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.本补充材料源自Falck T.与Daly A.于2026年发表于《国际海事考古学杂志》（International Journal of Nautical Archaeology）的论文《重新发现舍福伦号沉船（Sjøvollen Ship，约公元1280年）：中世纪奥斯陆峡湾的树木年代学、木材溯源与造船技艺》。 摘要 舍福伦号沉船（Sjøvollen Ship）于1960年被发现，是挪威首批完成水下考古发掘与保护的沉船遗存之一。学界根据该船沉没时已处于磨损状态的推断，促使克里斯滕森（Christensen）提出：该船在被弃置于舍福伦湾海滩前，船上贵重物品与货物已被悉数拆卸。 自20世纪60年代以来，该区域乃至北欧海域陆续发现了大量沉船遗存，但挪威境内可追溯至13世纪的沉船发现极少，这使得舍福伦号沉船成为探讨中世纪盛期造船技艺的关键研究载体。此外，树木年代学（dendrochronology）领域的新进展为针对每件沉船遗存开展更具体的研究提供了可能。其中，将造船所用木材追溯至其原生林的木材溯源（wood provenance）研究，为理解造船技艺及其与林业的关联提供了全新基础。基于此，研究团队对该沉船展开了新一轮考察，主要通过系统性取样开展树木年代学分析。