doi:10.1080/04353676.2024.2440845 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Coniferous wood fossils as records of paleoecology, paleoclimatology, and paleoenvironment: A review
Torres, L. N., Shi, X., Na, Y., Wang, B., Tian, C., Pei, W., Liu, Y., & Yu, J. (2024) · Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology · doi:10.1016/j.revpalbo.2024.105276 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Ball, P. (2000) · Nature · doi:10.1038/news000921-7 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Myers, N. (2011) · White Rose eTheses Online (University of Leeds, The University of Sheffield, University of York)
Thejll, P. A. (2001) · arXiv (Cornell University) · doi:10.48550/arxiv.physics/0106033
Edvardsson, J., Gunnarson, B. E., Hansson, A., & Grudd, H. (2026) · Geografiska Annaler Series A Physical Geography · doi:10.1080/04353676.2026.2746937
Self-citation
- Authors
- Grudd, H., Briffa, K. R., Gunnarson, B. E., & Linderholm, H. W.
- Affiliations
- University of East Anglia (GB)
- Stockholm University (SE)
- Venue
- Geophysical Research Letters
- Publisher
- American Geophysical Union (AGU)
- Published
- 2000-09-15
- Volume
- 27
- Issue
- 18
- Pages
- 2957-2960
- ISSN
- 0094-8276 (ISSN-L)
- 1944-8007
- OpenAlex
- W2061083171
- Cited by
- 38
- References
- 31
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 2 · 2019: 1 · 2017: 1 · 2016: 2 · 2014: 3 · 2013: 1 · 2012: 1
- FWCI
- 2.52
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- Geophysical Research Letters (publishedVersion)
- UEA Digital Repository (University of East Anglia) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Atmospheric Science › Tree-ring climate responses
- Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Paleontology › Archaeology and ancient environmental studies
- Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Atmospheric Science › Geology and Paleoclimatology Research
- Keywords
- tree-ring chronology, pine, peat bog, radiocarbon wiggle-matching, frost damage, European oak, Late Bronze Age, paleoclimate
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
