{{Short description|Embedded stone with date carved into it}} {{redirect|Date stone|the stone found in the centre of the fruit of date palms|Drupe}} thumb|250px|right|A datestone thumb|A datestone on Knypersley First School A '''datestone''' is typically an embedded stone with the date of engraving and other information carved into it. They are not considered a very reliable source for dating a house, as instances of old houses being destroyed and rebuilt (with the old date stones intact) have been reported, or may in some cases be the date of a renovation or alteration.<ref name="tlhs1">{{cite book |last= Lindop|first=Roy |date=1975 |title=Stories of Turton Date Stones |publisher=Turton Local History Society |page=2 |isbn=978-1-904974-01-7 }}</ref>
Specific locations have often been chosen for datestones, viz.
*corbel *gable stone *Gatepost: a large upright piece of (usually) granite, usually set at the entrance to a driveway or a field. *keystone *lintel
==See also== *Marriage stone *Cornerstone
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== *[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_azzsK5dsV0 Scotland's Marriage and Date Stones] *[http://www.societe-jersiaise.org/alexgle/stonejsy.html The Societe-jersiaise] *[https://vunex.blogspot.com/2007/07/to-date.html An essay on datestones (mostly in London)]
Category:Types of archaeological artefact Category:Dating methodologies in archaeology