trous de boulins

14:38 Dec 11, 2013 

(perhaps incorrectly, in my misspent youth) simply "put holes." They are also commonly found at the springing of arches, usually just above capitals, where they held the bottom beam of the wooden "centering" for the arch. In this technique, the bottom beam was "built in" to the arch, which meant that when the arch was finished the only way to get the beam out was to saw the ends off it. The beam ends were usually removed from the holes, but not always (since they were not visible from the ground, being hidden by the capital). Back in the '80s of the last millennium some of the beam ends were found in a few of the put holes in Chartres cathedral and were dated using dendrochronology. The dating confirmed the generally accepted date for the cathedral's construction (shortly after 1194). True Story.