Archaeology and the Sea in Scandinavia and Britain: A Personal Account (Maritime Culture of the North)

Half a century ago, archaeology entered a new field of work with the excavation of ancient ships found under water. A new discipline emerged: maritime archaeology. In this book, Ole Crumlin-Pedersen, the Danish pioneer of maritime archaeology, gives a fascinating overview of more than forty of years of work. Beginning with the natural conditions for seafaring, the author explains the evolution of basic water craft into those plank-built, sail-carrying ships which enabled the seaborne activities of the Viking Age and the following medieval periods, concluding with case studies of the maritime cultural landscape of Roskilde Fjord and the ship as symbol. The themes of this volume were first presented in six Rhind Lectures for the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland in Edinburgh in 2008. Half a century ago, archaeology entered a new field of work with the excavation of ancient ships found under water. A new discipline maritime archaeology. In this book, Ole Crumlin-Pedersen, the Danish pioneer of maritime archaeology, gives a fascinating overview of more than forty of years of work. Beginning with the natural conditions for seafaring, the author explains the evolution of basic water craft into those plank-built, sail-carrying ships which enabled the seaborne activities of the Viking Age and the following medieval periods, concluding with case studies of the maritime cultural landscape of Roskilde Fjord and the ship as symbol. The themes of this volume were first presented in six Rhind Lectures for the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland in Edinburgh in 2008. Table of Contents Foreword ( Barbara Crawford & Tinna Damgrd-Srensen ); Introduction; I. Studying The Archaeology of Maritime Cultures ; The seafarers geographical framework; What defines a maritime culture?; The potentials of waterlogged sites; Studying maritime archaeology; The ship; Some aspects of Danish maritime archaeology; Hydrography and shipping lanes; A national and international research programme; The Danish situation; Other ship finds; The Centre for Maritime Archaeology in Roskilde; Publications; Two examples; Hjortspring, a large Pre-Roman war canoe ; The history of Skuldelev 2, a Dublin-built 11thcentury longship ; Shipbuilding resources and craftsmanship; Sea trials and voyages I I. Boats and Ships Before AD 800 ; Wood technology and tools ; The ethnographical evidence for basic boatbuilding concepts and materials; Skin/hide boats; Bark boats; Logboats; Expanded logboats; Outriggers and composite logboats; Plank boats; The archaeological evidence ; Mesolithic boats; Neolithic and Bronze-Age logboats; Bronze-Age logboat-based complex vessels; The Dover boat; The Ferriby boats and the Brigg craft; The concepts of the Bronze-Age boats; Romano-Celtic vessels; Nordic ship images; Hjortspring; Expanded boats; Nydam; Roman influence; Sutton Hoo; Paddles, oars, sail; From Nydam to the Vikings III. AngloSaxon and Scandinavian Longships ; The origin of longship concept; Maritime expertise; The source groups; Four conceptual approaches; The vessels of Franks and Frisians; The ships of Britain and Ireland; Ships of Scandinavia and the Baltic area; Viking longships; The Hedeby I longship; The Skuldelev 5 ship; Roskilde 6, a royal longship at the doorstep of the Viking Ship Museum; The Puck longship; The ship as a status object; Names for the ship types; Longships in Central and Southern Europe; Conclusion; The aftermath of the longship period IV. The Ships of VikingAge and Medieval Traders and Settlers ; The world of the Vikings; Sutton Hoo; The introduction of the sail; Viking expansion, loot or trade?; The early Viking phase, c. 700840 ; Trade and early centres; Ribe, the first Danish town?; The middle Viking phase, c. 840950 ; The early Christian mission; Vikings in the West; Scandinavian settlement in Scotland and Ireland Ships and boats in Scotland; Otheres voyages; Wulfstans voyage; The late Viking phase, 9501100 ; State formation and control of the shipping lanes; The North Atlantic route; Skuldelev 1, a medium-sized Norwegian knorr; Skuldelev 3, a small Danish byrding; Hedeby 3, a large Danish knorr; Scandinavian ships of the period 11001250 ; The Baltic expansion; Large clinker-built cargo ships; Small vessels; Other highand latemedieval ship types; The early cogs; Later cogs; The hulc; British highand latemedieval ships; Conclusion V. The Maritime Cultural Landscpae ; The Skuldelev example; Routes across land and sea; Roskilde Fjord ; An ancient cultural landscape; Skuldelev fieldwork; Reconstruction of the paleo-landscape; Early warning systems a hypothetical reconstruction; Lejre Roskilde Copenhagen; The coast as a contact zone along the Roskilde Fjord VI. The Ship as Symbol in the Scandinavian Iron Age and Viking Period ; Ship representations in several media; Traditional interpretations; Criteria for boat graves; Rich graves with ships and boats; Ordinary grave boats; The Slusegrd cemetery ; Grave 1072; The Slusegaard boat graves in general; Male and female graves; The interpretation of the boat grave custom ; The two families of gods; Skidbladnir; The confrontation with the Christian mission ; Sutton Hoo; Oseberg; Large stone ships; Transition to Christianity; The source value of icons; Summary of the evidence from boat graves and stone ships; The Valhalla myth; King Scyld and the Beowulf poem; Bibliography ; About the author; Index Foreword / Barbara Crawford & Tinna Damgård-Sørensen 9 Introduction 11 I. STUDYING THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF MARITIME CULTURES 13 The ship as an archaeological object 13 Studying maritime archaeology 13 What defines a 'maritime culture'? 13 The potential of waterlogged sites 14 The seafarer's geographical framework 14 The Danish scene: submarine Stone Age 18 Hydrography and shipping lanes 19 The Skuldelev ships 20 Other Danish ship-finds 25 The Centre for Maritime Archaeology in Roskilde 25 Publications 26 Two examples 28 Hjortspring, a large war canoe of the Pre-Roman Iron Age 28 The history of Skuldelev 2, a Dublin-built 11th-century longship 31 Shipbuilding resources and craftsmanship 32 Sea trials and voyages 36 II. BOATS AND SHIPS BEFORE AD 800 41 Wood technology and tools 42 The ethnographical evidence for basic boatbuilding concepts and materials 46 Skin and hide boats 47 Bark boats 48 Logboats 48 Expanded logboats 49 Outriggers and composite logboats 51 Plank boats 52 The archaeological evidence 52 Mesolithic boats 52 Neolithic and Bronze-Age logboats 53 Bronze-Age logboat-based complex vessels 55 The Dover boat 56 The Ferriby boats and the Brigg vessel 58 The concepts of Bronze-Age boats 60 Romano-Celtic vessels 60 Nordic ship images 62 The Hjortspring boat 63 Expanded boats 65 The Nydam ships 65 Roman influence 68 The Sutton Hoo ship 69 Paddles, oars, sails 69 From Nydam to the Vikings 70 III. ANGLO-SAXON AND SCANDINAVIAN LONGSHIPS 77 The origin of the longship concept 71 Maritime expertise 72 The source groups 73 Four conceptual approaches 73 The vessels of the Franks and Frisians 74 The ships of Britain and Ireland 77 Ships of Scandinavia and the Baltic area 80 Viking longships 81 The Hedeby 1 longship 83 The Skuldelev 5 ship 86 Roskilde 6, a royal longship at the doorstep of the Viking Ship Museum 88 The Puck longship 89 The ship as a status object 90 Names for ship-types 90 Longships in Central and Southern Europe 91 Conclusion 92 The aftermath of the longship period 93 IV. THE SHIPS OF VIKING-AGE AND MEDIEVAL TRADERS AND SETTLERS 95 The world of the Vikings 95 The Sutton Hoo ship 96 The introduction of the sail 97 Viking expansion: loot or trade? 100 The Early Viking Age, ca 700-840 100 Trade and early centres 100 Ribe, the first Danish town? 100 The Middle Viking Age, ca 840-950 102 The early Christian mission 102 Vikings in the West 102 Scandinavian settlements in Scotland and Ireland 103 Ships and boats in Scotland 103 Ohthere's voyages 104 Wulfstan's voyage 105 The Late Viking Age, 950-1100 107 State formation and control of shipping lanes 107 The North Atlantic route 107 Skuldelev 1, a medium-sized Norwegian 'knorr' 109 Skuldelev 3, a small Danish 'byrding' 110 Hedeby 3, a large Danish 'knorr' 112 Scandinavian ships, 1100-1250 113 The Baltic expansion 113 Large clinker-built cargo ships 114 Small vessels 116 Other high- and late-medieval ship-types 118 The early cogs 118 Later cogs 120 The 'hulc' 122 British high- and late-medieval ship-finds 122 Conclusion 124 V. THE MARITIME CULTURAL LANDSCAPE 125 The Skuldelev example 125 Routes across land and sea 126 Roskilde Fjord 127 An ancient cultural landscape 127 Skuldelev fieldwork 128 Reconstruction of the paleo-landscape 129 Early warning systems - a hypothetical reconstruction 131 Lejre - Roskilde - Copenhagen 132 The coast as a contact zone along Roskilde Fjord 134 Navigational barriers 135 Portages 137 The place-name 'snekke' 138 Norwegian boathouses 140 The Kanhave canal 141 The seafarer's cross 142 VI. THE SHIP AS SYMBOL IN THE SCANDINAVIAN IRON AGE AND VIKING AGE 145 Ship representations in several media 145 Traditional interpretations 146 Criteria for boat graves 146 'Rich' graves with ships and boats 149 'Ordinary' grave boats 150 The Slusegaard cemetery 150 Grave 1072 151 The Slusegaard boat graves in general 152 Male and female graves 153 The interpretation of the boat-grave custom 153 The two families of gods 154 'Skiðblaðnir', Freyr's ship-of-luck 155 The confrontation with the Christian mission 157 Sutton Hoo 157 Oseberg 158 Large stone ships 159 Transition to Christianity 160 The source value of icons 161 Summary of the evidence from boat graves and stone ships 162 Small boat graves 162 Large ship graves 162 Large stone ships 162 The 'Valhalla' myth 162 King Scyld and the 'Beowulf' poem 163 Bibliography 164 About the author 176 Select index 177