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stepping stones of maritime history

History

During excavations of the medieval harbour on the river Linge in Tol-Zuid near Tiel in the Netherlands in 1996, wooden parts belonging to ships were found. They were deemed to belong to shipwrecks, one of which turned out to be a Viking type ship. Among the others were Tiel 2 and 3. The fragments were reused as revetment reinforcements in the port of Tiel around 1015 AD.

One group of planks originate from a clinker built ship in a Scandinavian style. Very few fragments of these ship types found in the Netherlands. It was built in the Scandinavian building tradition, similar to the Skudelev 1-wreck (1030).

NAVISone/Creative Commons

The fragment belonging to the Viking ship.

Dating 

Based on samples taken from the wood, the logging date of the wood was put approximately between 995 and 1008. One of the dated elements comes from the Ardennes. The remaining wood comes from Southwest England. This has demonstrated an archaeological link between Tiel and England. Burning traces on the corners of the edges of the wood suggest that the original ship burnt out and was subsequently scrapped and reused in the habour of Tiel.

There are other sources showing Viking links to Tiel. For instance, a Viking attack on Tiel is mentioned by Alpertus of Metz in the year 1006.

Description

Length: estimated 15-22 m.

Status

Clinker built
Clinker built (also known as lapstrake) is a method of boat building where the edges of strakes or hull planks overlap each other. The technique developed in northern Europe and was successfully used by the Anglo-Saxons and Scandinavians, and is typical for the Hanseatic cog. A contrasting method, where plank edges are butted smoothly seam to seam, is known as carvel construction.

The V-shaped frames that form the transverse connections of clinker built ships have stepped indentations on the outside, against which the overlapping strakes of the ship's hull are attached.

References

  • Tiel in Navis project.
  • W. Brouwers, E. Jansma, M. Manders (2015).
    Middeleeuwse scheepsresten in Nederland, de vroege middeleeuwen 500-1050.
    Archeobrief 3.

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