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Posts from the ‘Medieval Ships’ Category

Nov 12

Medieval Rowing Boat from Vordingborg in Denmark

Medieval Rowing Boat

Moat at Vordingborg Castle “coughed up” a medieval rowing Boat

Around 1160 the Castle at Vordingborg in Denmark was built on top of a manor dating from the 11th century. This castle was circular and surrounded by a moat. All in all it covered an area 30 x 40 meters. The next 200 years the castle was continuously expanded until a total renovation took place during the reign of Valdemar Atterdag (1320 – 1375). This radical remodelling resulted in a layout measuring app. 185 x 240 meters. It consisted of a castle with a bailey surrounded by a 740 meter long curtain wall, encircled by a 35 meter broad moat at the front. It played an important role in the constant warring between the Danish Crown and the North German Hanseatic League

The castle, though ruined, is still an impressive edifice. 2011 the Castle was endowed with more than $13/€10/£8 mill in order to renovate the castle and build a new visitor-centre. Part of this project is a reconstruction of the moat; naturally extensive archaeological excavations accompany this. The other day the archaeologists struck – if not gold – then something much more rare: a medieval rowing boat. Approximately 6 meters long it dates to the late 14th century and must have been used as a small fishing vessel in the moat. It carries signs of extensive use.

Read the article in

Medieval Histories 2012 11:2

Sep 11

attila-j-toth-pot-from-wreck

Riverboat Found

bootgellephafen 13 jahrhundert 300x183 Riverboat Found

The riverboat from Krefeld

Wreck of medieval flat-bottomed riverboat found in the Danube…

Hungarian Archaeologists believe they have found an intact medieval shipwreck in the Danube river at Tahitótfalu, about 18 miles North of Budapest

A preliminary survey has revealed that the ship was about 12 meter long and 3 meterwide. According to Discovery News - the archaeologists could distinguish “oak floor planks, floor-timbers and L-shaped rails”. They also noticed that the junction piece of the bottom and the side wall of the wreck was carved from a single log.

Sofar the riverboat has not been accurately dated. The find is in itself remarkable as only a few of such riverboats have been found, although they were extremely common in the pre-industrial age before the railways. Added to this should be the fact that the riverboat probably sunk with its cargo, which is even more unusual. Sofar one pot has been excavated.

The wreck lies close to the riverbank, partially covered by a gravel and might be intact. Similar wrecks were found at Dunaföldvar (14th c.) and Rackeve (not-dated) in Hungary during the drought of 2011 winter; however they were not in the same condition as the new find.

A comparative find is the ship from Krefeld from 1972, which measured 14,5 x 3,36 meter.

Plans are underway to continue the documentation and to dig probe-trenches on the buried part.

Riverboat from Tahitótfalu

Call for funding to save the wreck from Dunaföldvar