Excavation of the Roman port of Myos Hormos on the Egyptian Red Sea coast has revealed both the extent of the Roman harbour and a significant corpus of maritime artefacts. These include a relatively large quantity of rigging material such as brail-rings and sailcloth dating from the late-1st century BC to the middle of the 3rd century AD. These finds are important for our understanding of ancient shipping in the Mediterranean, Red Sea and Indian Ocean regions.
A common statement in the academic literature relating to the ancient Mediterranean is that the lateen/settee rig superseded the Mediterranean square-sail because it provided superior upwind performance, greater manoeuvrability and higher overall speed. This statement has been repeated so often that it is now commonly accepted. Research by the author sets out to develop an insight into the relative performance of both types of rig, based on historical sources, ethnographic records and the performance of representative, full-size sailing vessels. This allows a reassessment to be made of the underlying reasons behind the adoption of the lateen/settee rig in the Mediterranean.
The Mediterranean lateen sailing rig has been studied since the early-to-mid-20th century. Recently-published depictions of sailing vessels rigged with lateen and settee sails, dating to the late-antique period, allow some of the principle characteristics of that rig to be established. This allows comparison with lateen-or settee-rigged vessels from both earlier and later periods. The sailing rigs depicted on other vessels can be identified and the level of technical continuity between the late-antique and medieval Mediterranean addressed. Finally it is possible to assess the extent to which the lateen sail was established in the Mediterranean by late antiquity.
Ships and boats form the foundations of the maritime connectivity that is a central part of our understanding of the ancient Mediterranean. While the general chronological sequence of sail and sailing‐rig development is well established, the implications are less‐well discussed. This article sets out how sails and sailing rigs developed in antiquity, with emphasis on the Greco‐Roman world. Subsequently, instances of innovation are defined. Why specific pieces of maritime technology were, or were not, widely adopted is considered. Long‐term technological continuity can be comprehended, and a shared maritime culture of sailing in the ancient Mediterranean is suggested.
The analysis of the archaeological remains of ships and boats, in particular hull shapes, have been central to wider analysis of performance, function, and significance within past societies. This article reviews established methods of quantifying shape in ship and boat archaeology-linear measurement ratios and form coefficients-and evaluates the utility of 3D geometric morphometrics (GM). The 3D shape of 30 vessels from north-west Europe dating between 325 BC and AD 1915 are quantified to study how hull shape relates to a vessel's function and intended operating environment. A comparison of the three methods highlights the importance of analysing the complexity of a hull in a holistic manner and demonstrates that 3D GM outperforms the traditional methods.
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