The dendrochronological age of ancient timbers of Casa de la Moneda (Segovia, Spain) and its relationship with historic flood events

Abstract

In the course of restoration work on the Casa de la Moneda in Segovia (Spain), considered to be the world’s oldest industrial building still standing, floorboards were discovered between the old channel of the late sixteenth century, and the most recent, built in the last third of the eighteenth century. Using dendrochronological techniques, we have studied numerous samples of beams and planks, which constitute the platform. Precise dating of these materials has been possible thanks to the survival of ancient trees over a period of more than 400 years, in the upper mountain forest near the city. The tree-ring sequences of these trees, previously studied and published in other works, have enabled the use of cross-dating techniques with the nearest master chronologies, achieving great success in estimating the age and date of felled trees used in platform. Moreover, documentation from those times indicates that this floorboard wood has been replaced on a number of occasions, generally because of damage caused by single events of flooding. Furthermore, the age distribution of beams and planks provides novel data on the record of the most destructive flood events in the region, a subject very little explored until now in Spai