Editing Newport Ship (section)

==Dating the ship==
 
The first phase of [[dendrochronology]] showed that most of the timbers used to build the ship originate from the [[Basque Country (greater region)|Basque Country]] of northern Spain  dating from c.1449.{{sfn|Nayling|Jones|2018}} A later oxygen isotope dendrochronology study of components used in the original construction give a felling date of the winter of 1457/8. Since it was the practice to use green timber in ship construction at this time, the build date is most likely very shortly after this felling date.{{sfn|Nayling|Loader|Bale|Davies|2023}} This date of winter 1457/1458 is confirmed by oxygen isotope dendrochronology analysis of the beech keel (a timber species which, unlike oak, does not have a substantial ring-width dendrochronology database).{{sfn|Nayling|Loader|Bale|Davies|2024}} The precise geographic origin of the original build timber will require further work to develop the dendrochronological database for north-western Spain. At present the best matches are with timber grown in the upland interior of the Basque region of Spain. As the database is expanded, better matches may be found within the same general area.{{sfn|Nayling|Susperregi|2014}}

The discovery in the spring of 2006 of a French "petit blanc" (small white) silver coin inserted into a cut out in the stempost/keel join was a major step forward. Placed, perhaps, as a token of good fortune at the start of the ship's construction, this coin was minted in [[Crémieu]] in the [[Dauphiné|Dauphinois]] region of France between May and July 1447. Tree trunks found under the hull and forming the support for the ship when under repair, have a latest dendrochronology date of the spring of 1468.{{sfn|Nayling|Jones|2014}} This would give the ship a working life span of less than 10 years.{{sfn|Nayling|Loader|Bale|Davies|2023}}

There is circumstantial evidence that by 1469 the ship may have belonged to and been under repair for the [[Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick|Earl of Warwick]]. A letter of authorisation dated 22 November 1469 from Warwick to Thomas Throkmorton, his receiver of [[Glamorgan]] and [[Glywysing|Morgannwg]], authorised various payments for "the making of the ship at Newport" which could be construed as repairs to the badly damaged vessel.{{sfn|Trett|2018}}<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.newportpast.com/early/port/ship.htm |title=The Newport Ship |website=Newport Past |access-date=25 October 2022}}</ref>{{Better source needed|reason=Despite the apparent qualifications of the author of this blog, it does not meet the standards of a reliable source|date=June 2024}}{{sfn|Friends of Newport Ship|2005}} This association of the ship with known historical figures is questioned as being a common failing of historians when studying archaeological remains. The simplest (though not only) explanation is that this was a ship from the Iberian peninsula that required some repairs whilst in the Bristol area.{{sfn|Hocker|2019}} Research has shown that Newport sometimes had some very large vessels in the fifteenth and sixteenth century, like the Newport Medieval Ship. These were used primarily to serve the long-distance trade of Bristol, which was then the second port of the realm.{{sfn|Trett|2018}}