Casks from Gribshunden (1495) – Dendrochronology of Late Medieval Shipboard Victual Containers

Wooden casks were used extensively to transport goods in medieval Europe but have beenlargely overlooked in Scandinavian marine archaeological studies. We present a study ofcasks recovered from the Danish-Norwegian royal flagship Gribshunden, which sank inthe summer of 1495 outside Stora Ekö Island in southeastern Sweden. Duringexcavations in 2020–2021, archaeologists recovered 135 wooden staves and heads fordendrochronological analysis. Seventy-nine percent of the samples were successfullydated and provenanced from seven different timber source areas, predominantlysoutheastern Baltic (59%) and Scania (22%). These results suggest the geographicalextent of the late medieval Nordic timber trade. Components from several source areaswere incorporated within individual casks, suggesting staves were bulk goodstransported to production centres for cooperage. The dating results indicate the life spanof medieval casks was just a few years. This study highlights the untapped potential ofwooden casks for a wide range of research fields.