Salvaged Historic Timber Supports Local Timber Use in the 19th Century in the Transdanubian Range, Hungary

Despite the multidecadal tradition of dendroarchaeological research in Hungary, few case studies have reported dendrochronological results from historic rural buildings. To address this gap, this study presents the dendrochronological analysis of historic oak timber from four vernacular constructions in western Hungary. Oak was the dominant species, with a minor contribution (10%) of beech. Cross-dated ring-width series of the oak samples derived from historic stairs removed during renovation of a building in Kőhányáspuszta produced a 102-year tree-ring chronology, which was synchronized to 1731–1832. Ring-width series from oak samples from the barn of a parsonage in Vigántpetend produced two cross-dated datasets: a 152-year series ( n = 5) and a 98-year series ( n = 3), synchronized to 1731–1882 and 1830–1927, respectively. The ring-width series of beech samples ( n = 2) provided a 61-year floating chronology but remained undated because of the lack of an appropriate local reference chronology. Cross-dated ring-width series from oak samples derived from the wooden structure of a water mill in Örvényes produced a 157-year tree-ring chronology, synchronized to 1694–1850. Ring-width series from two beams collected from the roof truss of the associated storage house produced a 59-year object chronology, synchronized to 1810–1868. The successfully dated mean ring-width chronologies for each construction showed the strongest cross-dating statistics when compared to a nearby local oak chronology, supporting local timber use in the Transdanubian Range up to the early 20th century.