The Hjortspring boat () is a vessel designed as a large canoe, from the Pre-Roman Iron Age. It was built circa 400–300 BC. The hull and remains were rediscovered and excavated in 1921–1922 from the bog of Hjortspring Mose on the island of Als in Sønderjylland, southern Denmark.
Associated finds
When found, the boat contained a great quantity of weapons and armour, including 131 shields of the
Celtic warfare type, 33 well-crafted
, 138 iron spearheads, 31 bone or antler spearheads, 11 single-edged iron swords, and the remains of several
mail armor. Two of the swords were deliberately bent, a practice associated with Iron Age rituals. The largest of the spearheads is a massive long. The find also contained bowls, boxes,
blacksmith's tools, and other everyday goods. The sinking of the vessel in the bog has been interpreted as a deliberate
votive offering.
This is reinforced by the presence of a dismembered horse placed beneath the boat at the time of burial along with a lamb, a calf, and two dogs. Numerous graves have been discovered in Denmark from this time period containing similar
grave goods and
animal sacrifice horses, dogs, lambs, cows, other animals, and human beings.
Construction
The Hjortspring boat was constructed of
Tilia (linden) wood planks
Sewn boat together with cord of
bast fiber, spruce root, or rawhide. Pitch was used to caulk and coat the seams to make the boat watertight. A long
dugout canoe forms the bottom plank, which also acts as the
keel, with two additional planks, or
, attached on both sides to fashion the hull. This allows the large vessel to sit high in the water and to traverse shallow waters, even with a full crew and heavy load. Hollowed timbers were used to create the distinct stem and stern-posts. These stem pieces, along with the bottom plank, extend forward and backward from the hull to form the iconic "beaks" of this type of boat construction. Vertical oak struts, secured by wooden
treenail and pitch, fasten the upper and lower "beaks" and brace both ends of the watercraft. Thin limbs of hazel form the ribs which were lashed to cleats in the planks. These cleats were made by carving down the rest of the plank boards; this created a strong attachment point without a need for fastening each cleat separately by lashing or pegs to the long planks of the hull. The hull planks and hazel ribs are supported by thwarts and thicker supporting ribs of ash.
The high level of craftsmanship present in the archaeological find indicates that the boatbuilding methods used to construct the Hjortpsring boat are significantly older than the boat itself.
Later history of this type
Watercraft of this style and construction were built and used at least until the 3rd century AD. Metal
rivets become increasingly present in later finds and the stem construction was simplified to a single curved shape which extended and tapered outward from the hull. These later stems, or
, were made of single pieces of wood or multiple pieces joined. Much of the essential boatbuilding methods found in the Hjortspring boat persisted into the
Viking Age. This continuation can be seen in the boat finds from Halsnøy (200 AD),
Nydam Mose (300-400 AD),
Sutton Hoo (600-700 AD), and
Kvalsund ship (690 AD).
Modern Reconstruction- The Tilia Alsie
A full reconstruction of the Hjortsprung Boat was launched in 1999.
See also
Further reading
-
Ole Crumlin-Pedersen and Athena Trakadas (eds.), Hjortspring: A Pre-Roman Iron-Age Warship in Context, Ships, Roskilde: Viking Ship Museum 2003;
External links
