Evidence of events that occurred centuries before they were written down can be preserved on an ancient tree stump. Researchers may identify when a tree survived a burn and recreate how frequently woods were originally burnt by looking for fire traces inside its growth rings. Another element of that history was unearthed in 2026, when researchers studied remnants of longleaf pine in Alabama’s Flagg Mountain area. Eventually, one old tree was dated to 1612, with its oldest growth and a fire scar in 1697. Fire scars dating to 1402 have been discovered in north-central Pennsylvania, providing one of the longest records of historical fire in eastern North America.
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