Designing the 11th-century-AD vessel from Serçe Limanı, Turkey

A previous article investigated the methods used to design the 9th-century vessel from Bozburun, Turkey, and a basic methodology emerged which combined Richard Steffy's emphasis on the comprehensive deconstruction of a hull with the segregation of hull-construction into the phases of conception, design and assembly. This article tests this methodology by applying it to the 11th-century craft from Serçe Limanı, a vessel studied and reconstructed by Steffy. It discusses the resulting design-method, the similarities between this method and that used on the Bozburun vessel, and how we gain insight into changes in the maritime community which built these ships.
© 2010 The Author     

Designing the 9th-Century-AD Vessel from Bozburun, Turkey

During the study of the 9th-century-AD vessel from Bozburun, Turkey, this author applied Richard Steffy's methodology which emphasizes the comprehensive deconstruction and step-by-step re-assembly of a vessel. This methodology, in turn, illuminated how the Bozburun ship was assembled and designed, and how this design process created particular components of the hull. This article discusses this design process, and how by understanding it we may also understand more about the people who made the Bozburun vessel.
© 2009 The Author     

The Dor 2001/1 Shipwreck, Israel—a Summary of the Excavation

Dor 2001/1 was probably a Byzantine coaster carrying building stones, dated to the end of the 5th or beginning of the 6th century AD. No shell-first construction features were identified, specifically no kind of planking edge-joints; but instead all the essential components showed that it was a frame-based hull. Thus it is apparently among the earliest frame-based shipwrecks found so far in the Mediterranean.
© 2006 The Authors     

Preliminary Analysis of the Hull of the Roman Ship from Grado, Gorizia, Italy

The hull of the Roman wreck at Grado has been partially preserved under the cargo of amphoras. The right side presents a rare evidence of a section of the waterway. The ship has been assembled by mortise-and-tenon technique following a shell-first conception. All the frames, except one, are of pine while planking is either of pine and elm. Some strakes, of larix , are a repair made by patch-tenons; a wale shows an other kind of repair. Various signs left by the shipwright are on the hull. In the stern area, a box of wooden elements had to protect a 'hydraulic system'.
© 2006 The Authors     

The Dor D Shipwreck and Holy Land Wine Trade

The Dor D shipwreck off Israel is a 6th-century AD scattered site on which Cypriot ballast stones seal hull planking and fragmentary cargo amphorae manufactured in southern Palestine. Petrological studies of the domestic assemblage and roof tiles indicate a Cypriot provenance for the ship, which was apparently returning empty amphorae to Palestine for recycling at a time when consumer demands for Holy Land wines stretched from Yemen to southern Britain. The ship post-dates the Justinianic plague of AD 541 and, therefore, provides important evidence for trade continuity in a period traditionally defined as one of economic decline.     

The Hull of Yenikapı Shipwreck YK 11: a 7th‐century merchant vessel from Constantinople's Theodosian Harbour

YK 11, a small, heavily repaired merchantman, was one of 37 Byzantine shipwrecks excavated at Yenikap? in Istanbul, Turkey. This 7th‐century hull, abandoned in the harbour as a derelict, was studied by archaeologists from the Institute of Nautical Archaeology. Originally built with mortise‐and‐tenon edge joinery, the ship had undergone a series of significant repairs over its lifetime. Repairs included the replacement of planking as well as framing. Although the repaired vessel exhibits evidence of both shell‐first and skeleton‐first shipbuilding techniques, detailed study of the hull remains indicates that the ship was initially designed and built as a primarily shell‐based vessel.     

Practical Knowledge in the Viking Age: the use of mental templates in clinker shipbuilding

It has long been recognized that ships built according to the Nordic clinker tradition during the Viking Age were conceived and constructed simultaneously by eye, in a shell‐first manner, and using rules‐of‐thumb to control both the longitudinal and transversal shape of the hull. While a lot of attention has been paid to the conceptual definition of the keel and stems, far less research has explored how such rules would have worked while planking the hull. Two cargo‐ships, Skuldelev 3 and Skuldelev 1, are used to argue for pre‐design and the use of mental templates. This highlights a cognitive dimension of practical knowledge, in particular how it was accumulated, stored and transmitted.     

A Report on the late 1st–2nd‐century‐AD Venice Lido III Sewn Timber Assemblage

In 2012, fragments of hull planking bearing the signs of a Roman‐era sewn vessel, with holes drilled along the plank edges, washed ashore on Venice Lido, the barrier island separating the Venice Lagoon from the Adriatic Sea. This paper describes the construction features of this timber assemblage and places it within the context of other excavated sewn boats of the Upper Adriatic. The assemblage presented here best fits into the north‐western Adriatic sewn tradition and likely represents either a fluvial‐maritime or maritime watercraft.     

Archaeology of 17th‐Century Iberian Shipwrecks: reassessment and comparison of excavated,recorded, and published hull remains

Of 55 17th‐century wrecks located around the world identified as Iberian, 37 have either been destroyed, looted, or salvaged by treasure hunters, and just 11 the subject of archaeological work. Of these, only seven have been published: structural components, planking, fasteners, caulking, and other hull remains are reported to different degrees of detail. This article compares hull components within this small sample to assess the shared traits, or distinctive Iberian shipbuilding tradition, proposed by Oertling (2001; 2005), Castro (2008), and Hormaechea et al. (2018: 64–65). Additional traits are proposed that have been observed in the archaeological record.     

The Dor 2001/1 Byzantine Shipwreck,Israel: final report

Dor 2001/1 was a Byzantine coaster, about 16.9 m long, with an estimated displacement of 50 tonnes, dated to the first third of the 6th century CE, and loaded with building stones. It was excavated over five seasons, recorded under water, and a section of the shipwreck was retrieved and studied on land. The hull construction was based on frames without any type of planking edge‐fasteners. It is thus among the earliest frame‐based shipwrecks found so far in the Mediterranean. The origin of its construction tradition, with flat frames amidships, hard chine and straight sides, might have been related to a riverine tradition.     

The Hull Construction of Yenikapı 14 (YK 14), a Middle Byzantine Shipwreck from Constantinople's Theodosian Harbour,Istanbul, Turkey

Yenikap? 14 (YK 14) is one of 37 shipwrecks discovered by the Istanbul Archaeological Museums during the Marmaray Project excavations in Istanbul's Yenikap? neighbourhood, the site of Constantinople's Theodosian Harbour. Dated to the 9th century AD, YK 14 is one of a group of Yenikap? round ships constructed using similar methods: it was a flat‐floored, shallow‐draught vessel built primarily of oak using a distinctive combination of shell‐ and skeleton‐based construction methods. Regularly spaced pegs called coaks were used to assemble the hull planking edge‐to‐edge from the keel to the first wale, above which planks were fastened exclusively to frames.     

Preliminary documentation of a chine-girder barge at Conway, South Carolina

The study of small flat-bottomed plantation craft in South Carolina began in 1983 with the discovery and study of a barge at Mepkin Abbey on the Cooper River. Since that date the author has documented a wide range of craft in contexts ranging from plantations and ferry crossings to marine phosphate mines (Newell. 1986; 1989). The flat which is the focus of this report is the first of its type observed during this 8-year study period. Its construction and hull profile indicate that the vessel is a late 18th century craft. Current research by the author into the origins of the unique design suggests eastern European or French sources for the use of iles or chine-girders, a constructional element of the craft used in conjunction with transverse planking not commonly seen in flats of English design.     

Warwick: report on the excavation of an early 17th‐century English shipwreck in Castle Harbour,Bermuda

Warwick, a colonial merchantman owned and operated by Sir Robert Rich, Second Earl of Warwick, sank in Castle Harbour, Bermuda, in1619. Between 2010 and 2012, Warwick's hull remains and associated artefacts were excavated and recorded. Built early in the 17th century, Warwick’s structure revealed a traditional shipbuilding style. Covered with two layers of planking and a layer of sheathing, the ship was purpose‐built for extended transatlantic voyages. Not exceeding 200 tons, Warwick was an average‐size vessel with sufficient burthen to bring supplies and passengers to the colonies and return with tobacco.     

Description and Analysis of the Finds from the 2006 Turkish Coastal Survey: Marmaris and Bodrum

In the summer of 2006, RPM Nautical Foundation continued its survey along the south-western Turkish coast. After completing the verification of anomalies along the south-east Bozburun peninsula close to Marmaris, a new survey was conducted along the coast near Bodrum. Additional shipwrecks were discovered, those of historic interest ranging in date from Roman Republican to Ottoman. This report describes the shipwreck sites and some of the random finds along the Bozburun coast, as well as the depositional characteristics in the Bodrum approaches.
© 2007 The Author     

The Western Ledge Reef wreck: a preliminary report on investigation of the remains of a 16th-century shipwreck in Bermuda

In September 1988 archaeologists and students from the Program in Maritime History and Underwater Research at East Carolina University (PMHUR) identified the remains of an early shipwreck during a survey of the Western Ledge Reefs carried out for the Bermuda Maritime Museum (BMM). Structural material exposed at the wreck site proved to be a section of lower hull containing the keel, hull planking, frames, and a portion of the keelson that included a mast-step. In order to recover the archaeological record preserved at the site, the BMM applied for, and received, a licence from the Receiver of Wreck. As work at the site intensified, a prior claim to the wreck was discovered. Discovery of that claim ultimately led to a co-operative agreement between Brian Malpas, Donald Canton and the BMM that permitted on-site investigation to continue. During 1989 and 1990, the site was excavated by the Museum's underwater archaeological staff, the staffand students of the PMHUR and volunteers. In 1990, a comprehensive in situ map of the hull remains was completed and in accordance with the terms of an agreement between Malpas and Canton and the BMM, a team of archaeologists, students and volunteers raised the remains of the Western Ledge shipwreck in August 1991. Each recovered element of the wreck was transported to storage facilities at the museum and catalogued, cleaned, recorded and documented using techniques developed to record the Red Bay galleon. That work was completed in the autumn of 1991 and on 31st October 1991 the wreck structure was donated to the museum for study and possible display.     

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 Planking Clamp from Tårnby: a Medieval Danish Boatbuilding Tool

At the bottom of a well on a medieval farm on the Danish island of Amager, archaeologists found a planking clamp dated by dendrochronology to 1405 AD. ¹ The clamp is of great importance: very few examples have been found or recognised in Northern Europe to date, and this is the best preserved, and thus provides data about its shape and use; and the size of boat it was used in the construction of. It is discussed whether the clamp was used exclusively for boatbuilding or whether it might also have been used in other crafts. It is suggested that copies of the Tårnby planking clamp might be used in future experimental boatbuilding projects.
© 2004 The Nautical Archaeology Society     

New Data on Egyptian Construction Methods in the Khufu I Vessel (c.2566 BC) from the Paul Lipke Collection

A review of the Lipke collection raises new questions concerning Egyptian boatbuilding methods for the Khufu I vessel, including the shaping of planking, the purpose, fitting, and spacing of cross‐grain mortise‐and‐tenon joints and the crafting and securing of hook‐scarfs in girders. New data supports the author's contention that the construction of this vessel was abruptly terminated, but contradicts his suggestion that the central girder had no hook‐scarf—it does, but it is unique. Furthermore, detailed plans show how the hood‐ends, sleeves, and papyriform decorations were crafted and joined. A planking‐plan with scale does not always agree with published data. © 2010 The Author     

The Yenikapı 12 Shipwreck,a 9th‐Century Merchantman from the Theodosian Harbour in Istanbul,Turkey: construction and reconstruction

Shipwreck Yenikap? 12 was discovered in Yenikap?, Istanbul, Turkey in 2007 during rescue excavations carried out by Istanbul Archaeological Museums. The majority of the bottom of the shipwreck, found within the sediment‐filled Theodosian Harbour, is intact and part of the cargo was found in situ. According to the results of reconstruction studies, YK12 was a small merchantman working coastal waters, approximately 9.24m in length and 2.64m in breadth. The shipwreck is dated to the 9th century AD and was built with a mixed construction using the shell‐based method for the lower hull.