Iconic Tree Ring Specimen is Moving

For those of you that have cut down old trees and admired the rings that show you how old the tree was, you should know that tree ring specimens are actually useful to scientists in understanding our past as well.

While the Romans ruled the Mediterranean and the ancient Mayan civilization of Tikal reached its peak, a giant sequoia sprouted in present-day California. When the tree died in 1913, it was 1,701 years old. A 10-foot-diameter section weighing 2 tons arrived at the University of Arizona in 1931. The slice was studied and displayed in the Arizona State Museum before being placed in storage in the late 1990s. Now it will become the centerpiece of an exhibit in the new Bryant Bannister Tree-Ring Building. Its new home will open on the UA campus early next year.

http://azstarnet.com/news/science/ancient-sequoia-slice-is-new-lab-s-star/article_f64f5936-6cb1-5c8e-91a7-2af9d7874d23.htm