12 Haakon Schetelig. [No. 7 



consequently all belong to the one rowlock required here (compare 

 fig. 3). The distance between the first and the last of the holes 

 being 76 cm., the rowlock in question must have been still a little 

 longer and fastened in four different places 1 ). The preserved row- 

 lock (fig. 5) is very defective, consisting only of the middle part, 

 24.5 cm. long, and a small fragment of one end; it is as usual 

 carved out of a single piece of wood by making use of a natural 

 branch of the tree. Under the branch there is a triangular hole, 

 cut through the piece, for passing a binding (now called in Norway 

 „hamlebaand") which during the rowing keeps the oar in its place. 

 Just before the branch we find one of the incisions into which the 

 bindings were laid, having originally been four in number, corre- 

 sponding to the four holes; another is to be seen on the little frag- 

 ment mentioned above. When discovered, the boat had the rowlock 

 in its original place, fastened to the gunnel, and even the said 

 binding for keeping the oar was seen in good preservation. 



On their inner side the boards are provided with projecting 

 cleats, scored in the same piece of wood as the boards themselves, 

 two and two placed together and the one cleat always beside the 

 other (fig. 3, 6, 8). The principal form is like Engelhaet : Nydam 

 Mosefund, p. 12, fig. g and h, though our cleat is not ornamen- 

 ted. They are 2.5 cm. high, 22 — 24 cm. long. Two couples of 

 cleats are preserved on the top-board, three couples on the other 

 large fragment. The distance between each couple varies from 64 

 to 34 cm., as the frames have probably been placed closer to each 

 other when approaching the stem. From the position of the cleats 

 we may also conclude that the boards have not been of the same 

 breadth in their whoie length; they must of course have been 

 broadest in the middle of the boat. 



Each cleat is perforated with a single square hole, in every 

 respect of the same description as the holes found in the gunnel; 

 in one instance it is situated close down to the board, in the others 

 about 0.5 cm. higher. From other old ships we have perfect know- 

 ledge as to the meaning of these perforated cleats; we see in the 

 complete boat from Nydam that the frames and the boards are not 

 joined by rivets, these parts of the boat beiog exclusively kept 



a ) Compare Prof. Engelhart: Nydam Mosefund, pl. VI, fig. 24. The 

 rowlock figured there, happens to be just of a length fitting to the holes in the 

 gunnel of our boat. besides being of the same form and construction. 



