The Nydam B boat by woodrat - 1:20 - a plank-on-frame pre-Viking rowed vessel c. 4th century CE

[woodrat]

The earliest vessels which have yet been excavated in Scandinavia and Northern Europe are not the Viking sailing ships we all know but are rowed vessels without the capacity to sail. Apart from small paddled boats known from grave burials, the earliest major excavated vessel is the Hjortspring vessel which dates from the 4^th century BCE and is a sewn vessel propelled by paddles and having a keel plank.

The use of sail is thought to have occurred late in this region and the reasons for this late adoption are far from clear. The earliest accepted archaeological evidence for sail in Scandinavia and northern Europe comes from picture stones dated to the 6^th century CE at the earliest. The earliest excavated sailing ship is the well known and frequently modelled Oseberg vessel of the early 9^th century CE.

Before the Viking era, large vessels for transport of men or goods seem to have been rowed vessels lacking a true keel and a mast. It is not till the Kvalsund boat, a rowed vessel of the late 8^th century, was found do we see a true keel and it is from this vessel that the viking age is said to begin.

The famous longships of the viking age were often ship burials but in the pre-viking era the boat finds are sometimes found to be bog sacrifices. These vessels were deliberately sunk or broken up in bogs together with weapons and armour similarly broken, which suggests a deliberate sacrifice to a beneficent god to celebrate a victory or as part of religious rites. No human remains have been found with the vessels.

The most important bog finds were the Nydam boats. These were excavated in 1863 and, of the three vessels found, only one has been preserved. This is the Nydam B boat, a rowed vessel 23 metres in length with only a keel plank and no mast step. There were 15 thwarts and probably 28 or 30 rowers. A quarter rudder was found with the boat. The boat was constructed from oak and a large part of the vessel has been preserved.

There are similarities of Nydam B with the Sutton Hoo saxon ship burial and suggestion has been made that the Nydam B boat may have been the type of vessel that the Frisians, Saxons and Jutes used to reach southern England. However, the Nydam boat is built for coastal or riverine travel and would have had great difficulty with the open ocean so exactly how this crossing was made remains unclear.

The lack of a true keel and the construction of the hull make it likely that hogging of the hull would have been a problem. Found in association with Nydam B were many staves and wooden devices which have been interpreted (Akerlund 1963) as being remnant of the mechanism of a hogging truss. This has been questioned by other authorities and remains a possibility.

I plan to attempt a model of the Nydam B boat at 1:20 scale using the dimensions estimated by Akerlund who has allowed for 14% wood shrinkage over the century since excavation. I am still considering whether to include the hogging truss in the reconstruction.

 

I cannot start yet as I am awaiting receipt of a publication from Germany on the boat

Cheers

Dick

 

Edited January 19 by woodrat
corrected log title

[woodrat]

 I have now received the monograph of Harald Akerlund 1963

It is in swedish but does have a useful english abstract and the plans are well printed.  I have looked at the original reconstruction by the excavator Engelbrecht 1863 and by Shetelig and Johannesen 1929 and it is my opinion that Akerlund's reconstruction is the most likely to approximate the true shape of the hull. He also cogently argues that the present display of the hull is inaccurate as the stern has been displayed as the stem and vice versa. He concludes that the rudder was installed on the port side.  The retrieved rudder seems to support this as well as some holes in the sternpost (as he calls it) which may well be supports for the rudder. I am not convinced of this as I think he may have put the aerofoil rudder back to front. Nonetheless, the rudder side need not be starboard as in the later viking vessels. Indeed, there evidence from stone carving from Gotland of both a quarter rudder at the rear and another one at the fore quarter.

 

In any case, I will go with Akerlunds lines and orientation although I may put the rudder to starboard. He also justifies the presence of a sophisticated central strengtheing frame and hogging truss. Otherwise the extreme thinness of the hull planking would lead to failure of the hull, I think his reconstruction of this is good and explains the profusion of unexplained carved wood pieces found with the hull. I will include the hogging truss as I did with my mycenaean galley.

Dick

[Jim Lad]

Very interesting, Dick. I'm certainly no expert on this era or of the development of early Scandinavian craft but given the relative proximity of the discovery of the Hjortspring vessels to the Nydam finds, it would seem reasonable to suppose that the hogging truss technology was handed down until a better sollution was found.

 

John

[woodrat]

Thanks, John. The Hjortspring vessel was reconstructed with and without a hogging truss and the crew said it handled much better with the truss.

Also this Nydam replca seems to have some sort of anti-hogging device rigged.

Cheers

Dick

[woodrat]

Thanks Siggi52 for the info and useful discussion by private message. He suggested that acquiring and using the most recent plans made by the National Museum in Copenhagen may produce a more upto date model.  A recent replica was made from these plans. An excellent model would be made from these plans were they available from the museum.

IHowever

However, I have proceeded too far along a particular line namely the Akerlund plans to go back to scratch. In addition, Akerlund is the only reconstruction to show a practicable solution to the problem of hogging and twisting of the hull and hopefully I can test his concept in a model. The Nydam Tveir replica shows no evidence of a hogging solution.

 

The next step, having started the building board, is to carve the keel plank , stem and stern post.

At the end of the day , if I finish it, the model will be my modification of Akerlund's concept. I do not pretend it will be a "replica" of the original boat as I don't think that can be done.

Cheers

Dick