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Tree-rings, historic documents, and interpreting past landuse and environments in the Upper Greybull River Watershed, northwestern, Wyoming

dc.contributor.authorReiser, Marcy L., author
dc.contributor.authorTodd, Lawrence C., 1954-, advisor
dc.contributor.authorLaBelle, Jason M., committee member
dc.contributor.authorColeman, Robert O., committee member
dc.contributor.authorSherman, Kathleen A., committee member
dc.coverage.spatialGreybull (Wyo.)
dc.coverage.spatialWyoming
dc.coverage.temporal1260-1600s
dc.date.accessioned2007-01-03T04:41:00Z
dc.date.available2007-01-03T04:41:00Z
dc.date.issued2010
dc.description.abstractSet in a high montane Engelmann spruce parkland in the central Absaroka Mountains of northwestern Wyoming, this thesis combines dendrochronology, archaeology, and data from historic documents to explore past human activity and climate in the Upper Greybull River Watershed. Based on early Euro-American accounts of the region, and its rugged remoteness, this harsh environment might seem an unlikely place for past human groups to survive and thrive. However, research conducted in the area since 2002, as part of the Greybull River Sustainable Landscape Ecology (GRSLE) project, reveals a dynamic environment rich with both prehistory and history and one that illuminates the past but just as quickly obscure and erase it. As a snapshot of ongoing research, this thesis presents tree-ring crossdating results for four historic cabins and associated structures collected prior to the Little Venus fire of 2006, including crossdates from a historic cabin that burned to the ground. Crossdating results are also presented for culturally modified trees in the area, including culturally peeled trees, and for a "ghost forest," which may represent the remnants of an ancient forest that succumbed to fire in the late-1400s to mid-1600s. Based on these crossdated samples, a preliminary standardized index of annual tree-ring growth, or master chronology, has been established which extends the tree-ring chronology back to 1260. This master chronology was then compared to historic documents from the region and accounts by early settlers of environmental conditions in the Upper Greybull River Watershed. This comparison has resulted in a more complex and nuanced understanding of past climate and human landuse, as well as highlighting stories about the past that only trees and historic accounts can tell. This thesis is part of an ongoing and urgent effort to collect, preserve and crossdate tree-ring samples from this fire-prone region. Like much of the West, forests in this area have been devastated by a recent bark beetle epidemic, posing a significant threat to cultural resources, especially those made of wood.
dc.format.mediummasters theses
dc.identifier2010_Spring_Reiser_Marcy.pdf
dc.identifierETDF2010100002ANPO
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10217/38374
dc.languageEnglish
dc.language.isoeng
dc.publisherColorado State University. Libraries
dc.relation.ispartof2000-2019
dc.rightsCopyright and other restrictions may apply. User is responsible for compliance with all applicable laws. For information about copyright law, please see https://libguides.colostate.edu/copyright.
dc.titleTree-rings, historic documents, and interpreting past landuse and environments in the Upper Greybull River Watershed, northwestern, Wyoming
dc.typeText
dcterms.rights.dplaThis Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights (https://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/). You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s).
thesis.degree.disciplineAnthropology
thesis.degree.grantorColorado State University
thesis.degree.levelMasters
thesis.degree.nameMaster of Arts (M.A.)

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