The Use of Copper and Lead Sheathing in VOC Shipbuilding

Much has been written on the use of lead and copper sheathing in post mediaeval shipbuilding, yet evidence for such hull protection by Dutch shipwrights in the 17th and 18th centuries has received little attention. A discussion of the archaeological and historical evidence pertaining to the application of copper and lead sheathing by the Dutch long‐distance trading companies outlines the argument for the innovative character, experimental use—on ships’ hulls—and standardization—on sternposts—as early as 1602. Archaeological evidence presented mainly comes from the Dutch East Indiamen Nassau (1606), Mauritius (1609), Batavia (1629), Vergulde Draak (1656), and Buitenzorg (1760).     

Moulds,Graminhos and Ribbands: a pilot study of the construction of saveiros in Valença and the Baía de Todos os Santos area,Brazil

The survival of late medieval Mediterranean techniques to conceive and build ships and boats in Brazil was noted by John Patrick Sarsfield in the 1980s, but his study of the Valença shipwrights was interrupted by his untimely death in 1990. This paper summarizes Sarsfield's account of these shipbuilding techniques, examines that published by Lev Smarcevski (1996), and provides some preliminary results of the pilot stage of a project to further research traditional shipbuilding in Valença and the Baía de Todos os Santos region.     

The Conception of Hull Shape by Shell‐builders in the Ancient Mediterranean

Did ancient Mediterranean shipbuilders at the turn of the first millennium have methods to pre‐design the shape of their hulls prior to the construction of the ship? If so, can these methods be identified? This paper proposes that ancient shipwrights were in possession of such design methods, based on geometry, that are comparable to the medieval and post medieval hull‐design procedures called whole‐moulding. These methods are well suited to be transformed into rules‐of‐thumb, therefore allowing the storage and transmission of accumulated knowledge. The implications of this proposal on the present understanding of the transition from shell‐ to skeleton‐building are explored.     

Excavations at the Medieval Village of Wythemail,Northamptonshire

EXCAVATION of a single enclosure revealed a sequence from early 13th-century timber buildings to structures with stone foundations, or completely stone-built, in the later 13th and 14th centuries. A two-roomed long-house was replaced by a more complex four-roomed long-house built on a different alignment. Also in the enclosure were a sequence of six outbuildings rebuilt in various positions. In the 13th century there were changes in property boundaries and in the 14th century a road was cut obliquely across the enclosure leading to fundamental changes in planning. Evidence for climatic deterioration was given by the increasing use of drains and of paved and cobbled surfaces in the early 14th century. Finds included metal objects, animal bones, local shelly pottery, and 12th- to 14th-century sherds from Lincolnshire, Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Warwickshire.     

Transitions in Islamic plant-ash glass vessels: on-site chemical analyses conducted at the Raya/al-Tur area on the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt

This study focuses on the chemical composition of Islamic plant-ash glass (dated from the 9th to 11th centuries) excavated from the Raya/al-Tur area on the South Sinai in Egypt. Plant-ash glass objects from the Raya site were classified into three compositional types based on on-site chemical analyses with a portable X-ray fluorescence spectrometer. Based on typological characteristics and chemical composition comparisons with contemporary glass objects from other Islamic sites, one hypothesis holds that plant-ash glass objects produced in the Syria–Palestine or Mesopotamian regions could have been imported to Raya during the 9th to 10th centuries. In particular, some colorless glass vessels with a high magnesium/calcium ratio were noted to exhibit post-Sassanian cut decorations. Conversely, most of the bluish-green plant-ash glass objects from the Monastery of Wadi al-Tur near the Raya site exhibited relatively high levels of aluminum, titanium, iron, and lead. These pieces were likely produced during the Fatimid period (late 10th to 12th centuries), and based on their elemental composition, possibly originated in Egypt. The present work provides a greater understanding of chronological changes in post-9th century Islamic plant-ash glasses and the development of social and commercial networks within the Middle Eastern area.     

近代欧洲早期农业革命考察

在17、18世纪之际的“农业革命”发生之前,欧洲农业生产就已出现了许多关键性的技术进步,可把16、17世纪的这种进步称为“早期农业革命”,而14、15世纪则可视为早期农业革命的准备阶段。通过对中世纪欧洲农业的低技术起点,14、15世纪的农业技术进步,16、17世纪的早期农业革命等三方面的考察,我们发现欧洲农业技术进步中的连续性特点远超过其突变性。     

The glass beads of Kampai Island,Sumatra

Pulau Kampai is the name of a small island on the east coast of Sumatra and also the name of a village on this island. Excavations conducted at Pulau Kampai in the mid-1970s yielded glass beads likely manufactured in India. More glass beads dating from the 11th to the 14th c. AD were found during excavations undertaken more recently. Those beads were analyzed using laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS). Results show that the vast majority of the beads were likely imported from South Asia. Trace element signatures point toward two production areas: western India for most of the beads and northeastern India for a few high copper orange and red beads. A small number of beads have a very different composition resulting from the use of soda plant ash and a low alumina silica source indicating a possible Middle-Eastern provenance. A comparison with data published elsewhere indicates a similarity with material found in Egypt, dating from the 13th to the 15th c. AD suggesting that those beads might have reached the island during the later phases of the occupation period and might have transited through Egypt. It is uncertain where those beads were manufactured within the Middle-East. A comparison is provided with the glass beads from the site of Kampung Sungai Mas (9th to the 11th c. AD) located in Malaysia, one of the only “late” sites in the area that was studied recently using LA-ICP-MS.     

Transitions in cast iron technology of the nomads in Mongolia

Metallurgical study of seven cast iron artifacts recovered from sites of the former Xiongnu (BC 3rd to AD 1st), Turk (AD 6th to 8th), Khitan (AD 10th to 12th), and Mongolian empires (AD 12th to 15th) shows that the earlier Xiongnu and Turk artifacts were made of cast iron alloys of near eutectic composition. The later Khitan and Mongol objects had greatly reduced carbon content in the range of ultrahigh carbon steel rather than cast iron, and contained more than 0.5 mass % silicon as an alloying element. Inclusions high in sulfur, phosphorus or silicon are also present. These differences suggest that Mongolia experienced a technical transition a few centuries before the establishment of the Mongolian empire, which is in agreement with some written accounts. The microstructures of the cast iron artifacts are compared with the related archaeological and documentary evidence. The results suggest that the use of fossil coal in smelting and the state policy of controlling iron production were the major factors responsible for the transition.     

Analytical investigation on Renaissance Venetian enamelled glasses from the Louvre collections

Venetian enamelled glass is one of the most significant subjects of the art and technology of Renaissance glassmaking. These items were made in Venice from the second half of the 15th through the 17th centuries and were imitated in other European glassmaking centers during this period and again in Murano during the 19th century. Only a limited number of analyses of these masterpieces have been published up to now.     

‘The brede of good & strong Horsis’: zooarchaeological evidence for size change in horses from early modern London

SUMMARY: Almost 200 horse bone measurements from 38 sites excavated across the city of London, dating to the period AD 1220–1900 were analysed. Results identified three main phases of size change: a reduction in size in the mid 14th to 15th century, and size increases in the mid 15th to 16th century and the 17th century. The decline in size testifies to the disruption of horse breeding in the wake of the Black Death, whilst the increases reflect purposeful attempts to increase the size of horses in England through a combination of regulated breeding and the importation of new bloodlines.     

Medieval shipbuilding in Catalonia,Spain (13th–15th centuries): one principle,different processes

Late medieval shipbuilding in Catalonia followed the Mediterranean trend in adopting a frame‐first shipbuilding principle with planking placed edge‐to‐edge. The predetermination of frame shapes using moulds had modified the construction process, as seen in the 11th‐century Serçe Liman? vessel with the use of a series of moulds, and 13th‐century Culip VI, with the use of a master mould, rising square and rule. Between the 13th and 15th centuries all known Mediterranean shipwrecks were built using the master‐mould method, but other factors caused variation in the construction process—not the principle—as exemplified by the 14th‐century Les Sorres X built with two overlain keel timbers.     

The Medieval Manor of Penhallam,Jacobstow, Cornwall

THE remains of the medieval manor of Penhallam lie in a sheltered valley in the parish of Jacobstow, some 3 miles from the sea. It was one of the principal houses of the Cardinham family who held, under the king, the largest seignory in the county of Cornwall. Extensive excavation between the years 1968 and 1973 revealed substantial remains of a sophisticated manor house, standing within an earlier ring-work. The stone-built house was constructed in four periods during the late 12th and early 13th centuries. It was deserted in the middle of the 14th century and was gradually demolished. Mo remains of the buildings were visible above ground at the time of the commencement of the excavation. The site, now known as Berry Court, takes the name of a small homestead of probable 16th-century origin, standing on the outer edge of the moat.

There was no visible trace of the hall associated with the early Norman ring-work, but its existence is attested by the subsequent development of the site. Excavation revealed that there were stone buildings standing on the four sides of a courtyard. They comprised a hall, camera, chapel, service rooms, lodgings and a gatehouse. From these remains it was possible to obtain much information about the construction and development of a medieval manor house in the 12th and 13th centuries. Excavation of the 13th-century gatehouse and drawbridge well revealed the construction, assembly and operation of a counter-balanced bridge.

The excavation finds, attributed to the 13th and early 14th centuries, have been presented to the Royal Institution of Cornwall at Truro.     

Tell el-Hesi: A type site for reevaluating so-called ‘Egyptian Governors’ Residencies’ of the south

In 1984 Eliezer Oren identified a series of structures found at 13th and 12th centuries BCE sites of southern Canaan, calling them Egyptian Governors’ Residencies. He identified Bliss’s City IV as a defining site. In 2000 Blakely identified Petrie’s Pilaster Building as a second example from Tell el-Hesi. It is now clear that Bliss’s City IV dates to the 13th century and that some of its architectural elements were salvaged after its destruction to build Petrie’s Pilaster Building in the 12th century. All of the southern examples are found in an agricultural zone of uncertainty where there is no clear likelihood of a harvestable crop in any given normal year. As it happens, the 13th and especially the 12th centuries BCE were far from normal, being a period of drought and extreme drought. Thus no crops could have been expected. This suggests the structures could not have been centres for the collection of a grain harvest tax, the accepted view. Rather, one wonders if the sites did not monitor a large pasturage.     

十八世纪杭州地区的画家方薰及其作品——以故宫博物院藏品为中心

18世纪末至19世纪中期,嘉兴府艺术家辈出,有史家甚至称之为所谓"嘉兴画派",认为它对后来的海派起到了重要影响。方薰并非这一派中的杰出艺术家,但他却生活在一个承上启下的时期,他的艺术承接了17、18世纪正统工细的艺术风格,同时也是19世纪后半叶上海艺术形式创新的前奏,从这个角度看,北京故宫所保存的5幅方薰的画作具有很大的价值。本文通过深入研究方薰生平并结合其作品,认为浙北知识精英阶层的生活品位与艺术需求同画家的创作有着密切的互动关系。对方薰个案的研究,可以使我们在某种程度上找到认知18世纪苏杭文人圈的捷径。此外,作者还指出,每个艺术中心都拥有它相对独特的文化,我们不应以偏概全地认为乾隆朝的宫廷以及扬州一带是18世纪所有中国画的原产地。     

Cultural traffic in Lübeck and Danzig in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries

In this examination of patterns of cultural traffic in Lübeck and Danzig in the 16th and 17th centuries it is argued that while Danzig was strongly influenced by Dutch commercial contacts and exercised a very strong cultural influence on its Polish hinterland, Lübeck was open to a more diffuse range of external cultural influences, and competed as a centre of culture with its neighbours. Two assumptions are tested here: that a relationship existed between cultural innovation based on external stimuli and levels of commercial prosperity in cities, and that the more passive a city became in terms of international trade, the more it was influenced by external cultural trends. It is concluded that the cultural experiences of the two cities were shaped as much by their relationship with their hinterlands as they were by changing patterns of international trade during the 16th and 17th centuries.     

Wine Bottles From Lisbon: Archaeometric Studies Of Two Archaeological Sites Dated From The 17th To The 19th Century

Two sets of wine bottles dated between the end of the 17th and the 19th centuries were characterized by means of μ‐PIXE (major and minor elements) and LA–ICP–MS (trace and REE elements). The fragmented wine bottles were recovered from two archaeological contexts in Lisbon and reach a total of 79 fragments. One of the archaeological bottle sets comes from a house structure that collapsed during the major earthquake in 1755, providing a precise terminus ante quem. The second set comes from the exploratory archaeological intervention performed in Rua do Arsenal, where the Côrte‐Real Palace (built in the 16th century), was discovered. From this site, posterior contexts dated up to the 19th century were considered. This systematic study allowed the glass to be identified as high‐lime, low‐alkali (HLLA) for all the considered chronologies. However, the 19th‐century bottles have a different HLLA composition, suggesting the use of synthetic soda. Comparison with data from literature showed some similarity with English, Belgium and French reported compositions. This is the first systematic attempt to characterize the composition of glass wine bottles circulating in Portugal, giving new insights into their probable provenances, and on the exchange between Portugal and its trading allies.     

Iron knees in wooden vessels—an attempt at a typology

Knees were brackets in the structure of a wooden ship. They were introduced in the second half of the 18th century and were in common use for naval and merchant ships in the 19th century. They were fashioned in various designs. A typology of these is proposed based on archaeological and documentary evidence. Iron knees could used to assist the dating of unidentified shipwrecks.     

Urban geo-archaeology in medieval alzira (Prov. Valencia,Spain)

Alzira is situated in a cut-off meander loop of the Rio Júcar. Geo-archaeological study shows that the Islamic city wall was built during the second quarter of the 11th century AD, at a time when the river had a low-amplitude and low-energy flood regime. After mid-century, overbank silts began to invade the city as peak flood discharge increased, with a spate of destructive floods reflected by high-energy deposits during the late 11th century. Urban expansion within the city wall is dated to the later 11th or early 12th century, interrupted by local abandonment and moderate-energy flood silts. Major construction during the mid-12th century was followed by protracted abandonment (after a siege in AD 1171?) and further, moderate-energy flood silts that redistributed occupation and collapse debris. Reoccupation, during the late 14th century, was terminated by catastrophic floods in 1517 and 1571, after which much of the western end of Alzira was not rebuilt. Following further flood catastrophes during the 17th century, parts of the central walled city remained abandoned until the 19th century. with new occupation atop flood sands of yet another disaster in 1864. The change in flood regime after 1150 was a result of deforestation of the watershed, but progradation of a downstream tributary fan after 1517 created an unstable, aggrading floodplain increasingly prone to severe flooding. Climatic anomalies were responsible for periods of recurrent severe floods, archaeologically verified during the 11th and 12th centuries, and historically documented, beginning in 1318. The geo-archaeological methodology illuminates the constructional and settlement history of Alzira, allows distinction of fluvial and cultural components, and provides the necessary microstratigraphic detail and dating control to document the true complexity of alluvial processes during the last 1000 years.     

Insect Assemblages and Local Environment in the Mediaeval Town of Uppsala, Sweden

Insect remains from a mediaeval settlement in the town of Uppsala, S. Sweden, were analysed. Eighty-one insect taxa were identified from samples dating from the 12th to the 15th century. The insect assemblages are totally dominated by beetles. Only a few remains of butterflies, true flies and a bumble bee were found. The insects imply that the settlement was situated in open landscape. The settlement most likely consisted mainly of farm buildings throughout the studied period. Crops such as wheat, barley and cabbage were probably cultivated, particularly during the early settlement phases. Later, at the beginning of the 15th century, stock rearing seems to have dominated. The results suggest that the climate, during Mediaeval time in southern Sweden, was similar to the present or characterized by slightly higher summer temperatures. A number of currently very rare species were also recorded.     

Seventeenth-century Pottery from Ash,Surrey

Abstract

About 2,000 sherds, mainly in white fabric, were found on a site at Ash which was one of several producing similar wares on the West Surrey and Hampshire borders. Some of the sherds were medieval, but the remainder were 17th century and are analysed in an attempt to assess the forms and characteristics of the post-medieval pottery made at Ash. Documentary evidence discloses the presence of potters in Ash in the 17th and 18th centuries, although there is no direct link with the site, and also indicates possible sources for the potters’ clay.