Unknown Wreck Site, Lowestoft, Suffolk Coast: Tree-ring Analysis of Timbers
Author(s): Roderick Bale, Nigel Nayling, Cathy Tyers
Sections from five timbers from the Unknown Lowestoft Wreck, located in the North Sea off the Suffolk coast, were retrieved by Wessex Archaeology (ULW 1091), with a view to obtaining independent dating evidence by dendrochronology and so assisting in the process of characterisation, identification, and assessment for designation. The wreck is thought to be a late nineteenth- or early twentiethcentury wooden merchant sailing ship of at least 300 tons. The ship was probably engaged in the home or Northern European/Atlantic trades, although no evidence of cargo has been found. The timber sections consist of one ash (Fraxinus spp), two (Pinus spp), and two of larch or spruce (Larix/Picea spp). Four of the five timbers contained sufficient rings to warrant attempted tree-ring dating. All failed to produce a date when compared to British, European, and American reference chronologies.
- Report Number:
- 229/2020
- Series:
- Research Report
- Pages:
- 20
- Keywords:
- Dendrochronology Wreck
