The Hull Construction of Yenikapı 14 (YK 14), a Middle Byzantine Shipwreck from Constantinople's Theodosian Harbour, Istanbul, Turkey

Abstract

Yenikapı 14 (YK 14) is one of 37 shipwrecks discovered by the Istanbul Archaeological Museums during the Marmaray Project excavations in Istanbul's Yenikapı neighbourhood, the site of Constantinople's Theodosian Harbour. Dated to the 9th century AD, YK 14 is one of a group of Yenikapı round ships constructed using similar methods: it was a flat‐floored, shallow‐draught vessel built primarily of oak using a distinctive combination of shell‐ and skeleton‐based construction methods. Regularly spaced pegs called coaks were used to assemble the hull planking edge‐to‐edge from the keel to the first wale, above which planks were fastened exclusively to frames.

Maʻagan Mikhael B, Israel: a preliminary report of a Late Byzantine–Early Islamic period shipwreck

“…These planks are about 36mm thick; thicker than the planks of bulkheads in YK 11 (18–21mm) (Ingram, : 127–129). Bulkhead timbers were also found in YK 3, YK 12, YK 14, YK 20, YK 21, YK 29, YK 30 and YK 31: some of these shipwrecks have been thoroughly studied, while others are still being investigated (Kocabaş, : 19, 21; Güler, ; Jones, : 265; Ӧzsait‐Kocabaş, : 13). Moreover, part of the bulkhead base was found in Tantura E (Israeli and Kahanov, : 377–378).…”

“…b), which might indicate bending through a heating process, known as ‘char‐bending’ (Greenhill, : 115; de Zeeuw, : 154). Similar char‐bending traces were also found in Dor shipwrecks (Dor D, Tantura A, Dor 2001/1, Dor 2006, Tantura F, Tantura E) and in Yenikapı (YK 1, YK 3, YK 5, YK 11, YK 14, YK 17, YK 23) (Wachsmann et al ., : 6; Steffy, : 403; Kahanov et al ., : 118; Kocabaş, : 163, 171; Türkmenoğlu, ; Kahanov and Mor, : 49, 51; Jones, : 261; Ingram, : 115).…”

The Yenikapı 12 Shipwreck, a 9th-Century Merchantman from the Theodosian Harbour in Istanbul, Turkey: construction and reconstruction

“…comm., October 2009). These vessels, which constitute the majority of wrecks recovered from the Yenikapı excavation site, date between the 7th and the late 10th centuries AD (Kocabaş and Özsait‐Kocabaş, : 43–44; Pulak et al , : 29; Kocabaş, : 8, 29; Pulak et al ., : 50–62; Jones, ).…”

“…The first subgroup with shallow (YK 12 and YK 21) or a curved (YK 18) garboards, and a round turn‐of‐the‐bilge, has a framing pattern of floor‐timbers with long arms alternating to port and starboard side. YK 14, studied by the INA fits in this group (Pulak et al ., : 54–55; Jones, : 259). YK 20 has curved keel timbers with rabbets.…”

The current state of Byzantine archeology

“…Only preliminary studies are available to date (Kocabaş, ; Pulak, Ingram, & Jones, ), but the abundance of evidence, properly handled and published, promises to exceed all that we have previously known about Byzantine maritime activity. Areas of promise include the technology of ship construction and environmental studies through the selection of timbers available and the ways in which their uses varied through time (Jones, ; Liphschitz, ). Additional maritime archeological research has also been recently published, for example, the wreck off Cape Stoba (Croatia), dated to the 10th or 11th century (Kralj, Beltrame, Miholjek, & Ferri, ), at Dor off the coast of Israel (Navri, Kahanov, & Cvikel, ), and in the Black Sea (Ward, ).…”