The Bronze Age Ferriby Boats: Seagoing Ships or Estuary Ferry Boats?

Two different reconstructions of these boats have been published. They have very different capabilities, affecting our understanding of the extensive seafaring in NW Europe during the 3rd and 2nd millennia. Whether it was more likely to have been by planked timber ships, rather than by smaller and more fragile hide boats, should if possible be resolved. One reconstruction of Ferriby could have been seagoing, the other not. This article records the origins of the two reconstructions and the different evidence upon which they are based, and calls for clarification of the reasons for doubting the evidence for the rockered and deeper-hulled reconstruction published by Wright in 1990 .
© 2005 The Nautical Archaeology Society     

Model Boats in the Context of Maritime History and Archaeology

Funereal, votive or shipbuilders' model boats and ships have been quite well documented in the past, but little research has been undertaken into other wooden models from north-west Europe. There have been over 160 found during archaeological excavations, dating from the 9th to the 19th centuries. A study of these 'toys' is not just a study of objects among the minor arts, but reflects a far more important aspect—a source for interpreting remains of full-size vessels, the hypothetical reconstruction of hull-forms and exploration of new ways of defining unknown vessel-types.
© 2007 The Author     

Models as Evidence for Sewn‐boat Traditions

Models of traditional boats stitched together with thread or cane from different parts of the world are commonly found in museum collections. They are often highly detailed and assembled in a way that is characteristic of a particular region. Through the presentation of a range of sewn‐boat models, particularly focusing on those from Sri Lanka, this paper considers how representative models are of full‐size boats, and if they can tell us about boat types and construction techniques. It provides guidance on using and interpreting models and aims to promote the use of these objects to further understand sewn boats.     

A BRONZE AGE BEACH-CAPSTAN?

Summary. The interpretation of a timber found by the writer and his brother in 1939 at the North Ferriby boat-site as part of an apparatus for hauling boats has stood for nearly forty years. Recent study of ethnographic parallels has suggested a significant modification of the reconstruction proposed in 1947. The revised hypothesis is examined and compared with recent beach-capstans from Northern Europe. While the attribution to the Bronze Age cannot now be proved, the assumption is made that the object is part of a single assemblage of discarded debris around the three major fragments of plankbuilt boats reliably dated to c 1500 BC.     

Digital Photogrammetry for Documentation of Maritime Heritage

Documentation of maritime heritage is essential for its protection, and for reference in restoration and renovation processes. These functions become problematic in the case of historical ships and boats that lack lines drawings. The purpose of this paper is to describe a procedure for creation of lines drawings based on the shape analysis of surviving historical boats or their small-scale models with the help of reverse engineering (RE) techniques. The paper describes how digital photogrammetry and the iterative method were used to analyze the shape of three historical boats: Tomahawk, Refola and Nada. The application of the proposed procedure produced the lines drawings of the boats as its result. The accuracy of the 3D CAD model obtained with the photogrammetric technique was verified by comparing it against a more accurate 3D model produced with the help of a RE laser scanner. The examination of the resulting lines drawings proves that the digital photogrammetry process and the proposed iterative method are adequate tools for developing lines plans of boat models. The research offers the methodological basis for the creation of an archive of lines drawings of historical boats. Such an archive would provide reference for philologically correct restorations, and permit definition and classification of distinctive elements of various types of historical boats, particularly those produced in the Campania Region.     

Clay models of Phoenician vessels in the Hecht Museum at the University of Haifa, Israel

Two clay models of boats have recently been added to the collection of the Hecht Museum at the University of Haifa. The models are of rowing boats, with three and five pairs of oarsmen respectively. They probably represent harbour service boats or ceremonial sailings near a harbour. Their analysis is based on similar artefacts found underwater along the same coast and related to the same Phoenician culture. The origin of the artefacts is apparently from close to Tyre, and they can be dated to the 5th century BCE. They may have been from a temple favissa .     

Re‐sewing the Sewn: An Ethnographic Record of Repair and Reuse of Sewn‐plank River Boats in Goa,India

The tradition of fastening planked boats using sewing is characteristic of the Indian Ocean region. Despite known disadvantages of sewn boats, including that perishable materials need regular maintenance and repair, operators of boats used in the sand‐mining industry of Goa still see potential in discarded sewn boats. The problems, raw materials used, technology, and process of re‐sewing and repairing these boats to give them a second life are reported and discussed here.     

缺失彩绘的虚拟三维重建——秦俑彩绘

利用三维测量技术和计算机技术,以及科学的数据计算,计算机可以制造出虚拟三维形象,便于展示与交流。至今为止,秦俑坑中出土的大多数陶俑的彩绘留存不多甚至没有。色。大部分原始彩绘均已脱落,只有极少部分彩绘保留至今。本文以虚拟三维模型重构了秦俑原始彩绘,显示了其功能与意义。俑（T21G18-03）是这次工作的对象。陶俑主要显现出灰暗的陶一尊将军俑（T9：1）和一尊跪射陶俑出土时彩绘的纪录档案是重构工作的出发点。通过三维扫描仪将陶俑表面形状进行数据记录,这是重构工作的基础。然后通过数码照片记录彩绘现状,并将这些照片进行三维机理处理。采用三维绘制软件进行重建和摹绘工作。数据模型过程可以模拟和大多数彩绘和表面情况。这项工作的开展通过几件典型陶俑,将秦俑的原始状态展示给大家。通过计算机模拟,多彩的秦俑军阵活灵活现的呈现在观众面前。     

Measurements,figures and formulas for the interpretation of Western Norwegian boats and viking ships

Along the coast of Norway we find a family of closely‐related boats. The Nordlands boat is one of them, and in many respects it is the most modern. The plan for the shape of these boats is typically coded into figures. Thus the “secret” of the boat's structure is a sort of “number code”. The question addressed here is: to what extent can the shape of the hull in Viking ships be expressed as a number code similar to that of the 19th‐century west‐coast boats of Norway. The principles behind the methods used to explore this question will be illustrated by three basic concepts, which will be treated separately below.     

Examining Possible Driftwood Use in Viking Age Icelandic Boats

While boat and ship graves are known from across northern Europe, and are particularly associated with the Viking Age, only seven examples of such monuments have been excavated in Iceland. Furthermore, no shipwrecks are known dating from this period in Iceland, and examples of boat timbers preserved by waterlogging are very rare. As such, the mineralized wood remains from these burials comprise the vast majority of direct archaeological evidence currently available for the boats used in daily life in early Iceland. This paper uses taxonomic identification of mineralized wood remains from the Icelandic boat graves, along with comparative data from Europe and Scandinavia, to discuss boat construction and repair in early Iceland, including the possibilities of driftwood utilization and the importation of boats from Norway. The economic and social significance of the practice of boat burial in Iceland is also explored, with regard to the importance of boats as transport and the limited availability of wood suitable for boat construction and repair.     

Fragments of Boats from the Canale Anfora of Aquileia,Italy, and Comparison of Sewn‐Plank Ships in the Roman Era

Fragments of Roman sewn‐plank boats have been found, during rescue excavations, in the Canale Anfora, an artificial channel used by Roman ships to enter the Roman city of Aquileia. Remains were found in both 1988 and 2005 at the same site. Elements of what were probably two boats are analysed and compared to other finds of Roman sewn boats found along the coast of the Veneto and Friuli Venezia Giulia regions. They are evidence of the use of this technique, instead of the more widespread mortise‐and‐tenon system, in the quite limited area of the Northern Adriatic. These boats were used both for inland and for maritime navigation.     

Sailboats Used on the St Lawrence River in Quebec City, Canada, in the 18th Century: Tradition and Adaptation

Many years after their discovery, the small boats at the Musée de la civilisation in Quebec City still fascinate and hold some of their mysteries. Revisiting these boats has allowed the author to examine shipbuilding practices from a different perspective and to sum up many observations made but never published. The paper also contains previously-unpublished illustrations. This material may help other scholars in their interpretation of future discoveries.
© 2008 The Author     

Morgawr: an experimental Bronze Age‐type sewn‐plank craft based on the Ferriby boats

This paper reports on the construction of a full‐scale Bronze Age‐type sewn‐plank boat based on the Ferriby boats. The boat, which was named Morgawr, was constructed in the National Maritime Museum Cornwall in Falmouth, England, during 2012 and the first months of 2013, as part of a larger exhibition in the museum. This paper provides the background and context of the project, describes the process of building the craft, and reflects in particular on differences between Morgawr and the ‘hypothetical reconstruction of a complete sewn‐plank boat’ published in 1990 by Ted Wright and John Coates which formed the basis for this project.     

Death by Water: Boats and Footprints in the Rock Art of Western Sweden

This paper considers two of the key images in the Bronze Age rock carvings of Bohuslän in relation to the wider landscape. It compares the distribution of cairns on islands off the west coast of Sweden with that of similar monuments on low hills surrounded by drawings of boats. These are often in areas which had previously been occupied by the sea. Perhaps the drawings of boats evoked an expanse of water separating the world of the living from the burial places of the dead. If so, the lines of footprints leading between these two areas may also refer to the passage between life and death.     

Original DocumentsAnglo-Saxon Document Relating to Lands at Send and Sunbury,In middlesex,In the Time of Eádgár: and The Writ of Cnut,on the Accession of Archbishop Æthelnoth to the See of Canterbury,A.D. 1020

The techniques used for new determinations of the radiocarbon ages of the fragments of boats discovered at North Ferriby are described, together with a demonstration of the application to the results of a computer-based calibration procedure. An interpretation is suggested of the possible calibrated date-ranges thus generated. Archaeological implications of these are considered both in connection with the dates for other British craft that have been excavated in the vicinity of the Humber and in a wider context of European boats bearing related constructional features. The discussion includes the centuries-long persistence in different regions of specialized boat-building traditions.     

Reviews

The George and the Mary ALAN H. FAULKNER
Mersey and Weaver flats, EDWARD PAGET-TOMLINSON
Knobsticks, ROBERT J. WILSON
Boatyards and boatbuilding, ROBERT J. WILSON
The world of model ships and boats, GUY R. WILLIAMS
Prisoner-of-war ship models 1775-1825 EWART C. FREESTON
Baiavia catalogue Compiled by MYRA STANBURY
Sealed bottles. Their history and evolution (1630-1930) ROY MORGAN
Les Variations du Niveau Marin depuis 2000 ans, PAOLO PIRAZZOLI     

A Study of the Sewn‐Plank Boats of Goa,India

The study of traditional boats has enhanced our knowledge of the maritime past. Traditional boats are both river‐ and sea‐worthy. They have been used in rivers for transporting cargo to inland ports from ships anchored at sea, and have often been used in naval warfare. In this paper an attempt has been made to study the sewn‐plank boats of Goa, their building techniques and other features in order to understand their quality and how they were used in the past for an inland river‐transport system. © 2011 The Authors     

A Simple(R) Model to Predict the Source of Dietary Carbon in Individual Consumers

Quantitative individual human diet reconstruction using isotopic data and a Bayesian approach typically requires the inclusion of several model parameters, such as individual isotopic data, isotopic and macronutrient composition of food groups, diet‐to‐tissue isotopic offsets and dietary routing. In an archaeological context, sparse data may hamper a widespread application of such models. However, simpler models may be proposed to address specific archaeological questions. As a consequence of the intake of marine foods, individuals from the first century ad Roman site of Herculaneum showed well‐defined bone collagen radiocarbon age offsets from the expected terrestrial value. Taking as reference these radiocarbon offsets and using as model input stable isotope data (δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N), the performance of two Bayesian mixing model instances (routed and concentration‐dependent model versus non‐routed and concentration‐independent) was compared to predict the carbon contribution of marine foods to bone collagen. Predictions generated by both models were in good agreement with observed values. The model with higher complexity showed only a slightly better performance in terms of accuracy and precision. This demonstrates that under similar circumstances, a simple Bayesian approach can be applied to quantify the carbon contribution of marine foods to human bone collagen.     

The Traditional Boats of Vietnam,an Overview

This paper addresses the material boat culture of Vietnam both in its current context and more specifically through an assessment of how the boats of Vietnam have been studied in the past. It presents a comprehensive summary of past publications describing the construction, use and variety of boats in the region, from the earliest volumes to modern research projects, including the work of the US military. It highlights the rich diversity of construction approaches and boat‐types that are still built and used, and demonstrates the need for further field research to record the fast‐disappearing traditional boats of Vietnam. © 2010 The Authors