Dating dry stone huts from dates inscribed on stone

The study of French dry stone shelters over the last three decades has highlighted the presence of inscribed dates on some 150 buildings.
Two categories of inscribed dates appear to be of some value in dating the edifices in which they are found:
- those carved on the lintel stone over the entrance,
- those carved on the underside of the slab at the top of the vault, at least if any possibility of a restored lintel or vault has been precluded.
Typically, the chronological range of the dates recorded brings out the period of building activity to which the existing dry stone huts belong.
If one compares the two extensive inventories currently available - the one for the Uzege region (Gard, France) and the other for Puglia (Southern Italy) - a time lag of about 50 years is noticeable between their respective parallel chronological ranges, with Pugliese stone shelters being of a later date.