A 3620 -Year Temperature Record from Fitzroya cupressoides Tree Rings in Southern South America Antonio Lara1, Ricardo Villalba2 See all authors and affiliations Science 21 May 1993 : Vol. 260 , Issue 5111 , pp. 1104-1106 DOI: 10.1126 /science. 260.5111.1104 Article Info & Metrics eLetters PDF Abstract A tree-ring width chronology of alerce trees (Fitzroya cupressoides) from southern Chile was used to produce an annually resolved 3622 -year reconstruction of departures from mean summer temperatures (December to March) for southern South America. The longest interval with above-average temperatures was from 80 B.C. to A.D. 160 . Long intervals with below-average temperatures were recorded from A.D. 300 to 470 and from A.D. 1490 to 1700 . Neither this proxy temperature record nor instrumental data for southern South America for latitudes between 35° and 44°S provide evidence of a warming trend during the last decades of this century that could be related ...