Tree-ring fingerprint enables old houses to be dated ic SurreyOnline.co.uk, UK
The technique being used to date the buildings is known as dendrochronology, or tree-ring dating, a science that often enables the date of a timber-framed building to be identified with great accuracy.
Dendrochronology works by drilling six to eight cores, the size of a pencil, from selected beams.
The tree-rings on these cores are then examined under a micro-scope. Some tree-rings are wide, some narrow depending on the growing conditions in that particular year. This pattern forms a 'finger print' for that period, enabling a felling date to be calculated.
Experts who study the finger prints believe that carpenters almost always built with what they term 'green' oak, making it likely that a building's construction date is within a year or so of the felling date.