The Role Of Digital Archaeology

Building on Fear? The role of Digital Archaeology to aid the study and analysis of structural carpentry techniques in central southern England, c1180 - c1500, the era of the Black Death and successive plagues. To date, there are approximately 108 timber-framed buildings, in Hampshire, that have been dendrochronologically dated to between 1244 and 1530[1]. A survey has been carried out on these buildings to record the different types of joints used in their construction. These joints have been grouped, by type, to provide a chronology, informed by scientific dating methods. Once the chrono-typologies have been produced and crossreferenced with Hewett’s Essex data[2], the effects, if any, of the Black Death (1348-50) on carpentry techniques and technologies will be analysed. The project utilises digital technologies to collect, collate, manage and query data relevant to the study of timber joints. Such technologies include: • Geographic Information Systems (GIS) • Global Positioning Systems (GPS) • Database Management Systems (DBMS) • 3D modelling The 3D modelling provides a means to explore how joints interact with each other, whilst also forming a visual database. This database can be disseminated through various mobile devices, supplying researchers with a real-time, portable, dating aid, for comparison in the field. Scarf joint

Hewett’s date range

Hampshire date range

Type 1 (splayed scarf)

C1180 - 1400

1249 - 1360

Type 2 (edge-halved)

C1375 onwards

1400 - 1500

Type 3 (mortised scarf)

Not found in Hewett’s 1301 - 1528 work

Type 4 (socket scarf)

Professor Baillie’s work, on how dendrochronology can shed new light on the Black Death, is an interesting area of study and one which will sit well within this thesis. He suggests the “Black Death has a clear environmental context”[3]. He sees a clear ‘slump’ in tree-ring patterns from AD 1333 to 1360, with a sharp rise toward the end of the century, from 1380 onwards. This is well reflected in the Hampshire data, as a possible hiatus on dated buildings occurs, between 1347 and 1359, followed by a sharp rise in dated buildings from 1388 onwards.

In 1992, Matthew Johnson warned of relying on typologies to date buildings[4]. Following the advances in dendrochronology, coupled with the data collected during this research, I believe it is now possible to rely on chrono-typologies to provide a tighter date range than was possible sixteen years ago. Indeed Sarah Pearson wrote, five years after Johnson, “one important aspect of construction which is likely to be considerably advanced through tree-ring dating is the typology of timber jointing techniques”[5].

Type 1

Type 2

Not found in Hewett’s 1420 - 1448 work

The implications of the scarf joint to dating The splayed scarf (type 1) seems to have been used Type 3 Type 4 from the inception of English carpentry (c1180) up until the end of the 14th century, according to Hewett[6]. This date range is supported by the Hampshire evidence, with only two examples occurring in 1359 (Trees Cottage, Froxfield, Hants) and 1360 (Tan-YBryn, Hannington, Hants), ten years after the Black Death. So, one may ask; ‘is the demise of the splayed joint, starting in the later half of the 14th century, a result of the Black Death?’ This is an interesting question, as the joint is superseded, immediately following the plague, by the type 2 scarf (edge-halved), both in Hewett’s work and the work undertaken during this thesis[7]. The type 3 scarf also appears after the Black Death, with date ranges from 1363 to 1528, in Hampshire.

References [1] D. H. Miles, Michael Worthington, and Martin Bridge, “Oxford Dendrochronology Laboratory,” Dendrochronology.com, http://www.dendrochronology.com/; Edward Roberts, Hampshire Houses: 1250-1700. Their Dating & Development (Hampshire: Hampshire County Council, 2003), 227-51 [2] Cecil A. Hewett, English Historic Carpentry (Phillimore, 1980) [3] Mike Baillie, New Light on the Black Death (Tempus, 2006), 38. [4] Matthew Johnson, “The Englishman's Home and its Study,” in The Social Archaeology of Houses (Edinburgh Univ Pr, 1992), 248 [5] S. Pearson, “Tree-Ring Dating: A Review,” Vernacular architecture 28 (1997): 38 [6] C. A. Hewett, “Scarf Jointing During the Later Thirteenth and Fourteenth Centuries and a Reappraisal of the Origin of Spurred Tenons,” Royal Archaeological Institute 134, no. 287-96; Hewett, English Historic Carpentry, 263-71 [7] Hewett, “Scarf Jointing During the Later Thirteenth and Fourteenth Centuries and a Reappraisal of the Origin of Spurred Tenons,” 293

Richard Haddlesey

©2008

Department of Archaeology, University of Winchester, UK. Email: [email protected] Website: www.medievalarchitecture.net Supervised by Prof. Tom James, Dr Keith Wilkinson, Dr Amanda Richardson and Mr Edward Roberts