The Malcolm Hewitt Wiener Foundation has given its first "Extraordinary Merit Award" to the Cornell Department of History of Art and Archaeology's Laboratory for Near Eastern and Aegean Dendrochronology. The $250,000 award was given to honor what the foundation called the "path-breaking" work of the Dendrochronology Project.
The Dendrochronology Project studies the history of the Aegean and the Near East through the technique of tree-ring dating. By examining the ring patterns of ancient wood, the laboratory is able to establish a chronology for a particular region, which allows scientists to then determine the age of other ancient wood samples within a year. The ultimate goal of the project is to build a single master tree-ring chronology for the Aegean and Near East that will extend from the present day to the 7th millennium BCE.
History of Art Professor Peter I. Kuniholm, director of the project, said the foundation's generosity will allow him and his colleagues to spend more of their time increasing the scope and depth of their investigations in tree-ring dating, rather than getting wrapped up in the arduous process of acquiring funding.
"Essentially, what the foundation is doing," Kuniholm said, "is buying us time."
Laura Meixner, professor and chair of the Department of History of Art, said the department was "pleased at this well-deserved recognition of Professor Kuniholm, his laboratory staff and students."
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