Yes / Chests were a ubiquitous part of medieval church furniture across Britain and Europe. Late
19th and early 20th century scholars believed that one type, the dug-out chest, was devoid of
technical skill, and as such, confined to the earliest period of chest chronology. Perhaps as a
result of the ‘primitive’ label, dug-outs remain relatively under-studied in relation to other
types of chests and surprisingly few attempts have been made to validate ideas about their
early origin through scientific dating. The current study uses dendrochronology to directly
date a selection of dug-out chests, almost doubling the number of dated chests of this type in
England and producing the earliest absolute dates for their construction. Five dug-out chests
from the case-study counties of Herefordshire and Worcestershire returned dates ranging
from the 13th-16th century, showing that they are not chronologically confined to the
‘earliest’ period. This research also demonstrates how analysing extant saw-marks, along
with the different methods of attaching chest lids, can assist in dating a chest’s construction.
By understanding the tools and processes of construction, this research challenges the
existing accepted framework that dug-outs are the ‘crudest’ and ‘most primitive’ type of
church chest in the medieval period. Together these findings offer a new methodology and
framework for studies of church chests in Britain and Europe. / This paper is based on research undertaken by Rachel Sycamore, as part of a Master’s by Research, at the University of Worcester (Sycamore, 2021). Funding for the dendrochronology was provided by the Regional Furniture Society.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:BRADFORD/oai:bradscholars.brad.ac.uk:10454/19389 |
| Date | 24 February 2023 |
| Creators | Sycamore, R., Lewis, Jodie |
| Source Sets | Bradford Scholars |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Article, Accepted manuscript |
| Rights | © 2022 The authors. Reproduced by permission from the copyright holder., Unspecified |
| Relation | https://www.churcharchaeology.org/journal |
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