Dendrochronologically Dated Pine Buildings from Scotland: The SCOT2K Native Pine Dendrochronology Project. (1st January 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Mills, Coralie M; Crone, Anne; Wood, Cheryl; Wilson, Rob
• Is Part Of: Vernacular architecture. Volume 48(2017)
• Page Start: 23
• Page End: 43
• Publication Date: 2017-01-01
• Subjects: Dendrochronology -- pine -- timber -- historic buildings -- Scotland -- Scottish Highlands; Vernacular architecture -- Periodicals; Vernacular architecture -- Great Britain -- Periodicals; 720
• DOI: 10.1080/03055477.2017.1372674
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0305-5477

Abstract

Abstract : The SCOT2K project has extended native pine tree-ring chronology coverage for Scotland to enable reconstruction of past climate and for cultural heritage dating benefits. Using living trees from multiple locations in the Highlands and sub-fossil material from lochs, a network of five regional chronologies has been produced. The project has developed the application of Blue Intensity (BI), a proxy measure for maximum latewood density, which is faster and less costly to obtain than traditional densitometry measurements. The use of both ring-width and BI has been demonstrated to greatly assist historical dendro-dating of pine. This paper presents the dating results for the twenty Scottish pine buildings or sites dendro-dated through the SCOT2K project. They range from the fifteenth to the nineteenth centuries, and from high-status castles to modest cruck cottages. They are mostly located in the Highlands where Scots pine occurs naturally, although an early example of long-distance transport is also identified.