Dendrochronological Dating and Provenancing of Timbers from the Arade 1 Shipwreck, Portugal

Abstract

As part of a larger project promoting the development of historical dendrochronology in the Iberian Peninsula, ship‐timbers from the Arade 1 wreck (mostly planking and framing elements), stored at the DANS/IGESPAR in Lisbon, were examined. Of these, 52 samples were identified as deciduous oak (Quercus subg. quercus) and two as chestnut (Castanea sativa). Of 24 timbers selected for dendrochronological research, 23 could be dated, placing the origin of the wood in western France and the felling of trees between AD 1579 and 1583. Their homogeneity suggests they are part of the original construction, which probably took place shortly after AD 1583.

© 2012 The Authors

Key words:

• Iberia
• France
• oak
• chestnut
• wood identification
• 16th‐century shipbuilding

Acknowledgements

Thanks to Francisco Alves (ex‐director DANS) for welcoming this research and providing the required logistics; João Coelho, Miguel Adolfo Martins (DANS) and Pedro Neves de Oliveira for their invaluable assistance during the inspection and sampling of timbers; Prof. Filipe Castro (Texas A&M University) for setting up the contacts and for his encouragement and enthusiasm; Josué Susperregi (Arkeolan) for checking our data with Basque chronologies; Fritz H. Schweingruber and Paula Queiroz for their comments about wood anatomical aspects; and an anonymous reviewer for the helpful comments.

Research carried out within the project ‘Filling in the blanks in European dendrochronology’ funded by the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO). The Malcolm H. Wiener Foundation provided financial support for Tomasz Ważny. The compiled data is stored at the DCCD facility (http://dendro.dans.knaw.nl).