Not the least of the unusual revelations that have come from the wonderfully preserved ninth-century Norwegian ship burials at Oseberg and Gokstad, is the fact that both had been later broken into—by interlopers who defaced the ship, damaged the grave goods and pulled out and dispersed the bones of the deceased. These ‘mound-breakers’ helpfully left spades and stretchers in place, and through the application of some highly ingenious dendrochronology our authors have been able to date the break-ins with some precision. Mound-breaking, it seems, took place during the domination of Norway by Harald Bluetooth in the tenth century as part of an extensive campaign which included subduing local monuments as well as converting Scandinavians to Christianity. The old mounds retained such power in the landscape that it was worth desecrating them and disinterring their occupants a century after their burial.

In 2000, the remains of a cog, Doei 1, were found in Doei, Belgium. W ood species identification of all ship timbers and smaller elements was performed. E uropean oak was the dom inant species, followed by alder that was used for the fairings. In total 150 ring-width series were recorded. The construction date was set at A D 1325/26 and the timbers proved to originate from forests along the rivers Elbe and Weser. F or the bottom strakes a strict symmetrical layout was observed. The keel plank was hewn from a trunk with a slightly earlier felling date. Repairs were perform ed with high-quality boards, some with a southern Baltic provenance.

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The wreck-site at Bøle near Skien was first reported in 1950 during dredging in the river. The Bøle ship is one of the most significant medieval ship-finds in Norway, and the manner of its discovery is referred to as a tragedy in ship archaeology. New investigations at the site in 2004-2006 revealed more fragments from the vessel and its cargo, and the ship is now the object of new studies. This article presents a description of the ship and its context, and the results of an initial dendrochronological analysis and provenance determination.

The felling of the oak trees used to build the Karschau ship took place in or around the AD 1140s. The tree-ring curves from the oak planks from the Karschau Ship match best with site-means from Odense, a medieval town on the island of Funen, Denmark. New research being carried out by the author is allowing the determination of the provenance of ancient oak to a more local level. Through this dendrochronological research, it is now possible to differentiate between small regions of timber sources for shipbuilding, allowing a more nuanced interpretation.