A Preliminary report of recording the Stella 1 Roman River Barge, Italy (original) (raw)
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A Preliminary report of recording the Stella 1 Roman River Barge, Italy [2016]
The remains of a Roman barge were found in 1981 in the River Stella, Udine, Italy. Its cargo consisted mainly of roof tiles. It was excavated in 1998 and 1999, and detailed recording of the hull, and a second wooden structure, was achieved in 2011. A spread of material upstream of the wreck has been investigated 2012–2015. The barge was originally dated to the first quarter of the 1st century AD by the in situ cargo. This article describes the bottom-based sewn-plank hull construction and examines it in the light of local boatbuilding traditions. The second wooden structure is also described, along with recent finds and new dating evidence from the dispersed material. The Stella 1 excavation was part of the Anaxum Project, a wider study of the Stella River's cultural landscape through time.
ENVIRONMENTAL ARCHAEOLOGY, 2019
This paper presents the results of a multidisciplinary investigation of the wreck of a riverine flatbottom sewn barge dated to the fifth century AD. The wreck was recovered west of the city of Comacchio (Ferrara, North Italy), near the sixth century church Santa Maria in Padovetere (SMP). It was found in the silty sediments filling a paleo channel of the Po River and is one of the very few well-preserved inland watercrafts from the Roman period known in southern Europe. Thanks to the high level of conservation of the organic matter, archaeobotanical analyses of the bilge sediments, rope fragments, caulking, and wood elements and chemical analyses of the pitch have revealed the local provenance of the barge's materials, the craft's possible use, and the environment in which it sailed. A geomorphological study of the area where the wreck was found led to a reconstruction of the flooding event that could be responsible for the barge's abandonment.
FOLD&R Fasti On Line Documents & Research, 470, 2020
The Stella River (Udine, Italy) was in antiquity one of the most important watercourses of the Friuli Venezia Giulia Region, its relevance residing in that it connected the populations living in the foothills of the Alps to the ones living near the Adriatic coast. The Anaxum Project (named after the Roman appellation for the river), a partnership between the Department of Humanities and Cultural Heritage of the University of Udine and the local Archaeological Superintendency, aims to reconstruct the history of the Stella River basin focusing on human-landscape relationships through time. This article describes the part of the project focused on the study of a Roman shipwreck area; in particular, the relation-ship between the remains of a barge and a spread of archaeological material, which without a break stretches north of the hull for tens of meters. The aim was to find out if this material could be part of the cargo of the same wreck, to assess the original dimensions of the boat, as well as to ascertain the dynamics of the sinking and post-depositional events. Thanks to the methodology used during the underwater archaeological research, it was possible to establish in the whole area investigated the homogeneous presence of tegulae (roof tiles) equal to those that were part of the known cargo of the ship; the presence of the same producer names on the tegulae stamps provides the most solid proof that the spread of archaeological material is linked with the barge. However, it seems unlikely that all of the tegulae recovered were on the same boat. In accordance with the stowage scheme observed, the boat could not be laden with more than 55 tegulae per linear meter. This means that even if we do not consider the fact that we have partial data (many tiles are still on the river bottom), at its widest part the vessel would have been over 13 meters to accommodate all recovered tiles. At present, one explanation could be that this archaeological site represents a convoy and that a second vessel might have been involved in the sinking.
This article describes the part of the project focused on the study of a Roman shipwreck area; in particular, the relation-ship between the remains of a barge and a spread of archaeological material, which without a break stretches north of the hull for tens of meters. The aim was to find out if this material could be part of the cargo of the same wreck, to assess the original dimensions of the boat, as well as to ascertain the dynamics of the sinking and post-depositional events. Thanks to the methodology used during the underwater archaeological research, it was possible to establish in the whole area investigated the homogeneous presence of tegulae (roof tiles) equal to those that were part of the known cargo of the ship; the presence of the same producer names on the tegulae stamps provides the most solid proof that the spread of archaeological material is linked with the barge. However, it seems unlikely that all of the tegulae recovered were on the same boat. In accordance with the stowage scheme observed, the boat could not be laden with more than 55 tegulae per linear meter. This means that even if we do not consider the fact that we have partial data (many tiles are still on the river bottom), at its widest part the vessel would have been over 13 meters to accommodate all recovered tiles. At present, one explanation could be that this archaeological site represents a convoy and that a second vessel might have been involved in the sinking.
International Journal of Nautical Archaeology, 2013
ABSTRACT Fragments of Roman sewn-plank boats have been found, during rescue excavations, in the Canale Anfora, an artificial channel used by Roman ships to enter the Roman city of Aquileia. Remains were found in both 1988 and 2005 at the same site. Elements of what were probably two boats are analysed and compared to other finds of Roman sewn boats found along the coast of the Veneto and Friuli Venezia Giulia regions. They are evidence of the use of this technique, instead of the more widespread mortise-and-tenon system, in the quite limited area of the Northern Adriatic. These boats were used both for inland and for maritime navigation.
A Roman ship scuttled near Salona in the Gulf of Kaštela, Croatia
Archaeonautica
In 2002, the recovery of a 1000-litre perforated dolium in the Trstenik section of Kaštel Sućurac, near Split, Croatia, attracted the attention of archaeologists to significant Roman remains submerged near the shore. A return visit to the site in 2006 identified the outline of a wooden ship scuttled alongside a submerged wooden wall: in 2015, the ship was uncovered and labelled, recorded via photogrammetry and extensively sampled, then preserved in situ. Reconstruction determined the ship to be a flat-floored, mortise-and-tenon constructed ship, dated to approximately the late 1 st century AD, suitable for the transport of heavy cargo. Keywords Dolium, flat floor, mortise-and-tenon, Roman Dalmatia Résumé En 2002, la récupération d'un dolium perforé d'une capacité de 1000 litres à Trstenik, Kaštel Sućurac près de Split en Croatie, a attiré l'attention des archéologues sur d'importants vestiges romains immergés près du rivage. Une expertise sur le site en 2006 a permis d'identifier les contours d'un navire coulé volontairement le long d'une paroi en bois. C'est finalement en 2015 que le navire a fait l'objet d'un dégagement et d'un marquage avant d'être enregistré par photogrammétrie et largement échantillonné, puis conservé in situ. Le travail de reconstruction a permis de déterminer que ce navire assemblé à tenons et mortaises, daté approximativement de la fin du I er siècle apr. J.-C., possédait un fond plat et était adapté au transport d'une cargaison pondéreuse.
Initial construction evidence of the Bou Ferrer shipwreck, a large vessel of the Early Roman Empire
Archaeonautica
We present a basic summary of the research conducted on the Bou Ferrer shipwreck since 2006, which has provided interesting new data about a navis oneraria well dated to the second half of the 1st century AD. Despite that fact that only one major trench was excavated up until 2017, about 55 m 2 of wooden structures in a good state of preservation have been revealed, providing information about her construction. There are construction elements that may be considered common for Roman Period wrecks, as well as others with fewer archaeological parallels. The presence of a double garboard is not unprecedented in the 1st century AD, but deserves further study. Many hull pieces, from the lower wale to another that we consider as an upper wale, are sufficient elements to propose a preliminary measurement of width amidships. These lines, combined with the stowed amphorae carrying fish sauces, open the possibility that a third perishable cargo might also have been transported. Keywords Baetica, Dressel 7-11 amphorae, Roman shipbuilding, shipwreck Résumé Cet article présente un résumé des recherches menées sur l'épave Bou Ferrer depuis 2006. Les premières campagnes ont fourni de nouvelles données sur une navis oneraria bien datée de la seconde moitié du I er siècle apr. J.-C. En dépit du fait qu'une seule grande tranchée ait été fouillée jusqu'en 2017, ce sont environ 55 m 2 de structures en bois, en bon état de conservation, qui ont été mis au jour, fournissant d'importantes informations sur la construction du navire. Si certaines caractéristiques de la construction se rencontrent communément sur les épaves de la période romaine, d'autres offrent moins de parallèles archéologiques. La présence d'un double galbord n'est pas sans précédent au I er siècle apr. J.-C. mais mérite une étude plus approfondie. De nombreuses pièces de la coque, conservées de la préceinte basse à la probable préceinte haute, permettent de proposer une première évaluation de la largeur d'origine au maître couple. Cette estimation des dimensions, combinée au calcul de l'encombrement des amphores contenant des sauces de poisson, pose la question de la présence éventuelle d'une troisième cargaison périssable qui aurait disparu.
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A Roman barge from the river Kupa at Kamensko (Croatia): the preliminary study of its architecture in the context of Southeast European bottom-based naval construction, 2016
A Roman barge from the river Kupa at Kamensko (Croatia): the preliminary study of its architecture in the context of Southeast European bottom-based naval construction