From the forest to the building. A cross-disciplinary study of wooden roofs in south-eastern France (12th-19th centuries) [abridged version]

Abstract

Despite the increasing interest for wooden materials in medieval and post-medieval architecture studies, their use as roofing material remains little-known. In Provence, which has traditionally been considered the “land of tiles”, wooden roofs have been long regarded as marginal and confined to mountainous areas. This paper aims at restoring these materials to their rightful place in the economy and building techniques, through a cross-disciplinary approach overlapping their viewpoints and methods from different branches, such as standing buildings archaeology, history and dendrochronology. Such a comprehensive and integrated approach provides new insights into the history of building techniques, by identifying the types of wood used and by reconstructing the operating chain from raw material acquisition to their implementation on buildings, in both urban and rural areas. This study contributes also to the knowledge renewal on southern French Alps’ economy, by analysing the integration of such roofing material within the economic markets and sociological environments.