building a bronze age boat for Time Team

[belzeebob23]

Hi Robin

Yes it was Damian I can't remember what the tree was but I think it was a Douglas it was a gift from an estate after the big storms a year or 2 before this pic might help / or not in the id https://picasaweb.google.com/110598...hkey=Gv1sRgCPD9z7X0qt-mIg#5380876233032540514
https://picasaweb.google.com/110598414710350576827/BronzeAgeBoat?authkey=Gv1sRgCNuh44Ow2NCg1QE
I think we had a similar disscussion on how they fitted and used their tools but on that point no one really knows and if what you did like what we did worked everybody right till they find an intact one
Bob

 

[IanM]

I must see that up close.

My first job (@2/6d an hour = £1 a day) was in a boatyard and the first week was filling cracks between planks with putty in yachts that had been stored over the winter in the yard and dried out. After the filling we splashed water around inside where possible and a crane dropped them in the water after a couple of days.

We had two sink at their moorings overnight as the (owner installed and checked) bilge pump batteries were flat. All took on water until they swelled.

This is a well known problem for new and dried boats.

 

[robin wood]

There are actually a fair number of handles and just Oetzi's (I know 1500 years earlier) complete axe. These are what I used as my starting point. Some photos here
They are all much thinner and lighter than commonly used by archaeologists on reconstructions. There is no evidence that I have seen for the larger heavier hafts commonly used. The only surviving lashing is Oetzi's which is rawhide so that seems the obvious thing to use and it works well yet all other reconstructions have used linen (why?)
My take on it is that most folk doing reconstructions have made the move from medieval steel/iron technology and are used to using large heavy tools with stiff handles. Using a light flexible handle requires learning a whole new hewing style but it works and is very fast. The whole notching and chopping thing is another technique taken from medieval for which there is no evidence and I found the bronze tools worked much better hollowing directly.

 

[robin wood]

I must see that up close.

My first job (@2/6d an hour = £1 a day) was in a boatyard and the first week was filling cracks between planks with putty in yachts that had been stored over the winter in the yard and dried out. After the filling we splashed water around inside where possible and a crane dropped them in the water after a couple of days.

We had two sink at their moorings overnight as the (owner installed and checked) bilge pump batteries were flat. All took on water until they swelled.

This is a well known problem for new and dried boats.

Clinker built boats leak when dry and need to soak a few days like a barrel, carvel built need caulking to waterproof them. The Dover boat is a radically different jointing technology to either, an evolutionary dead end and no one knows just how to make it work, one good reason for building a replica.

 

[belzeebob23]

I would agree with the use rawhide for the lashings
when applied wet then left to dry the natural shrinkage gives for a tighter fit.
we didn't have any rawhide, which is why we used cordage. and the use of a smaller more fexilbe shaft did work better on the bronze age tools
also we used beeswax and moss to seal the transom board at the back of the dug out. what did you use to seal the boards on yours

bob

bob

 

[sandbender]

Hi Sandbender

If memory serves me , the one at Loch Tay is a dug out.
I was up their a couple of years ago building the bronze age dug out.
https://picasaweb.google.com/110598...AndBoatBuilding?authkey=Gv1sRgCKaG3bKgt7nQ_gE
It was nowhere near as complicated as Robin's build but was a fun time doing

bob

Thanks for that and thanks for the link.

 

[Colin.W]

Excellent work Robin thanks for sharing that I shall look out for that in the listings. You said the launch wasn't a success is that because it leaked or were there problems with the actual launch.
We had to use bronze tools (phosphor bronze to be exact) when I was working maintenance at the Ordinance factory if we had to work in any of the production areas to avert any risk of sparks they are surprisingly hard wearing, admittedly we were not using any edge tools.

 

[Exploriment]

Excellent post!

 

[boatman]

Cannot agree that sewn-plank was an evolutionary dead-end as sewn boats were in use way before nailed or riveted hull planks and are still being built while clinker and carvel wooden boats are dying out. Point about sewn-plank is that they are possible with local technology. They can be built from planks of large or small dimensions and held together with withies or tree roots as available locally as well.

The presumably even earlier hull covering of a single skin such as the Currach is represented by the various plastic boats except that modern materials give strength to the hull while in skin boats the strength comes mainly from the internal framing with some contribution if the skin is rawhide so it has some rigidity in itself.

 

[robin wood]

Cannot agree that sewn-plank was an evolutionary dead-end as sewn boats were in use way before nailed or riveted hull planks and are still being built while clinker and carvel wooden boats are dying out. Point about sewn-plank is that they are possible with local technology. They can be built from planks of large or small dimensions and held together with withies or tree roots as available locally as well.

Should have been more specific and said this type of sewn plank boat which is unique to Britain in the Bronze age (no others in Europe) was an evolutionary dead end. Yes sewn plank boats are built in many parts of the world but this type seemingly did not continue into the iron age and therefore was an evolutionary dead end.

 

[boatman]

Should have been more specific and said this type of sewn plank boat which is unique to Britain in the Bronze age (no others in Europe) was an evolutionary dead end. Yes sewn plank boats are built in many parts of the world but this type seemingly did not continue into the iron age and therefore was an evolutionary dead end.

The basic hull principle seems to have carried on with developing technology. "Romano-Celtic" boats were nailed but the principle of no keel but bottom planks held together with cross-timbers was used in the as described vessels of the Veneti and the excavated Barland's Farm Boat. the Severn Salmon Punt has the same basic structure but with rods penetrating the bottom boards to hold them together, not a big leap from the Dover wedges or the Ferriby or Brigg Raft cross-beams.

http://www.salmonboats.co.uk/1229/index.html

In fact the dimensions and structure of one possible configuration of the Dover boat were so similar to the Salmon Punt that I couldn't see why the Punt wasn't used to gain some knowledge of the potential seaworthiness of the Dover Boat reconstruction.

 

[robin wood]

Bottom line is I am not a maritime archaeologist I am the skilled man with an axe and adze brought in to hew large quantities of timber and realise the vision. The blueprints were drawn up by Ole Crumlin-Pedersen just before he died, everyone seems to view him with huge respect in the world of maritime archaeology and particularly in the field of experimental reconstruction. Other advisers were Damian Goodburn who did his PhD on early shipbuilding and knows more than most. Leading the project was Richard Darrah who has worked on the the Dover boat since it's original excavation and also on the Ferriby. I had faith in their plans and it was my job to help turn them into finished boat. It was a fun project to be involved with.

 

[boatman]

And it was a brilliant project, no question. The amount of wood shifted with bronze blades and the craftsmanship shown was terrific. Not knocking the efforts just want build on the experiment to further investigate the history of boats.