Rediscovering the Sjøvollen Ship (c. 1280 CE): Dendrochronology, Timber Provenance, and Shipbuilding in the Medieval Oslo Fjord

Supplementary material to Falck, T., & Daly, A., 2026. Rediscovering the Sjøvollen Ship (c. 1280 CE): Dendrochronology, Timber Provenance, and Shipbuilding in the Medieval Oslo Fjord. International Journal of Nautical Archaeology. Abstract The Sjøvollen ship, discovered in 1960, was one of the first shipwrecks in Norway to be fully excavated and conserved from an underwater context. The interpretation of the vessel as worn out at the time of deposition led Christensen to propose that it had been stripped of its valuables and cargo before being abandoned on the beach in Sjøvollen Bay. Since the 1960s, numerous additional shipwrecks have been discovered in the region and across Nordic waters more broadly. Still, very few finds in Norway are dated to the 1200s, making the Sjøvollen ship a key to discuss shipbuilding practices in the high medieval period. Also, new developments in dendrochronology offer the opportunity to ask more specific questions about each find. In particular, the opportunity to trace the timber used in shipbuilding back to the forests in which it grew (wood provenance) provides a new foundation for understanding both craft practices and their relationship with forestry. This motivated a new investigation of the vessel, mainly through a methodical sampling for dendrochronological analysis.