Drigg Wrecks, Drigg Foreshore, Cumbria: Tree-Ring Analysis of Oak Timbers
Author(s): Roderick Bale, Robert Howard, Nigel Nayling, Cathy Tyers
In 2018 a total of 20 cross-sectional slices were obtained from three shipwreck locations on the foreshore off Drigg in Cumbria; the fourth location of potential interest being inaccessible. Nine samples were recovered from the Drigg beach wreck (NRHE 1616097), one from the Barn Scarr wreck (NRHE 1616085), and ten from the Kokoarrah beach wreck (NRHE 1616560). Intra- and inter-site crossmatching of the ring-width series resulted in the successful dating of five samples, all of which are at least broadly coeval. Three of the samples from hull planks of the Drigg Beach wreck were felled after AD 1758, AD 1764, and AD 1765. Two of the samples from floor timbers of the Kokoarrah wreck were felled after AD 1768 and AD 1777. The levels of similarity of the individual sample series, as well as the site master sequences, with reference chronologies from across much of England suggests that the sampled timbers are all of British origin, although the variable intra-site matching may suggest that the timbers derive from a number of woodland sources rather than from a single woodland.
- Report Number:
- 239/2020
- Series:
- Research Report
- Pages:
- 27
- Keywords:
- Dendrochronology Wreck
