The importance of “year zero” in interdisciplinary studies of climate and history
Ulf Büntgen, Clive Oppenheimer
Abstract
The mathematical aberration of the Gregorian chronology's missing "year zero" retains enduring potential to sow confusion in studies of paleoclimatology and environmental ancient history. The possibility of dating error is especially high when pre-Common Era proxy evidence from tree rings, ice cores, radiocarbon dates, and documentary sources is integrated. This calls for renewed vigilance, with systematic reference to astronomical time (including year zero) or, at the very least, clarification of the dating scheme(s) employed in individual studies.
Topics & Concepts
ConfusionRadiocarbon datingPaleoclimatologyProxy (statistics)ChronologyDendrochronologyArchaeologyHistoryPhysical geographyLittle ice ageClimate changeClimatologyGeologyPaleontologyGeographyHoloceneStatisticsMathematicsPsychologyOceanographyPsychoanalysisTree-ring climate responsesGeology and Paleoclimatology ResearchArchaeology and ancient environmental studies