Great Pyramid of Giza is an estimated 4,500-year-old structure, and many consider it to beone of the greatest engineering wonders that human beings have created. However, even as the Great Pyramid of Giza was being constructed in ancient Egypt, a young pine tree was beginning its life on a mountain range in modern-day California. This particular tree is now more than 4,800 years old.This tree is nicknamed “Methuselah,” and it is a Great Basin bristlecone pine (Pinus longaeva). The age of the tree has been determined using dendrochronology, and it is believed to be more than 4,850 years old. This makes it the oldest confirmed living non-clonal tree in the world. The tree started its life nearly 500 years before the completion of the Great Pyramid of Giza.
Survival tree
Unlike redwoods and tropical trees that flourish in the environment, Methuselah looks aged and nearly dead. A big part of the tree is dead with narrow strips of live tissues through which water and nutrients flow from the roots to the branches. In this way, it has adapted to use its energy efficiently despite the majority of the tree being dead.Bristlecone pines live in the toughest parts of North America. The tree lives under harsh weather conditions including freezing winters, winds, dry soil and less rain. These harsh conditions have contributed to long life spans because of the tree’s slow growth making the wood hard and thus resisting pests.
The scientists maintain secrecy about its location
Though Methuselah is located in California’s Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest, the exact whereabouts of the tree remain a mystery because of efforts to conserve it against vandalism, plundering and other damage which the presence of numerous visitors might cause. This was due to an unfortunate event in 1964 when yet another very ancient bristlecone pine – Prometheus, estimated to be close to 5,000 years old was chopped down while being studied.
An authentic chronicle of the Earth’s history
Apart from being one of the oldest organisms on our planet, Methuselah provides invaluable data on our climate in the form of growth rings. These growth rings allow researchers to reconstruct thousands of years’ worth of climate history, including periods of droughts, rainfalls, volcanic activities and changes in temperature. This information also allows scientists to refine the process of radiocarbon dating in archaeology and historiography.
Does Methuselah still hold on to his title?
Recently, scientists discovered another anonymous bristlecone pine from Great Basin that is probably older than Methuselah by only a few years and that has an age estimation of over 5,000 years. However, since its exact age is not verified like that of Methuselah, the latter is still considered the oldest living organism on Earth. Assertions regarding older trees such as Chilean “Gran Abuelo” are also not scientifically proven and verified yet.Methuselah is estimated to have lived through almost 5,000 years of climatic changes, the growth and destruction of civilizations, and many generations of humanity’s existence. Before the pyramids appeared, Methuselah was growing old, and his unique life was going on for many centuries.