Dr Andy Moir

The Neolithic Pine Project

Aims

• To extend the geographical extent of the 3000 BC in-situ subfossil pine horizon and develop calendar dated pine horizons as a chronological control for peatland research across the UK.
• To explore the potential uses of pine horizons in palaeo-climate and palaeo-woodland reconstructions and increase understanding of climate change on an annual timescale.
• To link to other research on peat stratigraphy and wetland archaeological sites providing precise dates for pine horizons.

The Wetland Pine Hydrology Project

Aims

• Refine our knowledge of the interrelationships between the radial growth of trees, climate factor and changes in water level.
• Establish methods by which pine in mire and at lake edges can provide precisely dated information on changes in water table levels.
• Develop the role of pine as an indicator of mire status without the need for costly long term monitoring programs.

Membership of Learned Societies

• Royal Geographical Society
• Quaternary Research Association
• Royal Scottish Forestry Society
• Vernacular Architecture Group
• Berkshire Archaeological Society
• Kent Archaeological Society
• Surrey Buildings Research Group

Research Grants Awarded

• 2010 - Quaternary Research Fund: Scientific investigation grant of £500 for a study entitled 'The Neolithic Pine Project: Extension of a Scottish network of 3000 BC pine'.
• 2010 - Hedgerley Historical Society: Dendrochronological investigation grant of £300 for a study entitled 'Dendrochronological analysis of the yew tree ant St. Mary the Vigin Church, Hedgerley, Buckinghamshire'

Moir, A K, 1999 The dendrochronological potential of modern yew (Taxus baccata) with special reference to yew from Hampton Court Palace, UK, New Phytologist, 144(3), 479-88.

Meirion-Jones, G I, Jones, M C E, Bridge, M C, Moir, A K, and Shewan, D, 2002 The Noble Residence in Brittany: problems and recent advances in dendrochronological dating and interpretation, in The Seigneurial Residence in Western Europe AD c 800-1600 (eds G I Meirion-Jones, E Impey, and M C E Jones), BAR International Series 1088, 131-54.

Moir, A K, 2003 Tree-ring date list 135: Buildings dated by Tree-Ring Services, Vernacular Architecture , 34, 95-7.

Alcock, N W and Moir, A K, 2004 A medieval urban house with two heated open rooms: 3, 5 Butter Street, Alcester, Vernacular Architecture, 35, 63-5.

Moir, A K, 2004 Tree-ring date list 146: Buildings dated by Tree-Ring Services, Vernacular Architecture, 35, 75-7.

Moir, A K, 2005a Dendrochronological analysis of sub-fossil pine in N. Scotland to examine the timing and extent of a c. 4000 cal. yr BP climatic event, Quaternary Newsletter (104), 75-8.

Moir, A K, 2005b Tree-ring date list 159: Buildings dated by Tree-Ring Services, Vernacular Architecture, 36, 74-7

Moir, A K, 2006 Tree-ring date list 171: Buildings dated by Tree-Ring Services, Vernacular Architecture, 37, 99-104.

Moir, A K, 2007 Tree-ring date list 183: Buildings dated by Tree-Ring Services, Vernacular Architecture , 38, 99-106

Tipping, R, Ashmore, P, Davies, A, Haggart, B A, Moir, A K, Newton, A, Sands, R, Skinner, T, and Tisdall, E W, 2007 Peat, pine stumps and people: interactions behind climate, vegetation change and human activity in wetland archaeology at Loch Farlary, northern Scotland, in Archaeology from the Wetlands: recent perspectives (eds J Barber, C Clark, M Cressey, A Crone, A Hale, J Henderson, R Housley, R Sands, and A Sheridan), Edinburgh (Society of Antiqaries of Scotland), WARP Occasional Paper 18, 157-64.

Tipping, R, Ashmore, P, Davies, A, Haggart, B A, Moir, A K, Newton, A, Sands, R, Skinner, T, and Tisdall, E W, 2008 Prehistoric Pinus woodland dynamics in an upland landscape in northern Scotland: the role of climate change and human impact, Veget Hist Archaeobot, 17(3), 251-67.

Moir, A K, Leroy, S A G, Brown, D M, and Collins, P E F, 2010 Dendrochronological evidence for a lower water table on peatland around 3200-3000 BC from sub-fossil pine in northern Scotland, The Holocene, 20(6), 931-42.

Moir, A K, Leroy, S A G, and Helama, S, 2011 Role of substrate on the dendroclimatic response of Scots pine from varying elevations in Northern Scotland, Canadian Journal of Forest Research (41), 822-38.

Moir, A K and Leroy, S A G, (Submitted) The age and growth-climate relationship of yew (Taxus baccata L.) in southeastern England.