Prometheus (Great Basin Bristlecone pine)
Dublin Core
Title
Prometheus (Great Basin Bristlecone pine)
Subject
Tree, flora, deceased tree, oldest tree, organism
Description
Prometheus, also known as WPN-114, was a Great Basin Bristlecone pine tree rooted in Wheeler Peak, Nevada that was once the world's oldest known non-clonal organism until its death in 1964. The 114th tree in White Pine County researched by Donald Rusk Currey, it was originally estimated to be 4844 years old before a ring-count taken by the University of Arizona's Laboratory of Tree Ring Research increased its estimated age to 4862.
The circumstances surrounding the felling of Prometheus are not entirely clear. In August of 1964, Currey, as part of his research into the Little Ice Age, cut down Prometheus with a chainsaw, asserting that "coring" the tree with an increment borer had not yielded sufficient samples. Accounts differ on whether the United States Forest Service signed off on its felling, whether Currey or the Forest Service knew Prometheus was especially old, or whether Prometheus would have been uniquely useful to Currey's research (as the Little Ice Age is popularly understood to only have spanned the 16th to 19th centuries).
Multiple cuttings of Prometheus have been made publicly accessible, including by the Forest Service's Institute of Forest Genetics in Placerville, California.
The death of Prometheus is often understood to have been an important factor in jumpstarting the movement to protect and conserve bristlecone pines. 22 years after Prometheus' death, the are surrounding Wheeler Peak was granted national park status, extending protection to all of its flora. On the 50th anniversary of the tree's felling in 2014, a two-day memorial was held in the aforementioned Great Basin National Park by artist Jeff Weiss.
The circumstances surrounding the felling of Prometheus are not entirely clear. In August of 1964, Currey, as part of his research into the Little Ice Age, cut down Prometheus with a chainsaw, asserting that "coring" the tree with an increment borer had not yielded sufficient samples. Accounts differ on whether the United States Forest Service signed off on its felling, whether Currey or the Forest Service knew Prometheus was especially old, or whether Prometheus would have been uniquely useful to Currey's research (as the Little Ice Age is popularly understood to only have spanned the 16th to 19th centuries).
Multiple cuttings of Prometheus have been made publicly accessible, including by the Forest Service's Institute of Forest Genetics in Placerville, California.
The death of Prometheus is often understood to have been an important factor in jumpstarting the movement to protect and conserve bristlecone pines. 22 years after Prometheus' death, the are surrounding Wheeler Peak was granted national park status, extending protection to all of its flora. On the 50th anniversary of the tree's felling in 2014, a two-day memorial was held in the aforementioned Great Basin National Park by artist Jeff Weiss.
Date
Age 4862-4900.
Rights
Under custodianship of the United States Forest Service prior to death. Stump is under the protection of the Great Basin National Park.
Format
Great Basin Bristlecone Pine tree stump. Dimensions while alive unknown.
Type
Physical object, Great Basin Bristlecone Pine (Pinus longaeva), tree stump.
Coverage
Great Basin National Park, Wheeler Peak, Nevada, US. 38.99887°N 114.29903°W.
Citation
“Prometheus (Great Basin Bristlecone pine),” Omeka, accessed April 10, 2026, https://omeka.ischool.utoronto.ca/items/show/148.