Stasytytė, I., Pakalnis, R. and Vitas, A. 2005. Dendrochronological Investigation on Scots Pine Timber Extracted from Lake Stirniai, Northeastern Lithuania. Baltic Forestry, 11 (1): 46-53

Dendrochronological research has been carried out on subfossil pine timber found in Lake Stirniai, northeastern Lithuania. As a result, the tree ring width floating chronology spanning 213 years was compiled. Radiocarbon dating of the samples has shown that pines lived in the transition between Medieval Warm Period and Little Ice Age (from 1103±80AD to 1315±80AD). Research has revealed that pines grew on the peat soil, likely on Pinetum carico-sphagnosum forest type. It was discovered that the water level of Lake Stirniai in the Medieval Warm Period probably was bellow for about 1.0 m than nowadays. Analysis on cyclic recurrence of the annual radial growth fluctuations of pinewood growing on boggy soil along Stirniai lakeside in the 12th-14th centuries enabled to determine at least 6 cycles longer than 10 tears.

Key words: climate, Little Ice Age, Medieval Warm Period, radial growth, radiocarbon dating, Scots pine, subfossil timber.