Ancientboat building methods can be categorized as one of hide, log, sewn, lashed-plank, clinker (and reverse-clinker), shell-first, and frame-first. While the frame-first technique dominates the modernship construction industry, the ancients relied primarily on the other techniques to build theirwatercraft. In many cases, these techniques were very labor-intensive or inefficient in their use of raw materials. Regardless of differences in ship construction techniques, the vessels of the ancient world, particularly those that plied the waters of theMediterranean Sea and the islands ofSoutheast Asia were seaworthy craft, capable of allowing people to engage in large-scale maritimetrade.[1]
The earliest archaeological evidence comes fromdugout canoes found inpeat bogs inPesse, the Netherlands, and dates to around 8000 years ago.[2] Seafaring is found around the world,[3] and many of these techniques are still in use today.[4]
Skin boats dominated seafaring in places that were scarce on wood, including the arctic and subarctic. They were made by stretching skin or leather over frames of wood or bone. These includekayaks andumiaks,coracles andcurrachs.
Bark canoes were made by stretchingbark over wooden frames, and were used byNative Americans in North America.[5]
Rafts were made where wood was available but not large enough to carve into dugouts and they could also be made from reeds. The earliest Egyptian boats were rafts made of papyrus; wooden boats did not replace rafts until theGerzean/Naqada II Period.[6]
Dugout boats were made wherever trees grew large enough to support them, including Holocene Europe, Northeastern Nigeria[7][2] the West Coast of America,[8] andPolynesian seafarers. Dugouts are defined as being carved out of a single piece of wood, and they could be elaborately decorated and quite seaworthy.
The shell-first technique involves constructing the "shell" of the boat first, then laying in the framework.
Instead of using nails, the planks of a boat can be "sewn" together with rope. Evidence for the use of sewn-fastenings in plank boats has been found worldwide. Fastenings of this type have been demonstrated to perform well in coastal regions, being capable of withstanding the rigors of heavy surf as well as the impact ofbeaching.[9] The lashed-plank technique can be found worldwide as well.[10]
Theclinker and reverse-clinker construction techniques involve fastening together an overlapping layer of planks with straight nails (clinker) or hooked nails (reverse clinker). The clinker tradition developed in Northern Europe,[11] while the reverse-clinker technique, although rarely found worldwide, has been found to be prevalent among certainSouth Asian communities, such as that ofOrissa inIndia.[4]
This construction technique relied extensively on structural support provided by peg-mortise-and-tenon joinery through the shell of the boat. This method of ship construction appears to have originated from the seafaring nations of the Mediterranean, although evidence of peg-mortise-and-tenon joinery later appears in Southeast Asia.[10]
Frame-first construction involves laying down the framework of the vessel before attaching the planks to the boat. This is normally done by erecting a "master frame" in the center of the keel, and deriving the shapes of the other frames using a curved piece of wood stretched between the frame and the end posts, or through a geometric curve. TheYassiada wreck dating to the 7th century AD was long cited as the earliest evidence for frame-first construction technique, but two wrecks for Dor (Tanura) Lagoon in Israel dated to around 500 AD were built frame first.[12] This technique was rarer in the rest of the world until the coming of the modern era.[10][3]
