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During the First World War (1914-1918), the construction and maintenance of the Western Front in North-west Europe required huge quantities of timber. Although archaeological investigations regularly uncover wellpreserved wooden structures and objects, studies of the timber'sprovenance are rare. The authors combine archival research with wood-species identification and tree-ring analysis of a large assemblage of wooden objects excavated from former trenches on the Western Front. The results show that most objects and structures were made using fast-growing European species, with evidence for the small-scale but continuous importation of North American timber.Keywords: Western Front, First World War, dendrochronology, wood anatomy, battlefield archaeology, IntroductionDuring the First World War (1914-1918), the landscape along the European Western Front was devastated by warfare and military operations. By the end of 1914, a stalemate was reached and [...]

A heavy and impressive chest — part of the museum collection of the city of Antwerp — served as a strongbox to securely store the city's historical documents, including citizen privileges, public liberties, and responsibilities. A recent dendrochronological survey revealed that the tree-ring pattern of the lid dates to 1005–1294 CE, suggesting a felling date early in the 14th century. The Silver fir wood originated from the Vosges mountains in France, and hence was transported to the city of Antwerp that had already developed as an important trade centre along river Scheldt by the 13th century. The tree-ring pattern of the bottom plank could not be measured, but the presence of caulking material in some large cracks and metal clamps (sintels) revealed that this repurposed timber must have originated from a medieval ship. The archaeobotanical analysis of the mosses used as caulking material and of the pollen trapped in these mosses points toward two different locations where the ship was repaired, with at least one location outside the Low Countries. During the examination, a collection of wooden boxes stored inside the chest drew the attention. It was unclear whether the collection of boxes had any connection with the original content in the chest. Tree-ring dating on these wooden boxes made of oak and beech revealed their 14th to 16th century dating. Furthermore, inscriptions proved their relationship with historical documents. The combined dendrochronological, archaeobotanical, and historical examination demonstrates that this medieval chest was a privileged spectator of the city's turbulent history. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Roof construction is a key element while documenting and studying building traditions in historical towns. In the city centre of Ghent (Belgium), numerous roofs of large monuments (churches, merchants' halls, town halls) as well as historical houses from the pre-industrial era are still in place. Tree-ring research has been carried out on several intact roof constructions since the 1990s. The dated roofs range from the mid-13th to the 17th century. Recent research has revealed the presence of historical roofs in the church of St. Nicholas, an iconic building in the city's historical centre. Tree-ring research has dated the roof constructions of the nave and the choir to the first and second quarters of the 13th century, which makes them the oldest preserved examples of carpentry in Ghent and among the oldest in Flanders (northern Belgium). These and other such dating results for the Ghent region allow for the development of a typology for (late) medieval and early modern roof constructions and provide context for a better understanding of the procurement, trade, and transport of building timber from the early 13th century to the early modern era. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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A dendrochronological study of the roofs of the Basilica of Our Lady in Tongeren (Belgium) showed that the current roofs date to the period right after the deliberate burning of the church in 1677. High resolution dendrochronological dates – based on wood-anatomical observations of the outermost tree-ring – combined with detailed archival sources, allow us to trace the progress of reconstruction of the various roofs throughout the years following the fire at an intra-annual resolution. This provides an exceptionally detailed timeline of both the temporal and spatial progress of the reconstruction of the roofs of the Basilica of Our Lady. As such, this case-study can serve as a very detailed reference for the study of post-medieval roofs and the workflow during their construction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2002, the preserved bottom part of a wreck was excavated, identified as a cog, and named Doel 2. An interdisciplinary research programme (2010-2014), revealed that the ship was constructed after 1328 with wood from northern Poland. Complete 3D-registration of the timbers, and structural analysis showed it had a keelplank with a natural upward curve at the bow that served as a hook, and that most bottom planks were recaulked, among many other repairs. The ship ended up in 'den Deurganck', a creek near the Scheldt river where it was partially disassembled before the surviving remains were inverted, probably as a result of a flood. This paper presents the detailed recording and archaeological interpretation of the ship remains, and the results of the dendrochronological analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The growth-ring pattern and basal area increment (BAI) of round wood charcoal fragments from Carpinus betulus , Corylus avellana , Fraxinus excelsior and Quercus sp. from a 14th century archaeological context has been studied and compared to those of modern samples from both coppice woodland and dominant trees in high forests. The archaeological charcoal fragments show a strong initial growth rate, but after 4–8 years this starts to decrease for all investigated taxa. For Fraxinus excelsior , the decrease generally occurs after 9–11 years. In general, this trend in ring width is comparable to the one observed on samples from modern day coppice and is clearly different for the samples from high-forest stands where ring width generally starts to decrease after a much longer period or at a much lower rate. BAI-values can be interpreted in a similar way, where these values for both the archaeological charcoal fragments and shoots from modern coppice reach a plateau or start a decreasing trend after 4–8 years. In contrast, BAI values for high-forest trees show a continuous increase. The results indicate that studying the tree-ring pattern and BAI of roundwood charcoal fragments from archaeological contexts might be a useful approach for the reconstruction of past woodland management and the identification of (pre)historic coppice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2000, a well-preserved, c.21 m-long shipwreck, Doel 1, was found upside-down in a silted-up creek near the river Scheldt ( Belgium). An interdisciplinary research project was initiated, including 3 D registration of all timbers, wood species identification, dendrochronology and archaeobotanical analysis of the caulking material. Doel 1, of which 70% is preserved, displays the construction features of a cog. Unseasoned wood was used and dated by dendrochronology to AD 1325/26. Remarkable features include the symmetrical layout of the bottom planks, the atypical arrangement of the frames to the fore, and evidence of partial dissassembly of the ship after intensive use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2000, the remains of a cog, Doel 1, were found in Doel, Belgium. Wood species identification of all ship timbers and smaller elements was performed. European oak was the dominant species, followed by alder that was used for the fairings. In total 150 ring-width series were recorded. The construction date was set at AD 1325/26 and the timbers proved to originate from forests along the rivers Elbe and Weser. For the bottom strakes a strict symmetrical layout was observed. The keel plank was hewn from a trunk with a slightly earlier felling date. Repairs were performed with high-quality boards, some with a southern Baltic provenance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The current state-of-the-art of tree-ring analysis and densitometry is still mainly limited to two dimensions and mostly requires proper treatment of the surface of the samples. In this paper we elaborate on the potential of helical X-ray computed tomography for 3D tree-ring analysis. Microdensitometrical profiles are obtained by processing of the reconstructed volumes. Correction of the structure direction, taking into account the angle of growth rings and grain, results in very accurate microdensity and precise ring width measurements. Both a manual as well as an automated methodology is proposed here, of which the MATLAB© code is available. Examples are given for pine (Pinus sylvestris L.), oak (Quercus robur L.) and teak (Tectona grandis L.). In all, the methodologies applied here on the 3D volumes are useful for growth related studies, enabling a fast and non-destructive analysis. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: A detailed dendrochronological survey was performed on the medieval roofs of the Church of Our Lady (CoOL) in Damme, Belgium. Seen its complex architectural history, special attention was paid to the identification of consecutive building phases, based on combined architectural historical research and tree-ring dating. In total 64 increment cores were taken throughout the roof structures of the CoOL. All roof timbers are made of European oak (Quercus robur/petraea), of which only few have surviving sapwood or bark. Tree-ring dating confirms the late 13th/early 14th century construction date of the roofs. For all chronologies that were composed, the highest correlation values are found with reference chronologies covering the catchment area of the river Meuse. From the dating results of the timbers of the CoOL it becomes clear that the same timber source was used for nearly a century. On several of the examined roof timbers, rafting joints were observed, demonstrating that the timbers were indeed tied together as a raft and floated down the river. By implementing sapwood estimates in a Bayesian chronological model (OxCal), tree-ring series with surviving sapwood from coeval roof structures were combined in order to narrow down the time range for the felling date. Based on the refined interpretation of the felling dates, several consecutive building phases can now be identified and dated, leading to a new interpretation of the architectural history of the CoOL. Intriguingly, a marked interruption in building activities is observed around 1300. Probably this is related to the instable political situation at that time, caused by the armed conflict that emerged between the Count of Flanders and the king of France. Since Damme served as the outport of the riotous city of Bruges, it was alternately seized by the French and Flemish, both consuming considerable amounts of timber and other building materials for military fortifications. Potentially this led to a shortage in building materials and provoked a stop in building activities. This paper demonstrates the power of Bayesian models to refine the interpretation of dendrochronological dates in architectural analyses of medieval historical buildings. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: We overview the recent development of oak dendrochronology in Europe related to archaeology and art-history. Tree-ring series of European oaks (Quercus robur and Q. petraea) have provided a reliable framework for chronometric dating and reconstruction of past climate and environment. To date, long oak chronologies cover almost the entire Holocene, up to 8480 BC and the network over the entire area in which the two oaks grow is being improved. We present the main characteristics of oak ring series and discuss the latest methodological advances in defining the calendar year in which the tree-rings were formed and in interpreting such dating in terms of the age of a wooden object. Dendrochronology has established itself as a standard dating tool and has been applied in a wide variety of (pre-)historical studies. Archaeological wood, historical buildings, works of art (such as panel paintings and sculptures) have been successfully investigated. Recent advances in dendro-provenancing have helped to obtain more information on the timber trade in the past. Information on past forest structures, silviculture and timber use have become available through scrutinizing historical and contemporary ring-width patterns. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The exceptional preservation of the cityscape in the medieval city of Bruges (Belgium) triggered dendrochronological research on numerous preserved roof constructions in historical buildings, that date from the Middle Ages up to the early modern period. As many of these oak timbers lack the preservation of waney edge, a method was developed to combine sapwood estimates of felling dates within each building phase and to compute a summed probability distribution (SPD) for those felling dates. These summed probabilities now allow us to reconstruct temporal trends in building trade activity in an expanding medieval city. When linked to the social status of the patrons of the building projects, it is observed that resilience to demographic crisis and political turmoil differs among the social groups and political elite of a medieval society. Furthermore the dating results of decades of tree-ring research now provide a typo-chronological framework of roof constructions and shows that it took nearly two centuries before more advanced technological skill in the construction of roofs completely replaced the traditional common rafter roofs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Stepwise multidisciplinary approach to discern the date and origin of wood objects. • Tool traces unveil the manufacture process, key to resolve the production place. • Crucial role of dendrochronology in identifying wooden elements from a single tree. • DNA of historic wood successfully locates the wood source within Europe. • Radiocarbon wiggle matching provides a narrow date range for 19th century wood. We present a stepwise multidisciplinary approach combining woodworking expertise, dendrochronology, DNA genotyping and radiocarbon dating to determine when, where and how historical wooden objects were made. The effective implementation of this approach is demonstrated with a set of wooden stocks from the Rijksmuseum collections in Amsterdam (the Netherlands). In 2019, preceding an exhibition about slavery, stocks made of oak (Quercus sp.) were donated to the Rijksmuseum. The history of the object was unknown, and a stepwise approach was devised to determine the date and potential place of its manufacture, and whether they were made in the context of Dutch colonial slavery. Pencil marks and tool traces found on the surface of the wood are characteristic of traditional woodworking techniques and indicated that the stocks were processed after 1800 C.E., from fresh wood, shortly after the felling of the tree, and in one go. The tree-ring analysis revealed that the beams originate from the same tree, and that the tree grew in a dense forest. However, it failed to return an exact date for the wood and, consequently, also to determine its provenance. Therefore, we decided to employ DNA-genotyping and radiocarbon dating. The retrieval of DNA was successful, and the results placed the provenance of the wood in an area covering a broad latitudinal transect in central Europe. Radiocarbon wiggle matching, modelled with sapwood statistics for central Europe, revealed that the tree was likely cut between 1791 and 1824 C.E. These results combined suggest that the stocks were produced in the first quarter of the 19th century, using local wood, at a small rural town somewhere in Italy, the Pyrenees, eastern France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany or even further north (Denmark, Sweden). While their association with slavery in colonised territories seems unlikely, their production in the context of the Dutch colonial system cannot be ruled out. Therefore, they are valuable historical objects worth being curated and exhibited at a national museum. The stepwise approach here presented can be applied to other large objects at museum collections. We encourage curators, conservators and restorers to consider its implementation to maximise knowledge acquisition and appreciation of wooden cultural heritage. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Variations in building activity reflect demographic, economic and social change during history. Tens of thousands of wooden constructions in Europe have been dendrochronologically dated in recent decades. We use the annually precise evidence from a unique dataset of 49 640 tree felling dates of historical constructions to reconstruct temporal changes in building activity between 1250 and 1699 CE across a large part of western and central Europe largely corresponding to the former Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation. Comparison with annual records of 9772 plague outbreaks shows that construction activity was significantly negatively correlated to the number of plague outbreaks, with the greatest decrease in construction following the larger outbreaks by three to four years after the start of the epidemics. Preceding the Black Death (1346–1353 CE) by five decades and the Great Famine (1315–1322 CE) by two decades, a significant decline in construction activity at c. 1300 CE is indicative of a societal crisis, associated with population stagnation or decline. Another dramatic decline in building activity coincides with the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648 CE) and confirms the devastating nature of this conflict. While construction activity was significantly lower during periods of high grain prices, no statistically robust relationship between the number of felling dates and past temperature or hydroclimate variations is found. This study demonstrates the value of dendrochronological felling dates as an indicator for times of crisis and prosperity during periods when documentary evidence is limited. Highlights • Reconstructing European building activity 1250–1699 CE from 49 640 tree felling dates. • Lower building activity coincided with more plague outbreaks and higher grain prices. • Reduced building activity during the Late Medieval Crisis (c. 1300–1415 CE). • Unprecedented decline in European building activity during the Thirty Years' War. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Archaeological research of shipwrecks mainly focusses on both the study of the general structure and the individual timber elements and on the provenancing of ships by dendrochronological analyses and the study of the cargo. This study now presents the analyses of a large number of samples from the mosses that have been used for the caulking of two early 14th century maritime cargo vessels. The identification of the mosses showed that different taxa have been used for the caulking of original seams, repairs and for re-caulked seams. Analyses of the botanical macroremains of vascular plants trapped in these mosses confirm the different environments these mosses have been collected in, as is suggested by the ecological characteristics of the different identified taxa. The analyses of pollen trapped in these mosses indicate a different regional origin of the mosses used within one single ship and thus show the potential of this technique for the provenancing of shipwrecks and ancient ship routes. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: A detailed study of charcoal burning activities has been made for the Zoersel forest (Northern Belgium) based on an inventory of charcoal kiln remains, the analyses of wood charcoal and other charred botanical macroremains and radiocarbon dating of 10 of these kilns. Age determination of the youngest kilns was refined by dendrochronological analysis of trees growing on top of these kiln sites. The results show that, although many kilns were found, charcoal was produced in Zoersel only at certain moments during late and post-medieval times suggesting that charcoal burning was not a part of the regular management practice of these forests. The wood used for the production of charcoal mainly consists of taxa of alluvial (alder) forests while the kilns are situated on sites that currently are rather dry, with an oak dominated vegetation. For the older kilns, this contrast could be explained by an important change in local soil conditions. The younger kilns may be related to the conversion of alder woodland to grassland in the lower parts of the domain, with the kilns being constructed in the nearby dryer woodland areas. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]