Karschau wreck

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The Karschau wreck was found in January 2000 in the shallow water area of ​​the Schlei near Karschau ( Schleswig-Holstein ) after a resident discovered pieces of wood. Upon closer inspection, these turned out to be the wreckage of a large Scandinavian-style cargo ship from the late 12th century, which was estimated to be at least 22 meters long and 6.4 meters wide. This was the first such find on a German coast.

background

In the Middle Ages , the Schlei was part of a trade route that connected the Baltic Sea with its neighboring peoples and their products to the western trading centers in northern and western Europe and the Rhineland. This trade route used the Schleswig Land Bridge as the shortest possible connection between the North Sea and the Baltic Sea in southern Jutland , in order to avoid bypassing Skagen and the associated dangers. It is believed that the Karschau wreck came from a ship that either sailed the Schlei on a trade voyage and was damaged in the process or was brought to the bank to be scrapped . The age of the ship suggests its operation at the beginning of urbanization in the regions on the western and southern Baltic Sea, where society developed from a traditional land-owning way of life to an urban trade and craft community.

discovery

At the beginning of 2000, weather-related extremely low water prevailed in the western Baltic Sea. Normally flooded water areas with shallow water depths dried up. Such a shallow water area in front of Karschau is the remainder of a now eroded headland, which, as a continuation of a moraine , formerly separated two bays of the Schlei from one another. As a result of the low water level, the bottom of the water was also exposed here. On January 30th, wreckage was discovered in the former bank area of ​​the headland, which had been eroded since the Middle Ages. During a visual inspection, boat builders could assign these parts to medieval shipbuilding based on their experience with the reconstruction of another wreck. Previously, the remains of a ship from the Middle Ages had been found near Arnis at the beginning of December 1999 .

Location

The Archäologische Landesaufnahme locates the find as the old community of Faulück (-Karschau), Schleswig-Flensburg district , LA 44. The site is about 60 meters from the bank of the Schlei at a depth with normal water levels of about 1.1-1.5 meters . The uppermost parts of the wreck are thus in the area of ​​sea level at the time of the Middle Ages (current research status in 2000). Driftwood was found below the wreck.

Preliminary examination

At the beginning of May 2000, a preliminary archaeological investigation was carried out in order to get an overview of the nature and extent of the find. In addition, there was interest in the search for any other finds in the vicinity, a monument preservation assessment and the investigation of salvage perspectives and, ultimately, securing the find by means of a traffic barrier and covering work. At the same time, public relations work began to convey the special features of the find and to promote support for the excavation and exhibition of the find. In the course of this investigation, the wreck was partially flushed free, based on the superficially visible components as a reference point, in order to obtain information about the construction and state of preservation. No more than necessary was exposed of the material. Subsequently, search cuts were made at the ends and sides of the obtained association in order to obtain more precise information about the extent of the find. As a result of this preliminary investigation it was determined that one was dealing with a single find. Furthermore, the size of the former ship and its dimensions were provisionally determined. Due to individual features, such as the use of iron rivets to connect planks, caulking with animal hair, the decoration of the components with grooves and the discovery of bites, the design was assigned to the Nordic building tradition . In view of the shape of the plank shafts of the keel corridor in the midship area and the change in the frame spacing in the contiguous remnant of the ship, it was identified as the stern and it was determined that the central ship had not yet been reached in the area of ​​the foremost preserved frames , from which the approximate length could be determined. The importance of the find for the medieval history of the region made salvage desirable. The overall condition of the find was surprisingly good at the time of the appraisal, but a speedy recovery was considered urgent. The pre-existing infestation by pile drilling mussels contributed to this.

Salvage

The finds were recovered from June 5 to July 27, 2001. Contrary to the original intention, it was not possible to recover sheet piling with the associated advantages. Therefore, the excavation was carried out by divers. The financing was provided by EU funds and counter-financing by the offices and cities located on the Schlei. Because of this rather unusual approach, wide public access was given during the work. Not only was the excavation site open to the public, there were also guided tours in German and Danish as well as a "wreck day". About 5000 people used this phase of public relations to visit the excavation.

The first measure in the course of the rescue work was the creation of a sandbag wall on the lake side to shield the excavation site from the open water. Thereafter, the association of the ship parts that had not yet fallen apart was rinsed free and the items to be washed were sieved or collected. The individual finds were numbered under water and measured from land. Then frames and planks were brought ashore individually on stretchers. Finally, a search for the surroundings was carried out and the sediment removed from the site to below the keel level. The action required a total of 287 diving hours, which were performed using light diving equipment at a depth of 1.2–1.5 meters and with a visibility of up to 15 centimeters. In addition to archaeologists, geologists and biologists were also involved in the campaign.

documentation

After the salvage, the finds were initially determined, recorded in a database and temporarily stored in water basins before they were brought to the restoration workshop of the Archaeological State Museum in Schleswig to be drawn in original size on foil and then preserved with polyethylene glycol . After reading in the drawings, they were printed out for the construction of a 1:10 scale model of the wreck, which was used to reconstruct the exact shape of the ship. A replica of the ship can be made on the basis of this model.

Finds

In addition to an association of frames and planks that was connected at the beginning of the rescue, individual ship parts such as wrangles, bites and connecting parts as well as other partial and small finds were made. Not quite 8 meters were preserved from the keel. Attached to it was a round stern post , the end of which was broken off. The two planks on starboard and thirteen on port in connection with the 40 frames found or proven by the plank formation allow conclusions to be drawn about the dimensions of the ship. Other finds include remnants of caulking, ropes of different thicknesses made from linden bast, a block of rigging, parts of wooden bowls, barrels and needles, the latter partly with a perforated head, fragments of a three-layer comb and a metal button as well as leftovers such as hazelnuts as well also a total of 321 bone fragments. The latter finds stuck to the remains of tar inside the ship.

The ship

During the preliminary investigation, the dimensions of the ship were determined to be at least 22 meters long and 6.4 meters wide. The hull was brick. The ship planks found are 23-29 centimeters wide and 2.5-3.9 centimeters thick, the longest has a length of 5.75 meters. They are made of radially split oak which, according to dendrochronological studies, could have come from the Odense area. They were fastened with iron rivets measuring around 6 × 6 millimeters in cross-section and riveted inside the ship with rivet plates with edge lengths between 2.0 and 3.2 centimeters. Frames and strings, on the other hand, were connected by wooden nails. Of these, two were determined for the type of wood. One was made of pine and the other was made of willow. These nails are 3.2-3.4 centimeters thick and have heads about 4 centimeters in diameter at the outer end. The caulking consists of animal hair with tar. The hair is mostly sheep's wool. Almost all parts of the ship were decorated with grooves, often with a second parallel groove. Edges were chamfered on many parts . Based on the findings, it is assumed that the ship is at least 6.6 meters wide and about 25 meters long. The latter results from the unusually narrow frame spacing in the front area of ​​the contiguous remains of the wreck. It is assumed that this was roughly the center of the ship. The decreasing height of the floor wall above the keel to the foremost floor wall found in the bandage suggests that the actual center of the ship was further forward. The length of the missing hull and thus the total length of the ship can be estimated from the distance to the stern post and its shape. Since the keel pig was not found, the mast position can only be derived indirectly. The dimensions of the floor walls and the very narrow frame spacing in the midship area prove the construction of the ship as a pure sailing vehicle that was not rowed. It is therefore probably a pure cargo ship, which may have served trade, but also logistics during acts of war. The age of felling of the used wood was dendrochronologically dated to around or after 1138. The discovery of a neatly formed repair piece suggests that the ship was no longer a new build.

classification

The find closed a research gap at the time of its investigation. It is unique in terms of place and subject. There are comparable finds only in southern Scandinavia, with the ships from Ellinga, Eltang, Galtabäck 1 , Korsholm 3, Lynaes 1 and Roskilde 2 and 4 (not listed according to relevance / comparability). Of these, only Lynaes 1 and Roskilde 4 also have a reconstructed hull length of more than twenty meters. Another common feature of these two ships is that all three discoveries in fjords lie that led to two of the most important centers Altdänemarks. The comparison also suggests that the ship found in front of Karschau was one of the largest cargo ships of that time in the Baltic Sea area. It was also the only find of its kind in Germany to date. Post-Viking dating is possible from the rectangular cross-section of the rivets, the formation of the bottom walls and the simple grooved decoration. However, finds in southern Sweden and Denmark as reference material make construction after 1200 unlikely, which also fits with the results of the dendrochronological investigations.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e Hans Joachim Kühn, Anton Englert, Sönke Hartz, Oliver Nakoinz & Jan Fischer: A wreck of the 12th century from the Schlei near Karschau . In: Nachrichtenblatt Arbeitskreis Unterwasserarchäologie Volume 7/2000, pp. 42–45
  2. ↑ a b c d e Anton Englert, Hans Joachim Kühn and Oliver Nakoinz: The Karschau wreck - a Nordic cargo ship from the 12th century . In: Enogtyvende tvaerfaglige Vikingesymposium Kiels Universitet i forbindesle med Archäologisches Landesmuseum Schleswig 2002 Forlaget Hikuin and Afdeling for Middelalerarkaeologi . Aarhus Universitet 2002 pp. 7–24 (German)
  3. ↑ A. Andrén: The urban scene. Städer och samhallen i det medeltida Danmark . In: Acta Archaeologica Lundensia, Series in 8 No. 13, Malmo 1985, pp. 253-261; based on: Anton Englert et al .: A 12th century wreck from the Schlei near Karschau . In: Nachrichtenblatt Arbeitskreis Unterwasserarchäologie Volume 7/2000, pp. 42–45
  4. ^ N. Skyum-Nielsen: Kvinde og Slave. Danmark history and retouche 3 . Copenhagen 1971 pp. 114-119; according to: Anton Englert et al .: A Nordic cargo ship in the Schlei in front of Karschau, Schleswig-Flensburg district - a preliminary report . In: Archaeological News from Schleswig-Holstein, Archaeological Society Schleswig-Holstein e. V & Archäologisches Landesamt Schleswig-Holstein Issue 11 2000, pp. 34–57
  5. ↑ Haithabu 1
  6. ^ A b c d e f g h i Anton Englert, Jan Fischer, Sönke Hartz, Hans Joachim Kühn and Oliver Nakoinz: A Nordic cargo ship in the Schlei in front of Karschau, Schleswig-Flensburg district - a preliminary report . In: Archaeological News from Schleswig-Holstein, Archaeological Society Schleswig-Holstein e. V & Archäologisches Landesamt Schleswig-Holstein Issue 11, 2000, pp. 34–57
  7. ↑ a b J. Bill: Small Scale Seafaring in Danish Waters AD 1000-1600 . Unpublished dissertation, University of Copenhagen 1997, p. 154; based on: Hans Joachim Kühn et al .: A 12th century wreck from the Schlei near Karschau . In: Nachrichtenblatt Arbeitskreis Unterwasserarchäologie Volume 7/2000, p. 44
  8. ↑ Bite: crossbeam over floor walls; Mastbite: Bite shaped like a yoke to accommodate the mast; see. A. Englert et al. 2000, p. 41, and A. Englert et al. 2002, pp. 12-13
  9. ^ A b c d e Anton Englert, Jan Fischer, Hans Joachim Kühn and Oliver Nakoinz: The excavation of the Nordic barge from the 12th century near Karschau . In: Nachrichtenblatt Arbeitskreis Unterwasserarchäologie Volume 8/2001, pp. 55–58
  10. ↑ Dirk Heinrich: The bone finds from the wreck of a Nordic cargo ship of the 12th century from the Schlei near Karschau, LA44, Schleswig-Flensburg district, with special consideration of taphonomic aspects . In: Contributions to Archeozoology and Prehistoric Anthropology IV 2003, pp. 97–101
  11. ^ Aoife Daly: The Karschau Ship, Schleswig-Holstein: Dendrochronological Results and Timber Provenance . In: International Journal of Nautical Archeology, 2007 pp. 75–77 (English)
  12. ↑ O. Crumlin-Pedersen: Ships as indicators of trade in northern Europe 600-1200 . In: J. Bill u. J. u. B. Clausen (Ed.), Maritime Topography and the Medieval Town. Papers from the 5th International Conference on Waterfront Archeology at the Danish National Museum, Copenhagen; May 14-16, 1998 (Copenhagen 1999); Pp. 11-20; based on: Hans Joachim Kühn et al .: A 12th century wreck from the Schlei near Karschau . In: Nachrichtenblatt Arbeitskreis Unterwasserarchäologie Volume 7/2000, p. 44

Coordinates: 54 ° 37 '14.02 "  N , 9 ° 53' 23.41"  E