PREHISTOKR' NAVAL ARCHITECTURE. 



575 



f{)ct, considering the high development to which the smith's art had 

 been cairied, a fact, too, which proves that they must have possessed a 

 great abundance of timber, as they wouhl not otherwise have wasted 

 it to tliat degree only in order to saAC a few nails or to secure the clamps 

 so much better. 



Fig. '.17. 



CoNiNECllON (IF PKOWS WITH IvEEL. 

 (■..IMf.l IVoiii C. Kneli-h:ii-.lt. •■ Denmark in th.- Karly In.n Afi.-." 



''The ribs, which give the ])oat its shape (Fig. 99), are mostly in their 

 natural crooked and irregularly bent shape, and rest ou the clamps 

 projecting from the i)lauks which ftn^n regular rows across the boat, 

 those on one plank exactly corresponding to those on the next. The 

 ribs have perforations correspondiug to the clamps, through which bast 

 roi)es Avere i)assed, tying planks and ribs together (Fig. 100). This is 

 again highly surprising in a nation familiar with the use of iron and 



Fig. tw. 

 Clamps ox Planks. 



;Cc)pie.l iVoiri C. Kijglehardt. "II 



Fig. 99. 

 Connection between Kibs and Planks. 



iiuiark in the Early Iron Aee.") 



able t<» work it so well. At the same time it is possible that a loose 

 connection between the framework and the planking of the boat served 

 to give it more elasticity to the sides, and that boats built in this man- 

 ner went through the surf and great waves easier than those more 

 strongly l)uilt. 



"Upon the gunwale were tixed the rowlocks which, although made of 

 the same general model, yet all differed from one another in size or in 

 the details of the work. Fig. 101 represents one of the best preserved. 

 They were tied to the gunwale by means of bast ropes; and in this case, 

 too, it might seem surprising that for the fixing of such important pieces 

 as the rowlocks recourse should have l)een had to such weak fasten- 

 ings, which must so often have required to be renewed. But this method 

 had at the same time the advantage of rendering it possible to turn them 

 when necessary and row the boat in the opposite direction, particularly 

 as both ends of the boat were so exactly ali ke that it is difticult to say 



