Tree-ring dating was used to develop construction scenarios for two log structures, the Draper and the Fuller buildings. in the Edwards Plateau region of Texas. The Draper building was constructed in 1902-3, and added onto in 1906. The dating of the Fuller building is less certain, but the structure probably was built in the 1860s or 1870s.

Hypotheses about the causes of the growth and decline of the Chacoan regional interaction system in the southwestern United States between A.D. 900 and 1200 are evaluated against tree-ring evidence and the results of an empirical model (PRECON) that computes the statistical relationships between climate and ring-width indices during the 20th century and applies the results to hypothesized precipitation or temperature changes. The statistical responses of 23 indexed conifer ring-width chronologies from New Mexico and Colorado to variations in monthly temperature and precipitation were calculated. Simulated decreases in prior autumn-winter precipitation markedly reduced ring widths, while decreased current summer precipitation was less effective, sometimes reducing ring width or having little effect. Decreased prior winter temperature slightly reduced ring width, while decreased growing season temperature usually increased or did not effect ring widths. Evaluated in terms of these results, the Chaco Canyon area tree-ring record (1) indicates that favorable climatic conditions in the 10th, 11th, and early 12th centuries fostered the growth of the Chacoan system, (2) shows that dry autumn-winter and summer conditions in the middle 1100s contributed to the downfall of the system, (3) does not support the proposition that centuries-long climatic fluctuations evident in southwestern Colorado affected Chaco Canyon, (4) does not support the idea of shifts from summer-to winter-dominant precipitation regimes, and (5) contributes little to assessing the role of anthropogenic environmental change in the collapse of the Chacoan system.

Giant sequoia was one of the first species that A. E. Douglass examined in his pioneering tree- ring research. Recent attention to sequoia, stimulated by fire history studies in sequoia groves, has resulted in new ring-width chronologies based on both recently collected tree-ring material and Douglass' original samples. The development and characteristics of four new multimillennial sequoia chronologies are described here. Three of these chronologies are based on tree-ring series from individual sites: Camp Six (347 B.C. to A.D. 1989), Mountain Home (1094 B.C. to A.D. 1989), and Giant Forest (1235 B.C. to A.D. 1988). The fourth is a composite chronology (1235 B.C. to A.D. 1989) that includes radii from the other three chronologies. Sequoia ring series are generally complacent with occasional narrow rings ("signature years"). Ring-width standardization was complicated by growth releases, many of which are known to have been caused by fires. Such growth releases confuse climatic interpretation of low-frequency signals in the time series. Ring- width series were detrended with cubic splines with 50% frequency response function at 40 years to de-emphasize low-frequency variation and were fit with autoregressive time series models to remove persistence. The resulting prewhitened chronologies contain primarily a high frequency climate signal and are useful for assessing the past occurrence of extreme drought events and for dating applications. The dating chronology originally developed by Douglass is confirmed and the annual nature of giant sequoia tree rings unequivocally verified.