Ship finds from Zwammerdam

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"Zwammerdam 2" during the excavations in 1972

The ship finds from Zwammerdam are the archaeological relics of a total of six Roman shipwrecks of various sizes and functions. They were found near the auxiliary fort Nigrum Pullum on the Lower Germanic Limes in the area of ​​today's Zwammerdam , a village in the municipality of Alphen aan den Rijn in the Dutch province of South Holland . In addition to the ship finds from Woerden and the ship finds from De Meern , Zwammerdam is one of the most important sites where Roman ships were found in north-western Europe , not least because the permanently moist soils in this part of the Netherlands, which are below sea ​​level , have preserved the wood very well. The wrecks are numbered consecutively in the specialist literature from “Zwammerdam 1” to “Zwammerdam 6”, the numbering being in the chronological order of the discoveries.

Location and research history

Location of the wrecks north of Fort Nigrum Pullum

During the investigations at the auxiliary fort Nigrum Pullum from 1968 to 1974 by the Instituut voor Prae- en Protohistorie (IPP) of the Universiteit van Amsterdam under the direction of Willem Glasbergen , the first boards of the first wreck of the find complex were stumbled upon in December 1971, the Zwammerdam 1 . A second ship was discovered a few months later. For this, the archaeologists planned an excavation time of three weeks, but the ship turned out to be significantly larger than expected, so that the excavations finally took a year to complete. Four more ships followed. The discoveries caused a lot of publicity at home and abroad. The Dutch Queen Juliana appeared in person twice in 1974 to find out about the status of the excavations. Dendrochroologically it has meanwhile been proven that the ships were built over a period of over 100 years. The oldest boat was the Zwammerdam 4 , which was built in 97 (according to other information not before 98), the youngest ship was the Zwammerdam 5 , which was constructed in 205.

Findings

The dugout canoes Zwammerdam 1, 3 and 5

These wrecks are three dugout canoes of different sizes, carved out of oak . While the smaller tree trunk canoes Zwammerdamm 1 and Zwammerdam 5 were used as fishing boats, the Zwammerdam 3 was probably a special form that could also have been used to transport loads.

Zwammerdam 1

Zwammerdam 1 (discovered by chance in December 1971) was 6.99 m long and probably 1.05 m wide. The width can only be estimated as the center part of the boat was destroyed by the dredger when it was discovered. With the Zwammerdam 1 , the use of a fish vat is considered due to various design features , such as a rectangular opening in the deck and boreholes . A fish vat is a special box construction in which the catch can be kept alive in water. The box is constantly supplied with fresh water through small holes.

Zwammerdam 3

Zwammerdam 3 was a large, 10.40 m long and 1.40 m wide, trough-shaped dugout canoe with attached shelves made of silver fir . The oak wood of the main hull was probably brought from southern Germany. The remains of the mast track of a small mast could be determined, so that the Zwammerdam 3 could probably not only be rowed, but also sailed, whereby the sailing could only have been an additional drive. The Zwammerdam 3 is an independent type within the find complex. Apparently this type is a transition form from the tree trunk canoes ( Zwammerdam 1 and Zwammerdam 5 ) to the fully developed barge ( Zwammerdam 2 and Zwammerdam 6 ).

Zwammerdam 5

Zwammerdam 5 was a small dugout canoe only 5.48 m long and 0.76 m wide. The partially preserved deck was made of silver fir. In it was a flap with a still functional iron hinge. Zwammerdam 4 was right next to the bow of the much smaller Zwammerdam 5 . As with the Zwammerdam 1 , due to similar design features (flap in the deck, small holes), the use of a fish vat is also considered possible for the Zwammerdam 4 .

The pram-like ships Zwammerdam 2, 4 and 6

This part of the finds are larger flat-bottomed ships (20.25 m to 34 m in length), which showed strong similarities with Prahmen , their bottom was constructed in the manner of a Kraweel . Two of the three ships served as cargo carriers, one was probably originally designed as a ferry. Possibly they were used in the middle of the second century for the delivery of building materials in connection with a strengthening of the Lower Germanic Limes .

Zwammerdam 2

Zwammerdam 2 was a ship 22.75 m long and 2.80 m wide. The height of the side wall was a maximum of 0.95 m. Amidships , it formed a rectangle of 15.60 m length by 2.40 m to 2.80 m width, connected to the fore and aft in the form of narrowing trapezoids . The examination of the mast track showed that there was only a small mast that could have served as a towing mast . A striking feature is a nine-meter-long, narrow keel that is extremely firmly attached to the hull in the area of ​​the mast. With a weight of eight tons, the Zwammerdam 2 is one of the smaller Roman freight cars, but it could carry a load of over 10 tons.

The Zwammerdam 2 is the youngest ship in the find complex. The dendrochronological analysis dates it to the year 205.

Zwammerdam 4

With a length of 34 m, a width of up to 4.50 m and a maximum board height of 1.20 m, Zwammerdam 4 was by far the largest ship in the Zwammerdam complex. Amidships, it formed a rectangle 24.50 m long by 4.00 m to 4.50 m wide, connected to the fore and aft in the form of narrowing trapezoids. According to a dendrochronological investigation, through which the Zwammerdam 4 could be assigned to the year 97 (according to other information not before 98), it is also the oldest ship that was found there. It was six meters deep under sediment deposits and could only be drained, examined, documented and finally recovered by means of an iron sheet pile wall with which the excavation site was secured against water ingress from the side. Their construction consisted of 93 crossbars and six plank corridors, with the longest plank measuring 21.60 m, a width of 85 cm and a thickness of 10 cm. The size of the oak that this plank was cut from must have been enormous. There was a mast bench under which the mast track was located less than eight meters from the bow . The (non-preserved) mast was clamped to it with the help of a crossbeam and iron bracket. All design features indicate that the Zwammerdam 4 must have been a sailing ship, which in its structure and dimensions was very similar to the Roman ship Mainz 6 (in the Museum of Ancient Shipping in Mainz ).

Zwammerdam 6

Zwammerdam 6 was a 20.25 m long and up to 3.40 m wide ship with a side wall height of 0.90 m. Amidships it forms a rectangle of 11.60 m by 3.10 m to 3.40 m, the fore and aft are only slightly narrower, so that the width of the fore stave was still 2.40 m, that of the stern 2.20 m . Due to this wide design of the bow and stern as well as the gradual slope of the hull towards the ends of the ship, it is assumed to be used as a ferry . Due to the installation of the iron sheet piling to rescue Zwammerdam 4 , a corner was unfortunately cut out of the port wall of Zwammerdam 6 and the port wall as a whole was pushed into the interior of the ship and damaged. The starboard wall, on the other hand, was almost completely preserved and was still connected to the hull, making this ship the only one that gave a spatial impression during the excavations.

Steering rudder at Zwammerdam 4 and 5

Rudder blade

Close to the stern of the Zwammerdam 4 and partly below the Zwammerdam 5 , an almost completely preserved rudder with a length of 5.15 m and a rudder blade width of 1.24 m was recovered. A connection between this rudder and the Zwammerdam 4 could not be proven. The discovery of this oar is remarkable in that Roman rudders are known almost exclusively from pictorial representations, such as the one on the tombstone of Blussus from Mogontiacum . Only a few rudders were found in situ during archaeological excavations until the Zwammerdam discovery, for example in 1911 in Lac de Neuchâtel near Bevaix and in 1928/30 on the Nemi ships .

Museum presentation

Presentation of parts of the flat floor of the "Zwammerdam 2" in May 2017

The ambitious project Zwammerdamschepen en Nationaal Romeins scheepvaartmuseum (ships from Zwammerdam and the National Roman Maritime Museum) is to be implemented on the site of the privately run, very popular science “Archaeological Theme Park Archeon ” in Aalphen aan den Rijn . The project is related to the requested recognition of the Lower Germanic Limes as a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is intended to remove all six ships that are currently still in conservation or are in restoration workshops , such as in the Nederlands Instituut voor Scheeps- en onderwater Archeologie (NISA) in Lelystad , bring them together again at the place of their discovery and make them visible.

A 1:10 scale model of the Zwammerdam 2 is in Mainz , in the Museum of Ancient Shipping .

See also

literature

  • Will Brouwers, Esther Jansma and Martijn Manders: Romeinse scheepsresten in Nederland . Archeobrief 2013-4, pp. 13-27.
  • Jan Kees Haalebos: Zwammerdam - Nigrum Pullum. An auxiliary fort on the Lower Germanic Limes . Universiteit van Amsterdam, Subfaculteit der Pre- en Protohistorie, Amsterdam 1977.
  • Wilfried AM Hessing : The Dutch coastal area . In: Tilmann Bechert and Willem J. H. Willems (eds.): The Roman border between the Moselle and the North Sea coast . Theiss, Stuttgart 1995, ISBN 3-8062-1189-2 , p. 91.
  • Tom Hazenberg et al .: De terugkeer van de Zwammerdam-schepen. Een haalbaarheidsonderzoek Hazenberg AMZ-publicaties 2014 1 (2014).
  • Maarten Derk de Weerd and Jan Kees Haalebos: Schepen voor het opscheppen. Het scheepsarcheologische onderzoek te Zwammerdam. Inheemse en Romeinse vaartuigen in het haventerrein van het castellum Nigrum Pullum . 1973.
  • Maarten Derk de Weerd: Schepen in de Romeinse tijd naar Zwammerdam Westerheem, XXV 3 (1976).
  • Maarten Derk de Weerd: Roman-era transport ships and dugout canoes from Nigrum Pullum / Zwammerdam (Z.-H.) . In: Dorothea Haupt , Heinz Günter Horn (Red.): Studies on the military borders of Rome II. Lectures of the 10th International Limes Congress in the Germania Inferior. Rheinland-Verlag, Cologne 1977, ISBN 3-7927-0270-3 , pp. 187-198.
  • Maarten Derk de Weerd: Ships of the Roman period at Zwammerdam / Nigrum Pullum, Germania Inferior . ROB, 1978.
  • Maarten Derk de Weerd: Schepen voor Zwammerdam . Dissertation University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam 1988.
  • Maarten Derk De Weerd: Barges of the Zwammerdam type and their building procedures. Maritime Celts, Frisians and Saxons 71 (1990); Pp. 75-76.
  • Maarten Derk de Weerd: Roman ship finds from Zwammerdam. Lessons from an old dig . Skyllis - Journal for Underwater Archeology, 4th year 2001, Issue 2, pp. 96–110.

Web links

Commons : Ancient Roman boats of Zwammerdam  - Collection of images, videos and audio files
Commons : Nigrum Pullum  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Will Brouwers, Esther Jansma and Martijn Manders: Romeinse scheepsresten in Nederland . Archeobrief 2013-4, p. 21f.
  2. ↑ De Ontdekking , report on the discovery of the shipwrecks on the Archeon website.
  3. ↑ a b c d e f g M.D. De Weerd: Roman-era transport ships and dugout canoes from Nigrum Pullum / Zwammerdam (Z.-H.) . In: Dorothea Haupt , Heinz Günter Horn (Red.): Studies on the military borders of Rome II. Lectures of the 10th International Limes Congress in the Germania Inferior. Rheinland-Verlag, Cologne 1977, ISBN 3-7927-0270-3 , pp. 187-198.
  4. ↑ Zwammerdam 1 on the official Archeon website .
  5. ↑ European Commission Directorate General X: Zwammerdam 3 , via rgzm.de, the official website of the Römisch-Germanisches Zentralmuseum Mainz and the Leibniz Research Institute for Archeology, (English) , accessed on May 5, 2018.
  6. ↑ Zwammerdam 3 on the official Archeon website .
  7. ↑ Zwammerdam 5 on the official Archeon website .
  8. ↑ Zwammerdam 2 on the official Archeon website .
  9. ↑ European Commission Directorate General X: Zwammerdam 2 , via rgzm.de, the official website of the Römisch-Germanisches Zentralmuseum Mainz and the Leibniz Research Institute for Archeology, (English) , accessed on May 5, 2018.
  10. ↑ Zwammerdam 4 on the official Archeon website .
  11. ^ Römerschiff Mainz 6 on the official website of the Römisch-Germanisches Zentralmuseum Mainz
  12. ↑ Zwammerdam 4 , via rgzm.de, the official website of the Römisch-Germanisches Zentralmuseum Mainz and the Leibniz Research Institute for Archeology, (English) , accessed on May 5, 2018.
  13. ↑ Zwammerdam 6 on the official Archeon website .
  14. ↑ Zwammerdam 6 , via rgzm.de, the official website of the Römisch-Germanisches Zentralmuseum Mainz and the Leibniz Research Institute for Archeology, (English) , accessed on May 5, 2018.
  15. ↑ Pictorial representation of a Roman helm on the tombstone of Blussus (excerpt) ( complete representation ) on zum.de, the website of the Central Office for Educational Media on the Internet e. V.
  16. ↑ Tom Hazenberg et al .: De terugkeer van de Zwammerdam-schepen. Een haalbaarheidsonderzoek Hazenberg AMZ-publicaties 2014 1 (2014).
  17. ^ The project Zwammerdamschepen en Nationaal Romeins scheepvaartmuseum on the official website of Archeon, ( Dutch ), accessed on May 1, 2018.
  18. ↑ Model of the Zwammerdam 2 in the Museum of Ancient Shipping in Mainz , on rgzm.de, the website of the Roman-Germanic Central Museum in Mainz.

Coordinates: 52 ° 6 ′ 23 "  N , 4 ° 42 ′ 57.7"  E