Hjortspring boat

{{short description|Large canoe type vessel dated to 350 found in Hjortspring Mose at Als, Denmark}}

Image:Hjortspringsboat.jpg in Copenhagen]]

The Hjortspring boat ({{langx|da|Hjortspringbåden}}) is a vessel designed as a large canoe, from the Scandinavian Pre-Roman Iron Age. It was built circa 400–300 BC. The hull and remains were rediscovered and excavated in 1921–1922 from the bog of Hjortspring Mose on the island of Als in Sønderjylland, southern Denmark.{{cite book|series=Guides to the National Museum (Nationalmuseet (Denmark))|author=Thorkild Ramskou|title=Danmarks oldtid|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BI0QAQAAIAAJ |location=Copenhagen |language=da |year=1965 |oclc=43695721 |page=43|isbn=9788748068513 }} The boat is the oldest find of a wooden plank ship in Scandinavia and it closely resembles the thousands of petroglyph images of Nordic Bronze Age ships found throughout Scandinavia.{{cite book|author=Pauline Asingh|title=Grauballemanden: portræt af et moselig|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zZy-4znpeWIC&pg=PA195 |page=195 |year=2009 |location=Copenhagen |language=da |publisher=Gyldendal A/S|isbn=978-87-02-05688-4}} The vessel is a planked wooden boat of more than {{convert|19|m|ft|abbr=off}} length overall, {{convert|13.6|m|ft|abbr=off}} long inside, and {{convert|2|m|ft|abbr=off}} wide. The planking is joined by sewing, using a bevelled lap joint similar to clinker construction.{{cite book |last1=McGrail |first1=Seán |title=Boats of the world: from the stone age to medieval times |date=2001 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford New York |isbn=0-19-927186-0 |edition=Reprinted 2009}}{{rp|191-192}} Ten thwarts that could have served as seats, span the boat with room for two persons each; this suggests space for a crew of at least 20 who propelled the boat with paddles. The boat would have weighed an estimated {{convert|530|kg|lb|abbr=off}}, making it easily portable by its crew.

Associated finds

Image:Bronze Age boats.png

When found, the boat contained a great quantity of weapons and armour, including 131 shields of the Celtic type, 33 well-crafted Shield bosses, 138 iron spearheads, 31 bone or antler spearheads, 11 single-edged iron swords, and the remains of several mailcoats. Two of the swords were deliberately bent, a practice associated with Iron Age rituals. The largest of the spearheads is a massive {{convert|43.5|cm|in|abbr=off}} long. The find also contained bowls, boxes, blacksmith's tools, and other everyday goods. The sinking of the vessel in the bog has been interpreted as a deliberate votive offering.{{cite book|author=Thomas Dickson|title=Dansk design|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OPokY4jolNwC&pg=PA31|year=2009|publisher=Gyldendal A/S|isbn=978-87-02-07768-1|pages=31–2}} This is reinforced by the presence of a dismembered horse placed beneath the boat at the time of burial along with a lamb, a calf, and two dogs. Numerous graves have been discovered in Denmark from this time period containing similar grave goods and sacrificed horses, dogs, lambs, cows, other animals, and human beings.{{cite book |author1=P. V. Glob |author2=Rupert Bruce-Mitford (trans.) |title=The Bog People: Iron-Age Man Preserved |date=1969 |location=London |publisher=Faber and Faber Ltd. |oclc=1014843010 |pages=185–86}}{{cite book |author=Flemming Kaul |title=Da våbnene tav: Hjortspringfundet og dets baggrund |year=1988 |publisher=Danish National Museum |location=Copenhagen |isbn=9788717060234 |language=da }}{{cite book |author=Klavs Randsborg |editor1=John Carman |editor2=Anthony Harding |article=Into the Iron Age: A Discourse on War and Society |title=Ancient Warfare: Archaeological Perspectives |year=1999 |publisher=Sutton |location=Stroud |isbn=9780750917957 |pages=191–202}}{{cite book |author=Klavs Randsborg |title=Hjortspring: Warfare and Sacrifice in Early Europe |date=1996 |publisher=Århus University Press |location=Århus |isbn=9788772885452 }}

Construction

File:Rekonstruktion af Hjortspringbåden VI.2089.tif

The Hjortspring boat was constructed of lime (linden) wood planks sewn together with cord of lime bark, spruce root, or rawhide. Pitch was used to caulk and coat the seams to make the boat watertight. A long dugout log forms the bottom plank, which also acts as the keel, with two additional planks, or strakes, attached on both sides to fashion the hull. This allows the large vessel to sit high in the water and to traverse shallow waters, even with a full crew and heavy load. Hollowed timbers were used to create the distinct stem and stern-posts. These stem pieces, along with the bottom plank, extend forward and backward from the hull to form the iconic "beaks" of this type of boat construction. Vertical oak struts, secured by wooden pegs and pitch, fasten the upper and lower "beaks" and brace both ends of the watercraft. Thin limbs of hazel form the ribs which were lashed to cleats in the planks. These cleats were made by carving down the rest of the plank boards; this created a strong attachment point without a need for fastening each cleat separately by lashing or pegs to the long planks of the hull. The hull planks and hazel ribs are supported by thwarts and thicker supporting ribs of ash.

The high level of craftsmanship present in the archaeological find indicates that the boatbuilding methods used to construct the Hjortpsring boat are significantly older than the boat itself.{{cite book |author=Arne Emil Christensen |title=Boats of the North: A History of Boatbuilding in Norway |date=1968 |publisher=Det Norske Samlaget |location=Oslo |series=Norsk kulturarv |volume=2 |pages=18–20 |oclc=964234377 }}

{{gallery|mode=packed|title=Hjortspring boat

|width=150|height=150

|File:Hjortspringboot side.jpg|Model

|Image:Hjortspringboat.svg|Sketch with correct scaling and angles.

|File:Litsleby rock carving Sweden 4.jpg|Rock carvings of boats.

}}

Later history of this type

Watercraft of this style and construction were built and used at least until the 3rd century AD. Metal rivets become increasingly present in later finds and the stem construction was simplified to a single curved shape which extended and tapered outward from the hull. These later stems, or prows, were made of single pieces of wood or multiple pieces joined. Much of the essential boatbuilding methods found in the Hjortspring boat persisted into the Viking Age. This continuation can be seen in the boat finds from Halsnøy (200 AD), Nydam (300-400 AD), Sutton Hoo (600-700 AD), and Kvalsund (690 AD).{{cite book |author1=A. W. Brøgger |author2=Haakon Shetelig |author3=Katherine John (trans.) |title=The Viking Ships: Their Ancestry and Evolution |date=1951 |publisher=Dreyers Forlag |location=Oslo |oclc=464543657 |pages=48–60}}

Modern Reconstruction- The Tilia Alsie

A full reconstruction of the Hjortsprung Boat was launched in 1999.{{cite web | url=https://en.natmus.dk/historical-knowledge/denmark/prehistoric-period-until-1050-ad/the-early-iron-age/the-army-from-hjortspring-bog/the-hjortspring-boats-sister-tilia-alsie/ | title=The Hjortspring Boat's sister Tilia Alsie }}

References

External links

{{cite web|url=http://www.hjortspring.dk |title=The Guild of the Hjortspring Boat}}
{{cite web |url=http://www.foteviken.se/sewnboat/hjortspring.html |author=Foteviken Museum |title=The Hjortspring boat |access-date=2005-08-28 |archive-date=2006-02-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060210200246/http://www.foteviken.se/sewnboat/hjortspring.html |url-status=dead }}
{{cite web |url=http://cma.soton.ac.uk/HistShip/flrf139.htm |title=Bibliography on the boat |publisher=Southampton University |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050101182327/http://cma.soton.ac.uk/histship/flrf139.htm |archive-date=2005-01-01 }}
{{cite web|url=http://www.ucl.ac.uk/prehistoric/reviews/04_08_crumlin.htm |title=Review of Crumlin-Pedersen's book|publisher=University College London}}
{{cite web|url=http://www.natmus.dk/cons/x/ww/ww1.htm|title=The conservation of the boat|publisher=Danish National Museum|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050828001452/http://www.natmus.dk/cons/x/ww/ww1.htm|archive-date=2005-08-28}}
{{cite web|url=http://axelnelson.com/skepp/prewiking.html |title=Fartyg Före Vikingatiden |trans-title=Pre-Viking Age Scandinavian Ships |language=sv|author=Axel Nelson}}

Category:Ancient ships

Category:Germanic archaeological artifacts

Category:Pre-Roman Iron Age

Category:Votive offering

Category:Canoes

Category:Archaeological discoveries in Denmark

Category:4th-century BC works