Byzantine Shipwrecks Shed New Light On Ancient Ship Building

New Historian ^ | January 03, 2015 | Sarah Carrasco

[SunkenCiv]

37 shipwrecks from the Byzantine Empire have been discovered as part of archaeological excavations that began in Turkey in 2004.

The shipwrecks were discovered in Yenikapi, Istanbul, a port of the ancient city which was called Constantinople during the Byzantine period. The ships are in exceptionally good condition say the archaeologists, especially since they date back to between the fifth and eleventh centuries.

Cemal Pulak, a study author from the Institute of Nautical Archaeology at Texas A&M University, stated, "Never before has such a large number and types of well preserved vessels been found at a single location."

Eight of the ships were especially highlighted in the study. These ships showed that the builders had been using a more complex process than previously thought. The fact that they were distinct from the rest of the ships intrigued the researchers.

There were two ship-building methods during the Byzantine period, of which each of the 37 ships showed signs of, according to the researchers who examined them. In one method, the shell was built first while in the other method, the skeleton was built first. Researchers believe that the "skeleton" first approach was being moved towards in the seventh century...

Of the eight distinct ships that the researchers chose to examine in more detail, six were classified as "round ships", because they were propelled almost entirely by sail. The other two ships were galleys, which according to researchers were "notably the first shipwrecks of this type discovered from the Byzantine period". The galleys were long, oared ships measuring almost 30 meters in length.

Before, Byzantine galleys could only be seen in paintings and books dating from the time period, making this discovery hugely important for the study of Byzantine history.

[SunkenCiv]

Deep Water, Ancient Ships — The Treasure Vault of the Mediterranean
by Willard Bascom
http://www.alibris.com/Deep-Water-Ancient-Ships-The-Treasure-Vault-of-the-Mediterranean-Willard-Bascom/book/1542208

ah, found it on the drive:

“It sits upright on the bottom, lightly covered by the sea dust of 2,500 years,” he wrote. “The wave-smashed deckhouse and splintered bulwarks tell of the violence of its last struggle with the sea. A stub of a mast still remains.”

and the original link was in the file:

http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0105/feature3/assignment1.html

[SunkenCiv]

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/517204/posts

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/3072404/posts?page=14#14

[SunkenCiv]

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/1527955/posts

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/1528600/posts

[zeestephen]

Thanks for your excellent links.

I read them all.

I was not familiar with Willard Bascom.

I had completely forgotten about the Black Sea megaflood, which explains the transition from fresh water to salt water.

I've lived in Portland and Seattle for a long time and was not aware of our own glacial megafloods until I moved here.

There is also a strong academic consensus in this area that most early settlements in the northwest were on the coast and disappeared under the post-glacial Pacific Ocean.

And thanks for the amphora photo. I love that utensil. It was the standardized canned goods/bottle/shipping container of the Mediterranean for 4000 years!

[SunkenCiv]

:’) My pleasure.

[colorado tanker]

I find the Byzantines a fascinating subject. Thanks for posting.

It sounds as if they are finding these ships in the capital's waters.