Tree‐Rings, Timbers and Trees: a dendrochronological survey of the 14th‐century cog, Doel 1

Abstract

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.

Key words:

• dendrochronology
• provenance
• timber conversion
• cog
• 14th century
• archaeology

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Jeroen Vermeersch, Tom Lenaerts and all members of the ‘De Kogge’ team (Flanders Heritage Agency) for their assistance and valuable input. Esther Jansma was so kind as to give us access to the original measurements made by RING in 2000. Yardeni Vorst provided us with appreciated feedback and comparable cases of the twin‐sister principle in Roman and medieval shipbuilding. We would also like to thank the two anonymous reviewers whose highly appreciated comments and suggestions helped us to improve the quality of this paper. Carrying out dendrochronological research can never be done without the generosity that colleagues and institutions in northern Europe have shown in making their tree‐ring data available, and to those colleagues we are most grateful.

Notes

1. For sake of consistency the term ‘fairings’ is used throughout this paper, although some scholars would prefer to use ‘fenders’ instead.