Samenvatting

The Late Medieval and Early Modern periods in the Netherlands are marked by an
upsurge in the production, use and repurposing of casks in cities. This is inextricably
linked with the growing marine and riverine trade markets and the increase in artisan
production. Casks have been found on shipwrecks, where they were used as containers
for merchandise (primary purpose) and in urban areas, where they were repurposed
as shafts for wells or cesspits (secondary purpose). As a result, the initial production
phase of the lifecycle of casks often remained undetected. This study aims to generate
an overview of the dendrochronological studies conducted in the past decades by
Dutch dendrochronologists on casks from Dutch archaeological context, in which the
felling year of the wood used to construct the casks can be dated from the 12th to
18th centuries, to gain insight into their production by coopers. The first objective is to
better understand the diverse provenance areas detected in the coopers’ timber, after
which the diachronic developments in the use of the timber from specific provenance
2 10.1163/27723194-bja10007 | Oos terbaan, Doeve and v an Daalen
International Journal of W ood Culture ?(2023) 1–30
areas can be addressed. The main objective is to assess whether it is possible to distinguish
locally produced casks from casks used to import merchandise, which was
successful in some cases. In addition to the dendrochronological and archaeological
data, archival sources were used to contextualize and substantiate the analyses and
interpretations.