574 



REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1891. 



the boat fell to }»ieces, tlie.se sank to the bottom to about the same depth, 

 while the peat, at the same time, grew up around them, eovering and 

 protecting" them from destruction. The shape of the boat could not 

 therefore be directly ascertained from the pieces found, and the sketches 

 of it were not made until, after the laj)se of so many centuries, it had 

 been restored to its original form iu the Museum of Northern Anticjui- 

 ties at Flensburg. No drawing, however, can fully convey the striking 

 imi)ression produced by the large, sharp, and well-built boat itself. 



"The boat is 77 feet long, measured from stem to stern, and pro])or- 

 tionully rather broad in the middle, namely, 10 feet 10 inches. Hat at 

 the bottom, but higher and sharper iit each end (PI. Lxxiv). 



Keel Plank of Nydam Boat. 



Copjp.l fioiii C. Knglehardt. ■' Denmark in the Karl.v Iron Ag>-." 



"Jt is clinker-built, and consists of eleven oak planks, viz., five on 

 either side, besides the bottom plank (Fig. 05), of which the keel form 

 part, the latter being only a little more than 1 inch deep and fully 8 

 inches broad at the middle of the boat, gradually diminishing and at 

 last vanishing entirely toward the sternpost. 



"• The idanks are held together by large iron nails (Fig. 90), at inter- 

 vals of 5^ inches, with large, rounded heads outside, and square burrs. 



Fiji. 9C'. 



KlVETS OF iSlYDAM BOAT. 



(Copied from C. F.ngelhKrilt. " Dcninark in tlie Early Iron Ae? 



or washers, inside. The si)aces between the ])laidvs where they overlap 

 each other were tilled up — caulked — with woolen stuff and a pitchy, 

 Sticky substance. 



"The planks are cut from very tine pieces of timber, the bottom plank 

 being 46 feet 8 inches long, and all of one piece. On both stems, which 

 are fixed to the bottom plank by means of w^ooden pegs (Fig. 97), there 

 are ornamental grooves, and each of them shows tAvo large holes, which, 

 to judge from the marks of M'ear, most likely have served to pass the 

 ropes through when the boat was hauled ashore. 



"On all the planks there are perforated chimi)s of one and the same 

 piece with the planks (Fig. 98) themselves, having been left projecting 

 when the planks were cut out of the solid timber, a most surprising 



