Again important Roman ship found in the Netherland
Peter Alaca
During archaeological research in the building
site 'Leidsche Rijn', west of Utrecht, a wreck
is found of a hitherto unknown type of Roman
ship. The excavated remnants show strong
similarity to the contemporary punter, a
traditional Dutch vessel, whose origin was
unclear so far.
It represents a breakthrough for our knowledge
about the development of Roman and later
ships. The National Office for Archaeology,
Cultural and Monuments (RACM) speaks of "one
of the most important finds in our country's
ship archeology ever."
The discovery was made in a former riverbed in
the vicinity of the Roman castellum and vicus
at the 'Hoge Woerd' north of De Meern. The
castellum was occupied between ca 40 and 270
AD, but the river already began seriously to
silt up around 230. Partly on that basis and
on the basis of other finds in the surrounding
clays, the ship can be dated around the year
200 or slightly later.
The bottom plane was approximately 9 m long
and 1.05 m wide, and originally consisted of
two oak planks, which tapered at the ends.
This small boat has the main characteristics
of punt-like vessels. A related type, a bit
bigger and with blunter ends, is the so-called
'bok'. They were propelled with a pole
('punteren'/'punting').
Punts and boks are still in use today in the
Netherlands, notably in NW Overijssel around
Giethoorn, and are known from many 17/18th c
paintings. The oldest archaeological finds of
Puntlike boats so far were two vessels from
the river Regge (ca. 1500) and Rotterdam (13th
c.).
Remarkable is also that the distance between
the trusses of this boat, as with those of the
Regge and Rotterdam, is fairly exactly one
Roman foot (29.6 cm). This could indicate
continuity in tradition and technology from
the Roman period until today.
With the new discovery an old Dutch shiptype
suddenly is 1000 years older, with Roman
roots.
The vessel is named "De Meern 6". The remains
wil be preserved, and exhibited in a later
stage.
According to specialists from the RACM, De
Meern has grown into one of the most important
sites of Roman ships in northwest Europe.
Based on: RACM http://tinyurl.com/5872rb
(in Dutch, with two pictures of recent punts)
June 24, 2008
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p.a.
Jack Linthicum
> (in Dutch, with two pictures of recent punts)
> June 24, 2008
>
> --
> p.a.
Interesting, especially the measurement statement. But I would have
liked to know the size of this find without going to the Dutch text.
Peter Alaca
>> (in Dutch, with two pictures of recent punts)
>> June 24, 2008
>>
>> --
>> p.a.
>
> Interesting, especially the measurement statement. But I would have
> liked to know the size of this find without going to the Dutch text.
Well, around 9 m (30 ft) of course, and a bit more
than 1.05m (1.20, 1.30, 1.40?).
Difficult to say because only one side is found.
That is why the possibllity of the wider 'bok' type
is considered.
The river barge "De Meern 1" from the same area was
c 24.6 me x 2.7 m, and "De Meern 4" 30-35 x 4.75m
See eg
http://www.fectio.org.uk/sites/schip2003.htm
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p.a.