Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

World's Oldest, 8,000 Year Old (Living) Tree Found In Sweden
Thaindian -RIA Novosti ^ | 4-10-2008

Posted on 04/12/2008 10:35:19 AM PDT by blam

World’s oldest, 8,000 years old tree found in Sweden

April 10th, 2008 - 11:23 pm ICT
RIA Novosti

Stockholm, April 10 (RIA Novosti) Scientists in northern Sweden believe they have discovered the world’s oldest living tree dating back nearly 8,000 years, local media said Thursday. A Norway spruce, which was found growing at a height of 950 metres above sea level, is more than two metres (6.5 feet) tall and about 20 centimeters (8 inches) in width.

Shortly after the discovery, scientists sent samples from the tree to a laboratory in Miami, US, and were amazed to learn that the tree was 7,800 years old.

Lars Hedlund, a local councillor from Dalecarlia where the tree was found, told Swedish Radio that the tree was one of the first to grow following the end of the ice age.

The Norway spruce is one of the most common spruces, often used as Christmas trees.

According to the Guinness Book of Records, the oldest living tree is 4,768 years old and is a Great Basin Bristlecone Pine “Methuselah” located in the White Mountains of California. RIA Novosti


TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: 8000; oldest; sweden; tree
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-5051-77 next last
Thanks to Renfield for the article.

The original article from MSNBC couldn't be posted, it is linked here though.

1 posted on 04/12/2008 10:35:19 AM PDT by blam
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: SunkenCiv; Renfield

GGG Ping.


2 posted on 04/12/2008 10:35:49 AM PDT by blam (Secure the border and enforce the law)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: blam

Norway Spruce

3 posted on 04/12/2008 10:38:06 AM PDT by blam (Secure the border and enforce the law)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: blam

6.5 feet tall and 8 inches wide and they want us to believe it is 8000 years old? Right, cut the sucker in half and ocunt the rings. Probably closer to eight eyars old.


4 posted on 04/12/2008 10:38:40 AM PDT by deuteronlmy232 (And people think a theocracy is bad? Try taxation with representation.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: blam

Pine makes some good wood for furniture and veneer. Maybe someone should chop it down. What a harvest!!


5 posted on 04/12/2008 10:39:20 AM PDT by Delta 21 ( MKC USCG - ret)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: blam

As an citizens of California, I demand a recount.


6 posted on 04/12/2008 10:39:39 AM PDT by DoughtyOne (McCain is rock solid on SCOTUS judicial appointments. He voted for Ginsberg, Kennedy and Souter.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: DoughtyOne
Dang, I can't even get a decent short sentence out. LOL
7 posted on 04/12/2008 10:40:50 AM PDT by DoughtyOne (McCain is rock solid on SCOTUS judicial appointments. He voted for Ginsberg, Kennedy and Souter.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: blam

"I planted it."

8 posted on 04/12/2008 10:41:36 AM PDT by SIDENET (Hubba Hubba...)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: blam

“And the seedlings. They never write. They never call. Hey!, you seedlings, get off my copse!”


9 posted on 04/12/2008 10:42:10 AM PDT by yefragetuwrabrumuy
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: blam

Chop this tree down. It’s blocking my solar panels and the great view of the river. n


10 posted on 04/12/2008 10:43:52 AM PDT by nuancey
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: blam

Did they clear cut it and count the rings?


11 posted on 04/12/2008 10:44:48 AM PDT by liege
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: deuteronlmy232

6.5 feet tall, with 1,400 miles of roots.


12 posted on 04/12/2008 10:45:25 AM PDT by Dr. Bogus Pachysandra ("Don't touch that thing")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: Delta 21
"Pine makes some good wood for furniture and veneer. Maybe someone should chop it down. What a harvest!!

Don't you dare. I'm saving them for violins.

Did "Little Ice Age" Create Stradivarius Violins' Famous Tone?

13 posted on 04/12/2008 10:46:47 AM PDT by blam (Secure the border and enforce the law)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: blam

Impossible. I have it on good authority that the world is only 5,000 years old.


14 posted on 04/12/2008 10:47:57 AM PDT by Brilliant
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: blam

There’s no way. A six foot spruce? In northern Sweden? That would put it close to the polar circle.


15 posted on 04/12/2008 10:48:50 AM PDT by loreldan (Can't vote for Obama, so rah rah McCain I guess)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

the larch.

the larch.


16 posted on 04/12/2008 10:49:01 AM PDT by raygunfan
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 14 | View Replies]

To: DoughtyOne

your beeber needs to be re-stuned.


17 posted on 04/12/2008 10:50:13 AM PDT by OeOeO (maybe I didn't come over on the Mayflower, but I got here as soon as I could" Anton Cermak)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: blam

I heard there’s an 8,000 year old Spotted Owl living in it.


18 posted on 04/12/2008 10:53:39 AM PDT by Mad_Tom_Rackham ("The land of the Free...Because of the Brave")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: blam

Well if their six footer is 8000 years old, why yours msut be 1 zillion years old.


19 posted on 04/12/2008 10:56:29 AM PDT by deuteronlmy232 (And people think a theocracy is bad? Try taxation with representation.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: Brilliant

Sources tell me that their using metric years.


20 posted on 04/12/2008 10:59:08 AM PDT by ThomasThomas
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 14 | View Replies]

To: blam
Aye, that is one old tree. Much older than the now formerly officially oldest tree- a Bristlecone Pine in the White Mountains of California.


"Methuselah", which is 4,789 years old.

21 posted on 04/12/2008 10:59:26 AM PDT by zadox (Galatians 5:1: It is for freedom that we have been set free)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Brilliant
Impossible. I have it on good authority that the world is only 5,000 years old.

From my perspective, the world is only 47 and everything beyond that is heresay.

22 posted on 04/12/2008 10:59:38 AM PDT by Zack Attack
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 14 | View Replies]

To: zadox
Aye, that is one old tree. Much older than the now formerly officially oldest tree- a Bristlecone Pine in the White Mountains of California.

Oh boy, now the Forest Service, chambers of commerce, and visitors centers all throughout the Eastern High Sierra are going to have to change their thousands of brochures and signs including a big carved, wooden sign at the entrance to the little town of Big Pine that reads "Bristlecone Pines, Worlds Oldest Living Things."

23 posted on 04/12/2008 11:07:37 AM PDT by Inyo-Mono (If you don't want people to get your goat, don't tell them where it's tied.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 21 | View Replies]

To: deuteronlmy232

In harsh environments trees grow really slowly.


24 posted on 04/12/2008 11:09:28 AM PDT by Strategerist
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: Zack Attack
“From my perspective, the world is only 47 and everything beyond that is heresay.

It is really 63.25 years old.. Trust me, I know better because I am older :)

25 posted on 04/12/2008 11:10:17 AM PDT by AlexW (Reporting from Bratislava, Slovakia. Happy not to be back in the USA for now.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 22 | View Replies]

To: blam

Swedish spruce may be world’s oldest living tree
Fri Apr 11, 2008 9:01am EDT
By Niklas Pollard

STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - Scientists have found a cluster of spruces in the mountains in western Sweden which, at an age of 8,000 years, may be the world’s oldest living trees.

The hardy Norway spruces were found perched high on a mountain side where they have remained safe from recent dangers such as logging, but exposed to the harsh weather conditions of the mountain range that separates Norway and Sweden.

Carbon dating of the trees carried out at a laboratory in Miami, Florida, showed the oldest of them first set root about 8,000 years ago, making it the world’s oldest known living tree, Umea University Professor Leif Kullman said.

California’s “Methuselah” tree, a Great Basin bristlecone pine, is often cited as the world’s oldest living tree with a recorded age of between 4,500 and 5,000 years.

Two other spruces, also found in the course of climate change studies in the Swedish county of Dalarna, were shown to be 4,800 and 5,500 years old.

“These were the first woods that grew after the Ice Age,” said Lars Hedlund, responsible for environmental surveys in the county of Dalarna and collaborator in climate studies there.

“That means that when you speak of climate change today, you can in these (trees) see pretty much every single climate change that has occurred.”

Although a single tree trunk can become at most about 600 years old, the spruces had survived by pushing out another trunk as soon as the old one died, Professor Kullman said.

Rising temperatures in the area in recent years had allowed the spruces to grow rapidly, making them easier to find in the rugged terrain, he added.

“For quite some time they have endured as bushes maybe 1/2 meter tall,” he said.

“But over the past few decades we have seen a much warmer climate, which has meant that they have popped up like mushrooms in the soil.”

(Reporting by Niklas Pollard; Editing by Jon Boyle)

© Reuters 2007. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by caching, framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters and the Reuters sphere logo are registered trademarks and trademarks of the Reuters group of companies around the world.

Reuters journalists are subject to the Reuters Editorial Handbook which requires fair presentation and disclosure of relevant interests.


26 posted on 04/12/2008 11:12:28 AM PDT by Liberals are Evil Socialists!
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: raygunfan
the larch.

the larch.

LMAO.

You need a one-second pause between "the" and "larch".

27 posted on 04/12/2008 11:13:59 AM PDT by Spirochete
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 16 | View Replies]

To: blam

It’s hard to believe that that tiny little tree is older than some of those huge redwoods and sequoias.


28 posted on 04/12/2008 11:15:01 AM PDT by lesser_satan (Vote McCain - The Choice who Sucks Less!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: blam
scientists sent samples from the tree to a laboratory in Miami...

Will it be gettin' any older?

29 posted on 04/12/2008 11:16:00 AM PDT by bannie (clintons CHEAT! It's their only weapon.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: zadox

I’ve seen that tree.

It is WINDY up there!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


30 posted on 04/12/2008 11:16:51 AM PDT by bannie (clintons CHEAT! It's their only weapon.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 21 | View Replies]

To: blam

So this guy is walking in the woods and hears voices arguing,
“Son of a birch” and “Son of a beech”.

He comes up to two trees that are arguing about what type a third tree is. He looks at the third tree as says, “I don’t know if it’s birch or beech, but it’s mother was a fine piece of ash”.

(ok. I’ll go away now)


31 posted on 04/12/2008 11:27:03 AM PDT by Leisler
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: lesser_satan
It’s hard to believe that that tiny little tree is older than some of those huge redwoods and sequoias.

Even the Bristlecone pine trees, about 40 air miles from Sequoia Nat'l Park, are 2,000 years older than the Redwoods or Sequoias.

32 posted on 04/12/2008 11:34:53 AM PDT by Inyo-Mono (If you don't want people to get your goat, don't tell them where it's tied.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 28 | View Replies]

To: AlexW
It is really 63.25 years old.. Trust me, I know better because I am older

I would love to trust you, but my generation doesn't trust anyone over 62.1 years old.

33 posted on 04/12/2008 11:38:10 AM PDT by Tennessee_Bob ("Those who "abjure" violence can only do so because others are committing violence on their behalf.")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 25 | View Replies]

To: blam; All

May I suggest:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HvQ2JF-glvw


34 posted on 04/12/2008 11:45:01 AM PDT by Uriah_lost (This space reserved for a decent candidate,,,lemme know when we get one.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: blam; Ezekiel; aculeus
World's Oldest, 8,000 Year Old (Living) Tree Found In Sweden

Will this be the place of worship for algore and his followers?

35 posted on 04/12/2008 11:45:04 AM PDT by Lijahsbubbe
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Tennessee_Bob

“I would love to trust you, but my generation doesn’t trust anyone over 62.1 years old.”

Yes, but I am from TENNESSEE, so I know better :P


36 posted on 04/12/2008 11:45:10 AM PDT by AlexW (Reporting from Bratislava, Slovakia. Happy not to be back in the USA for now.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 33 | View Replies]

To: Renfield; blam; StayAt HomeMother; Ernest_at_the_Beach; 1ofmanyfree; 24Karet; 3AngelaD; 49th; ...

· join list or digest · view topics · view or post blog · bookmark · post a topic ·

 
Gods
Graves
Glyphs
Thanks Renfield and Blam. That MSNBC article said "western Sweden". ;')

To all -- please ping me to other topics which are appropriate for the GGG list.
GGG managers are Blam, StayAt HomeMother, and Ernest_at_the_Beach
 

· Google · Archaeologica · ArchaeoBlog · Archaeology magazine · Biblical Archaeology Society ·
· Mirabilis · Texas AM Anthropology News · Yahoo Anthro & Archaeo ·
· History or Science & Nature Podcasts · Excerpt, or Link only? · cgk's list of ping lists ·


37 posted on 04/12/2008 12:03:02 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/_____________________Profile updated Saturday, March 29, 2008)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: blam

A møøse bit my spruce.


38 posted on 04/12/2008 12:04:14 PM PDT by Rocky
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Leisler
“I don’t know if it’s birch or beech, but it’s mother was a fine piece of ash”.

Upon further scrutiny, the voice he heard was that of a woodpecker. A closer hearing revealed that the words he said were "The best piece of ash I ever had my pecker in."

39 posted on 04/12/2008 12:04:27 PM PDT by Migraine (Diversity is great...(until it happens to YOU).)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 31 | View Replies]

To: OeOeO

Evoduntly...

Bzzt*@!#%&#!@#%#@!#%&#!@#%#@!#%&#!@#%#@!#%&#!@#%#...

Ah, that’s better.

Thanks.


40 posted on 04/12/2008 12:05:05 PM PDT by DoughtyOne (McCain is rock solid on SCOTUS judicial appointments. He voted for Ginsberg, Kennedy and Souter.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 17 | View Replies]

To: Leisler

[rimshot!]


41 posted on 04/12/2008 12:05:42 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/_____________________Profile updated Saturday, March 29, 2008)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 31 | View Replies]

To: blam

This is a Satan tree. The Earth is only 6000 years old. The fact that they are used as Christmas trees only proves that Santa (Satan without the “n”) is the antichrist. Please see Ben Stein’s new movie. He is a jew for Christ if there ever was one :).


42 posted on 04/12/2008 12:31:32 PM PDT by Soliton (McCain couldn't even win a McCain look-alike contest)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: deuteronlmy232

Since they dated the tree using the carbon-14 test, they must have taken a core that reached the center (the oldest part), so the should also be able to count the rings.


43 posted on 04/12/2008 12:42:09 PM PDT by Hiddigeigei (Civilizations die from suicide, not by murder. [Arnold Toynbee])
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: deuteronlmy232

Did not read the story did you??


44 posted on 04/12/2008 12:53:09 PM PDT by org.whodat (What's the difference between a Democrat and a republican????)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: Leisler

I’m surprised. No McCain jokes on this thread.


45 posted on 04/12/2008 12:58:52 PM PDT by gitmo (From now on, ending a sentence with a preposition is something up with which I will not put.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 31 | View Replies]

To: gitmo
I’m surprised. No McCain jokes on this thread.

Here's a nasty one from 1998.

46 posted on 04/12/2008 1:10:25 PM PDT by cynwoody
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 45 | View Replies]

To: Hiddigeigei

Ah, of course, the infamously inaccurate carbon 14 test. Hey 6.5 feet, good for a Christmas tree.


47 posted on 04/12/2008 1:23:46 PM PDT by deuteronlmy232 (And people think a theocracy is bad? Try taxation with representation.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 43 | View Replies]

To: org.whodat
ya, not much to read:

Stockholm, April 10 (RIA Novosti) Scientists in northern Sweden believe they have discovered the world’s oldest living tree dating back nearly 8,000 years, local media said Thursday. A Norway spruce, which was found growing at a height of 950 metres above sea level, is more than two metres (6.5 feet) tall and about 20 centimeters (8 inches) in width. Shortly after the discovery, scientists sent samples from the tree to a laboratory in Miami, US, and were amazed to learn that the tree was 7,800 years old. Lars Hedlund, a local councillor from Dalecarlia where the tree was found, told Swedish Radio that the tree was one of the first to grow following the end of the ice age. The Norway spruce is one of the most common spruces, often used as Christmas trees. According to the Guinness Book of Records, the oldest living tree is 4,768 years old and is a Great Basin Bristlecone Pine “Methuselah” located in the White Mountains of California. RIA Novosti

Let's see, 8000 year old tree, 6400 years since man was kicked out of the Garden of Eden and 4800 years since the flood that totally remodeled the earth, and this tree has survived? I think not.

48 posted on 04/12/2008 1:27:22 PM PDT by deuteronlmy232 (And people think a theocracy is bad? Try taxation with representation.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 44 | View Replies]

To: Liberals are Evil Socialists!

“Although a single tree trunk can become at most about 600 years old, the spruces had survived by pushing out another trunk as soon as the old one died, Professor Kullman said.”

This means the same root system from the original tree survives, but can sprout another trunk? I am not familiar with this concept.


49 posted on 04/12/2008 1:30:05 PM PDT by WoofDog123
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 26 | View Replies]

To: cynwoody

Nasty. Funny, too.


50 posted on 04/12/2008 1:37:45 PM PDT by gitmo (From now on, ending a sentence with a preposition is something up with which I will not put.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 46 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-5051-77 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson