Re-thinking the boundaries of our discipline

A short introduction into modern tree-ring research, will be followed by timely examples of how different tree-ring archives and parameters help to identify and shift research frontiers and cross disciplinary boundaries; not only within the natural sciences but also the humanities. In addressing different aspects of archaeology, astronomy, biology, ecology, epidemiology, history, mycology and volcanology, this session will discuss the potential and limitations of state-of-the-art dendro sciences that may range in space and time from a cell to the globe and from hourly resolution to the end of the Last Ice Age. With this attitude in mind, the talk aims at stimulating blue-sky thinking to generate exciting scholarship in yet unexplored spheres at the crossroads of methodological and intellectual innovation: Tree rings are a prime example of multidisciplinary liaisons; either as annually resolved and absolutely dated archives or as tools for precise timeseries analyses and signal detection.