Well-designed mountain houses feature the only dated Pinus sylvestris type timbers in the southern French Alps

Abstract

In the Southern French Alps, the Cervières Valley (near Briançon city) has traditional houses in which wood plays an important role, both in the buildings’ structures and in the activities of the humans who lived there. The six studied farms bear witness to an architecture perfectly adapted to the mountain environment and to the daily and seasonal activities of the inhabitants. Dendrochronology has revealed four major phases of logging from the 16th to the 19th century. The 90 sampled timbers are from larch and Scots pine type, and are of similar age and calibre. The choice of species for building was probably made on the basis of their proximity to the building site. However, until now we have not yet identified any Scots pine t. from before the 18th century in the buildings: does this represent a sampling bias or forest reality? Future historical and pedo-anthracological studies should provide answers. Although archaeological Scots pine is a recalcitrant species in dendroarchaeology in the Southern Alps, probably due to the presence of too many missing rings, in this study a Scots pine t. average has been dated on a larch reference chronology for the first time. This dating is supported by archaeological observations.