Dendrochronology

Date 24 July 2019 - 13 August 2019

Event ID 1147985

Category Scientific Dating

Type Dendrochronology

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/1147985

NS 78961 94073 A programme of dendrochronological work was requested by Historic Environment Scotland (HES), undertaken by Dendrochronicle, and facilitated by CFA Archaeology Ltd through the Minor Archaeological Services Call-Off Contract in July and August 2019, during the ongoing renovations to the King’s Old Buildings (KOB) at Stirling Castle. Special temporary access was made through the ceiling of the room below by HES. The dendro-sampling was undertaken in collaboration with Kirkdale Archaeology who have recorded structural details of the sampled timbers and of this room more generally.

Seven joists in the floor of the former kitchen at first floor level in the King’s Old Buildings were core-sampled (Samples KOB01–KOB07) along with the wall plate (KOB08) on which these joists rested. Sampling and characterisation of this floor structure has revealed a mixture of oak and pine, with at least five different timbers sources likely to be represented and at least two different felling phases. Five of the timbers proved to have too few rings for dating, but results were obtained for oak joist KOB05 and pine wall plate KOB08.

The oak joist sequence KOB05 has produced consistent though modestly significant t values against a wide range of Scandinavian and Scottish Import chronologies for the span AD 1396–1500. Southern Scandinavia is indicated as the source, either Denmark or Southern Sweden, and not Norway. This ties in well with the main import source for oak beams elsewhere in Stirling Castle, the Palace especially, and with Scottish late medieval import patterns more widely. KOB05 had retained the sub-bark surface and was felled in the winter of AD 1500/01, which adds it into the small group of Episode 1 oak timbers identified by Anne Crone in the Palace. These timbers, presumably felled for something built in the reign of James IV, had been recycled into the James V palace of c1539. It seems likely that oak joist KOB05 is also recycled from that James IV structure, although no physical evidence of recycling was identified on this or any of the other sampled timbers. It is tempting to speculate that this floor could date to around 1539, when the other Episode 1 timber was recycled into the Palace, but there are other possibilities. Perhaps KOB05 has been recycled more than once, or perhaps the floor structure has more than one phase to it, given the oak joists are concentrated towards the northern end of the room. It is even possible that KOB05 has not been recycled and is a remnant of a c1500 in situ construction, subsequently modified or added to with the pine joists and later wall plate.

The pine wall plate sequence KOB08 has produced consistent

dates at the span AD 1682–1750 against a range of Lithuanian and British import chronologies, the latter believed to represent Eastern Baltic sources. The sub-bark surface is intact so this timber was felled in the winter of 1750/51 and subsequently exported; its use is likely to date to within a few years after 1750 to allow for transportation time. This felling date does not tie in to any of the felling episodes identified elsewhere at Stirling Castle and appears therefore to represent a particular modification to King’s Old Buildings rather than a wider scheme of intervention at that time. The ends of the joists appear to rest upon the top of KOB08, rather than be jointed into it, suggesting the possibility that the wall plate was inserted later under an extant floor structure.

Archive: NRHE (intended)

Funder: Historic Environment Scotland

Coralie Mills – Dendrochronicle for CFA Archaeology Ltd

(Source: DES Vol 22)

OASIS Id: cfaarcha1-435460