Datación de una viga de la iglesia de San Pedro de la Nave (Zamora)

Abstract

Churches usually ascribed to the Visigothic period are difficult to place in a clear cultural framework, with the result that other dating methods assume a vital importance. In this study, dendro-chronqlogy, carbon-14 dating, and archaeological evidence combine to give a terminus post quem of AD 330-474 for the pine-trunk employed for the beam of the church of San Pedro de la Nave (''pino albar o laricio''). Given the trunk's completed dendro-chronological sequence of 282 years, the beam in its present location must constitute a case of re-use. At least some of the other elements employed in the construction of the building must also have been re-used. The discussion serves to illustrate how an interdisciplinary approach can be applied to the study of early medieval Spanish churches and how it might be refined to produce ever more reliable and valuable results.