Hi Collin,
I think one of you best resources on mideval frames would be Patrick Hoffsummer from Belgium and Lynn Coutenay from Madison, Wisc. I went to thier talks at the last Eastern conference in Montebello. I think any academic discussion on dating frames would have to include dendrochronological dating in addition to design and construction artifacts that evolved with the technology. For instance many of the midevil cathedrals in france were built along rivers simply b/c timber could be easily transported. As such P. Hoffsumer documented the existance of pegs found in cathedral roofs that were used to tie timber booms together.
Anyway thier contacts are
phoffsummer@ulg.ac.be
and
ltcourte@facstaff.wisc.edu
Definitely check out Dr.P Hoffsumer's book Les Charpentes du XI au XIX Siecle
His research mainly covers Nothern France and Belgium but having a look at it gives one an idea of some of the techniques and clues to look for in your search and also help you critically analyze what you read in other litterature.
Good luck and have fun!
Ian :rolleyes:
