The Eleventh- and Twelfth-century Waterfront and Settlement at Queenhithe: Excavations at Bull Wharf,City of London

Evidence for the development of London’s riverside settlement c. AD 1000–1200 was found on the east edge of an important dock known successively as Æthelred’s hithe and Queenhithe. A sequence of embankments and tree-ring dated revetments advanced the waterfront nearly 40 m into the Thames and small inlets provided access to the foreshore. Building and rebuilding took place on a row of properties, with up to a dozen buildings identified; after c. 1150, passages were created for two narrow lanes connecting Thames Street with the quays and foreshore. Important reused building and ships’ timbers and dated groups of metalwork and other artefacts were recovered from the waterfronts.     

The Marausa Wreck,Sicily: interim report on a boat built in the Western Imperial Roman tradition

In 1991, the wreck of a late 3rd–early 4th century AD Roman merchant vessel was discovered on the west coast of Sicily that had carried North African amphora, tubuli, and other ceramics. The hull was dismantled and raised in 2011, including a keel hook‐scarfed to stem and sternposts, 39 pegged mortise‐and‐tenon joined planks, 43 frames with an irregular pattern of floor‐timbers, half‐timbers, and futtocks fastened to the planking with treenails and copper nails, sister‐keelsons and evidence of two stringers, 36 ceiling strakes, and the base of a bilge pump. Many repairs are indicated. The fairly flat bottom and round bilges, mortise‐and‐tenons, sister‐keelsons and lack of a coherent framing pattern, place the boat in the Western Imperial tradition.     

The Norman's Bay Shipwreck,East Sussex,UK: a possible 17th‐century Dutch ship from the Battle of Beachy Head

This report explores a hypothesis that the Norman's Bay shipwreck is the Wapen van Utrecht, a 64‐gun Dutch ship lost during the Battle of Beachy Head in 1690. The shipwreck, found off the Sussex coast, was designated by the Protection of Wrecks Act (1973) in 2006, when it was speculated that the wreck was the English 70‐gun ship Resolution, lost in the Great Storm of 1703. Dendrochronology dates the vessel after the middle of the 17th century AD, however, with timbers from Germany or the Low Countries. Initiatives by the Nautical Archaeology Society to bring the protected wreck to a wide public are also discussed.     

Resource Exploitation and Wood Mobility in Northern European Oak: dendroprovenancing of individual timbers from the Mary Rose (1510/11–1545)

Dendrochronology has proved useful in suggesting the provenance of timbers in northern Europe, particularly for ship‐timbers, which may have originated from a distant source. Historical chronologies are usually derived from timbers of uncertain origin. In trying to provenance a new chronology, therefore, trends in the geographical distribution of statistical matches should be viewed, rather than individual strong matches. While it is usual to test a site‐chronology created from several individual timbers, in a situation such as the Mary Rose, where individual timbers may have been sourced from several regions, the matches of individual timbers may shed light on their origins. © 2010 The Author     

Construction Features of Doel 1, a 14th‐Century Cog found in Flanders

In 2000, a well‐preserved, c.21 m‐long shipwreck, Doel 1, was found upside‐down in a silted‐up creek near the river Scheldt (Belgium). An interdisciplinary research project was initiated, including 3D registration of all timbers, wood species identification, dendrochronology and archaeobotanical analysis of the caulking material. Doel 1, of which 70% is preserved, displays the construction features of a cog. Unseasoned wood was used and dated by dendrochronology to AD 1325/26. Remarkable features include the symmetrical layout of the bottom planks, the atypical arrangement of the frames to the fore, and evidence of partial dissassembly of the ship after intensive use.     

HMS Colossus,an Experimental Site Stabilization

Abstract

HMS Colossus, a 74-gun warship, sank in the Isles of Scilly in 1798. The stern half of this vessel became exposed on the seabed some time around 2001. The timbers of the wreck were in excellent condition when first exposed but quickly began to deteriorate, mainly due to attack by wood-boring organisms. In 2003 English Heritage commissioned a two-year stabilization trial project on the site. These trials were aimed at determining the most effective method of protecting the exposed timbers of the wreck. Three different methods of protection were trialled, all of which had been used previously elsewhere. One of these methods, a Terram 4000 mat, was clearly the most effective on this site. In 2008, a small area of the wreck was covered with a Terram 4000 mat to determine the long-term efficacy of this means of site stabilization. Prior to installation the area to be covered was recorded in detail, along with an adjacent area as a control, to facilitate future comparison of the condition of the ship's timbers. This work, too, was commissioned by English Heritage (Camidge 2008).     

A Spanish Man‐o‐War in New Zealand? The 1864 wreck of Grafton and its lessons for pre‐Cook shipwreck claims

This paper considers the 1864 wreck of Grafton in the Auckland Islands, and its implications for wreck analysis and pre‐Cook exploration claims. The captain of Grafton, Thomas Musgrave, stated that the schooner was built from the wreck of a Spanish man‐o‐war, and archaeological analysis of the wreck found that the timbers are a tropical South American species, and had possibly been reused. The implications of this are clear; it is possible that timbers that originated in pre‐Cook (1769) ships lie in New Zealand, but without a full understanding of the historical and archaeological context of any such timbers, including their reuse in later ships, it is not possible to claim proof of pre‐Cook European exploration of New Zealand.     

An Arab-Period merchant vessel at Tantura Lagoon, Israel

During the excavation and analysis of a 6th-century AD vessel in Tantura Lagoon, Israel, members of the joint Institute of Nautical Archaeology and Center for Maritime Studies team located an Arab-Period vessel in the vicinity. The dating of the vessel to the 8th–9th century AD is based on pottery, found in association with timbers. Only a matter of days before the end of the excavation season, one end of the vessel was unearthed and preliminary recordings, drawings, and photographs were made. None of the timbers were removed from their in-situ positions for analysis as both time and facilities were not permitting. Though a full analysis was not possible, information gleaned during the several days of recording affords an understanding of the ship's construction.     

Understanding the historic legacies of empire from the timbers left behind: Towards critical dendroprovenancing in the British North Atlantic

The forests of British North America were integral to Britain's maritime empire. Many of these timbers exist today as wooden beams and flooring at historical dockyards and garrisons such as the Royal Naval Dockyard of Bermuda. In this paper, we investigate what timbers from this Dockyard can tell us about interconnections and empire-building throughout the North Atlantic region. To do this we drew from approaches of critical physical geography, historical geography, and dendroprovenancing by using timber as a way to interrogate collaboratively the changes in—and connections across—socio-ecological landscapes. We examined HM Customs records between 1825 and 1850 to determine the flow of timbers to Bermuda. We then sampled timbers from buildings constructed between 1825 and 1853 and analyzed them using isotopic and dendrochronological techniques to establish the probable location of origin of the timber samples. HM Customs records showed that prior to the 1840s, timbers primarily came from British North America, whereas post-1840 timbers primarily came from the southeastern United States, with some still coming from Europe and British North America. To establish whether timber use by the Royal Navy and Royal Engineers matched the pattern in the customs documents, we looked to the dendrochronological records. Dendrochronologic evidence showed that military construction followed the same pattern, with buildings constructed pre-1840 using material from British North America and buildings constructed post-1840 using timbers sourced from the southeastern United States. Finally, using this information we explore some of the connections between regions, in terms of resource use, and the implications of those uses—for example, that the British Admiralty continued to benefit from the practices of slavery through the use of products produced from enslaved labour in other parts of the North Atlantic well after emancipation.     

A lake fortress,a floating chronology,and an atmospheric anomaly: the surprising results of a radiocarbon wiggle-match from Āraiši,Latvia

An Iron Age timber settlement which, in view of the defensive structures uncovered, is described as a lake fortress, on an island in Lake ārai?i, north-eastern Latvia, was excavated in 1965–69 and 1975–79 by teams led by Jānis Apals, who distinguished five construction phases. Dendrochronological analysis produced a c. 100-year floating chronology for Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst.) timbers from the earliest phase. A ¹⁴C wiggle-match was undertaken to obtain an absolute date range for the final year of the floating chronology, and thus for the construction of the settlement. Ten blocks of wood from one timber, each comprising 6-11 years and collectively spanning the whole 93-year tree-ring series, were dated by AMS. Using the IntCal13 calibration data, there is a 95% probability that the felling date of this timber falls in the range 775–784 cal AD. It appears, however, that the AD 775 spike in the atmospheric ¹⁴C level occurred within the 6-year span of the last sample. On this basis, we can narrow the date of construction to 776–780 cal AD. This date is significantly earlier than those reported in previous publications.     

故宫武英殿建筑群木构件树种及其配置研究

我们从武英殿建筑群的武英门、武英殿、敬思殿、武英门东西值房、东配殿及北值房、西配殿及北值房、恒寿斋、井亭11座建筑的20余种木构件上,共采集1145个样本进行树种鉴定。结果表明,武英殿建筑群共使用了15个种或属的木材,其中有落叶松、软木松、硬木松、冷杉、云杉、黄杉、柏木、杉木、圆柏、金钱松等10种针叶材,桢楠、椴树、润楠、喃喃果、印茄等5种阔叶材。其中,杉木、桢楠和润楠是我国南方树种,喃喃果和印茄是东南亚进口材。武英殿主要承重木构件选用主要为北方树种中密度和力学强度较高的落叶松、黄杉和云杉,其他木构件则主要使用的是密度低、重量轻的软木松;敬思殿主要承重木构件使用的是云杉,其他木构件也以软木松为主,但使用的木材比较杂,角梁和爬梁全部使用了东南亚进口阔叶材;敬思殿在选材方面与武英殿的差异,可能是在光绪三十年重建时选材标准不如武英殿严格所致。武英门的木材,硬木松占了绝大多数,使用的都是强度较大的木材。所有配殿和值房的主要承重构件中,柱使用最多的是硬木松,其次是落叶松、软木松;月梁、三架梁和四架梁、瓜柱、四架梁随梁、抱头梁及其随梁木构件使用的是杉木,配殿、值房等建筑的梁没有使用强度高的木材。是以南方树种为主,其中某些主要构件还使用了珍贵的南方阔叶树种如桢楠、润楠等。这种情况表明,恒寿斋和井亭是武英殿几次大火后的仅存建筑,因而保留了明代建造时选材的历史信息。木材的使用差异具有一定的时代意义。从润楠在恒寿斋的柱和梁上,椴树、桢楠和润楠在斗棋上使用,以及根据构件的承重和位置不同进行树种配置,既考虑了对主要建筑结构材的强度要求,也考虑了尽可能减小其他木构件对主要构件的负荷,这种按照木材物理力学的性质和木材承重强度等因素进行选材的建筑原则,相当清楚地表明当时吉建筑在科学选材方面已达到很高的水平。在故宫维修工程中通过对各种木构件树种配置的研究,进行科学定性分析,将深层次地探索古建筑留给我们的历史痕迹和信息,揭示其科学性,为制定维修保护方案提供科学依据,并为故宫古建筑保护研究提供新的方法,丰富故宫历史档案资料。     

A simple Bayesian approach to tree‐ring dating

Tree‐ring dating involves matching sequences of ring widths from undated timbers to dated sequences known as ‘master’ chronologies. Conventionally, the undated timbers (from a building or woodland) are sequentially matched against one another, using t‐tests to identify the relative offsets with the ‘best’ match, thus producing a ’site’ chronology. A date estimate is obtained when this is matched to a local master chronology of known calendar age. Many tree‐ring sequences in the UK produce rather low t‐values and are thus declared not to have a ‘best’ match to a master chronology. Motivated by this and the routine use of Bayesian statistical methods to provide a probabilistic approach to radiocarbon dating, this paper investigates the practicality of Bayesian dendrochronology. We explore a previously published model for the relationship between ring widths and the underlying climatic signal, implementing it within the Bayesian framework via a simulation‐based approach. Probabilities for a match at each offset are produced, removing the need to identify a single ‘best’ match. The Bayesian model proves successful at matching in both simulated and real examples.     

Mercator’s Lithuanian–Russian Borderlands: Russiae pars amplificata (1595) and Its Polish Sources

abstract

This article focuses on the inset on Gerardus Mercator’s large map of Russia cum confiniis [Russia with surrounding lands] that was published in his Atlas (1595), and the map Moscovia [Muscovy] published by Jodocus Hondius in the Atlas minor (1607). Comparison of the contents of Mercator’s inset map, titled Russiae pars amplificata [Part of Russia enlarged] and Hondius’s Moscovia map with the Polish propaganda poem Raid on Muscovy by Jan Kochanowski that had appeared in 1583—just after the war between the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and Muscovy—led to the suggestion that both Mercator’s and Hondius’s maps were based on Polish–Lithuanian narrative sources as well as on a map drawn by the Polish royal cartographer Maciej Strubicz. To test the hypothesis, a historical-linguistic analysis of the orthography of the map’s toponyms and hydronyms was employed to distinguish their Polish, German and Latin characteristics. The result confirms that the two maps were indeed based on a Polish military map containing a hidden Polish propaganda message.     

The 7th–9th Century Tantura E Shipwreck,Israel: construction and reconstruction

The Tantura E shipwreck was discovered in Tantura lagoon, Israel, in a water depth of 2.8 m, covered by 1 m of sand. It was a coaster that plied the Levant coast, dated to the 7th–9th centuries CE. It was recorded under water, but several components were studied on land, as well as the finds. The hull is of frame‐based construction, with flat floor timbers and a sharp turn of the bilge. The archaeological evidence, as well as modern design tools and regulations, suggests that Tantura E was c.12.5 m long, of 25 tonnes displacement, and could load c.17.5 tonnes.     

Primatological potpourri

Russell H. Tuttle, ed. Primate Functional Morphology and Evolution. The Hague and London: Mouton Publishers, 1975. A volume in the World Anthropology Series, Sol Tax, general editor. Distributed in North America by Aldine Publishing Co. xv 1583 pp. Tables, figures, illustrations, biographical notes, and indexes. $34.50.     

Antiparacelsismus und Dreieinigkeit. Medizinischer Antitrinitarismus von Thomas Erastus (1524–1583) bis Ernst Soner (1572–1605)

Antiparacelism and Trinity: Medical antitrinitarism from Thomas Erastus (1524–1583) to Ernst Soner (1572–1605). – There were close relationships between Renaissance medicine and antitrinitarianism in 16th and 17th century. Forming an important part of the radical reformation antitrinitarianism won many disciples in the Holy Roman Empire and proved its attraction for physicians. This paper centers on two public scandals in Heidelberg and Altdorf involving the reknown university professors and physicians Thomas Erastus and Ernst Soner. Michael Servetus' new concept of the blood flow through the lungs was discussed in Heidelberg. In Altdorf Caspar Hofmann, Soner's colleague, developed a special theory of the blood flow and corresponded with William Harvey. Erastus and Soner sharply critisized the hermectical and neoplatonical ideas of Paracelsus. Although sympathizing with antitrinitarianism they denounced the Paracelsians as heretics. The Polish antitrinitarians were called Socinians, from Faustus Socinus. Their doctrine tended to be Aristotelic and rationalistic. Soner combined a socinian theology with a heterodox Aristotelianism referring to Andrea Cesalpino. Again after Soner's death some of his pupils and other physicians advocated socinianism in Gdansk (Martin Ruar, Florian Krause, Daniel Zwicker,Valentin Baumgart).     

Tree‐Rings,Timbers and Trees: a dendrochronological survey of the 14th‐century cog,Doel 1

In 2000, the remains of a cog, Doel 1, were found in Doel, Belgium. Wood species identification of all ship timbers and smaller elements was performed. European oak was the dominant species, followed by alder that was used for the fairings. In total 150 ring‐width series were recorded. The construction date was set at AD 1325/26 and the timbers proved to originate from forests along the rivers Elbe and Weser. For the bottom strakes a strict symmetrical layout was observed. The keel plank was hewn from a trunk with a slightly earlier felling date. Repairs were performed with high‐quality boards, some with a southern Baltic provenance.     

Surplus Production and Marine Resource Use in the North Norwegian Iron Age

The coast of northern Norway was an important dried‐cod production area during the Medieval period. During the Iron Age, marine resources had also played a vital role in the economy of the inhabitants in the region. The increase in marine harvesting post c.AD 600, as substantiated by archaeological finds, suggests that mass maritime goods, in addition to those goods of a prestigious character, were a significant part of the chiefly provisioning system of the Iron Age.     

New data on relevant ancient Egyptian wooden artifacts: Identification of wooden species and study of the state of conservation with multidisciplinary analyses

Wood species identification and characterization of its weathering processes are crucial steps in the scientific approach of conservation of wooden cultural heritage. Many precious wooden objects of ancient Egypt are largely present in museums, nevertheless relatively little information is available concerning the nature of timber used and on their status of conservation. To address this gap, the wooden species of three relevant archaeological wood objects (statue, box, and coffin) arising from different Egyptian archaeological sites dated from the Old Kingdom (2,686–2,181 BC) to New Kingdom (1,550–1,069 BC) were deeply studied. Five hardwood and softwood species were identified belonging to Tamarix mannifera, T. gennessarensis, Ficus sycomorus, Vachellia nilotica, and Cedrus sp. Such data confirmed the recurrence of Vachellia and Tamarix among the most common timbers found in ancient Egypt. Scanning electron microscope, Fourier transform spectroscopy, and synchrotron x-ray radiation diffraction were conducted to evaluate the archaeological wood deterioration. The formation of microcracks, biological degradation patterns (fungal colonization), or chemical characterization (accumulation of salts on and in-between wooden cells) were detected. SEM micrographs showed the presence of fungal hyphae and conidial spores on the wooden cells. Significant changes in the chemical wood composition and decrease in the crystallinity index were detected.     

Evidence of an Eleventh-Century AD Cola Nitida Trade into the Middle Niger Region

Kola nut (Cola cf. nitida) and Safou fruit (Dacryodes edulis) remains have been discovered in eleventh- to fourteenth-century archaeological contexts at Togu Missiri near Ségou in Mali. These remains are evidence of early trade in perishable foodstuffs from the West African forest zone into the Middle Niger region. On the basis of these finds, this paper argues that long-distance trade links were well established by the end of the first millennium AD. It thereby supports the hypothesis that dates the inception of trade between the West African forest zone and the savanna regions to the first millennium AD. The circumstances of the find are discussed, as are the implications for our understanding of the wider exchange network based on the Niger River system in the late first and early second millennium CE.