A door in use in Tallinn appeared to be over 600 years old

A wooden door within Tallinn's medieval Bremen Tower, suspected to be ancient, has been confirmed as over 600 years old using dendrochronology. Analysis of oak tree rings from the door's planks matched northern European reference chronologies, dating it to AD 1394–1411, with documentary evidence narrowing its age to AD 1400–1410. While the closest match was to Daugava River oak chronology, the door's provenance remains uncertain due to limited historical Estonian records. This discovery highlights the enduring resilience of medieval construction materials and offers insights into timber sourcing practices in pre-modern Europe.

Läänelaid, A., Daly, A., Ważny, T., Haneca, K., Uueni, A., & Sohar, K. (2021). A door in use in Tallinn appeared to be over 600 years old. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/ZENODO.5636111