3. Dendrochronology on Archaeological Sites

Anne Crone

This section focuses on archaeological sites, defined here as any below-ground investigation, as distinct from standing buildings which are discussed in Dendrochronology in Historic Buildings. It includes underwater sites, both freshwater and marine, including wrecks, logboats and the remains of bridges.

So far 36 archaeological sites in Scotland have produced dendro-dated timbers or objects; of these six (16.7%) date to pre-AD 1000, 25 (69.4%) date to between AD 1000 and AD 1600, and five (13.9%) are post-AD 1600.

This chronological distribution of dendro-dated archaeological sites broadly reflects patterns of modern development, the majority of them coming from the excavation of medieval urban deposits in advance of commercial development. Outside the urban centres dendro-dated structural timbers have come mainly from research excavations and reflect either serendipitous survival or the foci of research interests. In terms of geographical distribution, dendro-dated archaeological material has been found in all ScARF regions except for Argyll & Bute, Forth Valley and Fife.

So far there has been no published overview of the dendro-archaeological evidence for Scotland, nor are results routinely represented in Canmore; however, the results from many sites have been published within individual excavation reports (see Bibliography). 

The dendrochronological work on Scottish archaeological sites has generally followed the conventional ring-width methods laid out in the English Heritage Dendrochronology Guidelines (1998), with the adoption of newer Blue Intensity and Stable Isotope applications for certain projects in recent years. 

With a tally of only 36 dendro-dated archaeological sites across a country as vast as Scotland and spanning millennia from the Mesolithic to the Modern period it is almost impossible to identify major themes and patterns. Chronological coverage is very sparse and patchy, with only the medieval and later periods represented to any extent. Before the 10th century AD tree-ring coverage consists of only two clusters of dated sites, an Iron Age and Early Historic cluster, both in South West Scotland. 

Building a longer prehistoric chronology using both bog oaks and archaeological material will always partly depend on serendipitous finds. Thus, it is vital that every opportunity should be taken to obtain and analyse timbers from earlier prehistoric contexts, because they offer the opportunity for climatic and environmental reconstruction as well as chronology extension, particularly if ring-width analysis is used in tandem with isotope studies.  

For sites of 16th century date and later, there is already a strong narrative, and the existence of a growing body of data from historic buildings in Scotland and reference chronologies from Northern Europe will continue to facilitate their dating. Thus, research should focus on those regions and periods where there is a growing database which can be built on to develop the narratives that are emerging. 

3.1 Pre-AD 1000

3.2 AD 1000 to present

3.3 Research Recommendations


 

Leave a Reply