1. Forensic Dendroarchaeology and the Strange Case of Abraham Lincoln’s Birthplace Log Cabin
Henri D. Grissino-Mayer Laboratory of Tree-Ring Science Department of Geography University of Tennessee Knoxville, Tennessee 37996
and
Dwight T. Pitcaithley Chief Historian National Park Service 1849 C Street NW Washington, D.C

2. What is Forensic Dendroarchaeology?
Dendrochronology: Dating something using tree rings.
Dendroarchaeology: Dating a crafted or assimilated object using tree rings to help infer past human behavior, activities, patterns, and lifeways.
Forensic Dendroarchaeology: Verification or rejection of a generally-accepted date for a crafted object using tree rings to help establish authenticity and provenance.

3. Background to Forensic Dendroarchaeology
Douglass, A.E The secret of the Southwest solved by talkative tree rings. National Geographic Magazine 56(6): 736–770.

4. Swaggerty Blockhouse (1787)

5. Swaggerty Blockhouse (1787)

6. = Stephens Hog Barn (1860)
1860

7. Messiah Violin (1716)
= Messiah Violin (1716)
Messiah

8. Karr-Koussevitzky Double Bass (1611)

9. Karr-Koussevitzky Double Bass (1611) = 1761+
The Karr-Koussevitzky Bass dates from 1445 to 1761.
= 1761+
Bass
Reference
r = 0.43, n = 317, t = 8.5, p <

10. Rocky Mount Historic Site (1770–1772)
One of the earliest settlers
Earliest intact structure (1770)
Revolutionary War significance
Capital from 1790–1792
Regional landmark (post office)

11. Rocky Mount Historic Site (1770–1772) = 1827–1830
The Rocky Mount site was built from 1827 to 1830.
= 1827–1830
Rocky Mount
Reference
r = 0.46, n = 131, t = 5.9, p <

12. Abraham Lincoln’s Birthplace Log Cabin (1809)

13. Abraham Lincoln’s Birthplace Log Cabin (1809)

14. Abraham Lincoln’s Birthplace Log Cabin (1809)

15. Abraham Lincoln’s Birthplace Log Cabin (1809)
Dendrochronological dating vs. Mammoth Cave
Round logs, hewn logs, sawn log ends
Counted rings at each end of log
Comparison with other log structures

16. Abraham Lincoln’s Birthplace Log Cabin (1809)

17. Lincoln’s Boyhood Home
Abraham Lincoln’s Birthplace Log Cabin (1809)
Lincoln’s Boyhood Home
Lincoln’s Birthplace

18. Abraham Lincoln’s Birthplace Log Cabin (1809)
Reference
r = 0.55, n = 79, t = 5.8, p <
Logs in the Lincoln cabin date to the 1840s and 1850s.

19. Abraham Lincoln’s Birthplace Log Cabin (1809)
Lincoln Log Cabin Average number of rings per log: 39 (range 20 to 65, n = 42)
Lincoln Cabin at Knob Creek Average number of rings per log: 130 (range 85 to 161, n = 18)
Rocky Mount, Tennessee Average number of rings per log: 95 (range 68 to 162, n = 25)

20. Abraham Lincoln’s Birthplace Log Cabin (1809)
Lincoln Log Cabin 10 round logs, 32 hewn logs; 31 logs with sawn ends, 10 logs with unsawn ends
Cabin had been “downsized.”
Notches were found “hanging.”
Notches were incorrectly fit.
Some logs were turned.
Extra chinking was required.
Cabin was atypically higher.
Logs at fireplace did not match.
Chimney logs made from refuse.

21. Abraham Lincoln’s Birthplace Log Cabin (≠1809)
Lincoln Log Cabin
“The Lincoln cabin may have been less crude and of better quality than the cabins built by [Thomas Lincoln’s] neighbors.” – C.A. Weslager, The Log Cabin in America, Rutgers University Press
The Lincolns came from Pennsylvania where immigrant settlers were very knowledgeable about European-style log house construction.
Thomas Lincoln was a carpenter and skilled woodworker, who never would have made such a crudely constructed cabin.

22. Abraham Lincoln’s Birthplace Log Cabin (≠1809)

24. Acknowledgements
Beth Atchley Saskia van de Gevel Ashley Heaton Whitney Kocis Evan Larson Daniel Lewis David Mann Alison Miller Dana Miller Danica Praza Chris Underwood Georgina Wight
Abraham Lincoln’s Birthplace Historic Site National Park Service National Science Foundation Dr. Frank Tainter, Clemson University Rocky Mount Historical Association Tennessee Historical Commission Thomas Jefferson’s Poplar Forest Violin Society of America International Society of Bassists Museum of Appalachia
Ken Apschnikat, Heather Harvey, Taylor and Joanna Hay, Dustin Williams, Rusty Holloway, Madeleine Crouch, Ken Robinson, Carol Harden, Joe Regh, Helen Hayes, Frank Speckhart, Charlie Faulkner, Steve Rogers, Amy Steadman, Paul Sheppard, Malcolm Cleaveland, Dan MacDonald, Val Devault, Bill Landry, and many more!