Foresters have long been aware of the multiplicity of uses for wood. Each year finds many new uses for wood and wood products as our technology continues to develop. However, wood is now being used as a measuring tool for scientists in a manner never visualized before, even by the most avid proponets of wood products. The intrinsic composition of the wood itself, more specifically, its content of radioactive carbon (C14), enables scientists to date the age of the wood. The actual age of the wood, when ascertainable, makes it possible to place a date of occurrence on events contemporaneous with the period when the trees were living.