Abstract
Precisely dated oak (Quercus petraea Liebl. and Q. robur L. and their hybrids) tree-ring chronologies that show consistent cross-dating from Germany to England to Ireland1,2 have been labelled Type H3. In contrast, there have been difficulties in specifying the exact date ranges of some oak chronologies (termed Type A)3 constructed from art-historical timbers in England4,5 and the Netherlands6,7. It has been asserted that the oak planks and boards used in the English art-historical chronologies derived from England and Flanders3,8. The failure of these chronologies to date uniquely against Type H chronologies from the British Isles has led to suggestions that the timbers were imports, probably from the Baltic area1,9, views supported by historical evidence10,11. It has also been suggested that the dating procedure used for these chronologies has an element of circularity which could result in an erroneous placement of the chronologies going undetected12. Evidence is presented here which indicates that the art-historical chronologies have been incorrectly dated, that they represent imports into England and Flanders and that failure to take account of exotic origins has led to the use of unsuitable estimates for missing sapwood.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 51 print issues and online access
$199.00 per year
only $3.90 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Baillie, M. G. L. Tree-Ring Dating and Archaeology (Croom-Helm, London, 1982).
Baillie, M. G. L., Pilcher, J. R. & Pearson, G. W. Radiocarbon 25, 171–178 (1983).
Fletcher, J. M. Br. archaeol. Rep. (Int. Ser.) 51, 139–156 (1978).
Fletcher, J. M., Tapper, M. C. & Walker, F. S. Archaeometry 16, 31–40 (1974).
Fletcher, J. M. J. archaeol. Sci. 4, 335–352 (1977).
Eckstein, D., Brongers, J. A. & Bauch, J. Tree-Ring Bull. 35, 1–13 (1975).
Bauch, J. Br. archaeol. Rep. (Int. Ser.) 51, 133–137 (1978).
Fletcher, J. M. Vem. Archit. 11, 32–38 (1980).
Baillie, M. G. L. Br. archaeol. Rep. (Br. Ser.) 51, 27–37 (1978).
Rackham, O. Ancient Woodlands (Arnold, London, 1980).
Rackham, O. Br. archaeol. Rep. (Int. Ser.) 129, 199–218 (1982).
Baillie, M. G. L. J. archaeol. Sci. 11, 371–393 (1984).
Fletcher, J. M. Nature 254, 506–507 (1975).
Fletcher, J. M. Proc. 22nd Symp. Archaeometry (eds Aspinall, A. & Warren, S. E.) 83–87 (University of Bradford, 1983).
Fletcher, J. M. Proc. R. Inst. Gr. Br. 52, 81–104 (1980).
Fletcher, J. M. & Tapper, M. C. Mediev. Archaeol. 28, 112–132 (1984).
Delorme, A. thesis, Univ. Göttingen (1972).
Baillie, M. G. L. & Pilcher, J. R. Tree-Ring Bull. 33, 7–14 (1973).
Hollstein, E. Bonn. Jb. 165, 12–27 (1965).
Becker, B. Fundberichte aus Baden-Württemberg 6, 369–386 (1981).
Eckstein, D., Mathieu, K. & Bauch, J. Verh. Naturwiss. Ver. Hamburg 16, 73–100 (1972).
Baillie, M. G. L. Tree-Ring Bull. 37, 1–12 (1977).
Baillie, M. G. L. Tree-Ring Bull. 37, 33–44 (1977).
Siebenlist Kerner, V. Br. archaeol. Rep. (Int. Ser.) 51, 157–161 (1978).
Morgan, R. A. Vern. Archit. 8, 809–814 (1977).
Baillie, M. G. L. Tree-Ring Bull. 37, 13–20 (1977).
Tapper, M., Fletcher, J. M. & Walker, F. Br. archaeol. Rep. (Int. Ser.) 51, 339–342 (1978).
Hughes, M. J., Milsom, S. J. & Leggett, P. A. J. archaeol. Sci. 8, 381–390 (1981).
Hollstein, E. MittelEuropäische Eichenchronologie (von Zabern, Mainz am Rhein, 1980).
Becker, B. Fundberichte aus Baden-Württemberg 1, 545–564 (1974).
Fletcher, J. M. Br. archaeol. Rep. (Int. Ser.) 51, 303–306 (1978).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Baillie, M., Hillam, J., Briffa, K. et al. Re-dating the English art-historical tree-ring chronologies. Nature 315, 317–319 (1985). https://doi.org/10.1038/315317a0
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/315317a0
This article is cited by
-
Dendrochronological dating of wooden artifacts by measuring the tree rings using magnifying glass and photography-assisted method: an example of a Dutch panel painting
Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences (2016)
-
Dating of art-historical artefacts
Nature (1986)
-
New evidence for the dendrochronological dating of Netherlandish paintings
Nature (1986)
Comments
By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.