1-1-ancient-ship

Assumed it is correct that already in 4th millennium BC. small groups of Northerners left northern Europe by boat down the rivers - at least down the
Danube- and reached the Mediterranean. If so then boots were needed.
The poblem :

The origin of Neolithic seagoing clinker boats
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Egypt Cheops 2400 b.      Oseberg Norway 800

Two ships with about three thousand years beween, both with disproportio-
natey high stems. If no practical reasons then a more mythical background ?
In the crown of Cheops and at the stem of Oseberg a spiral.

The belief in North and South: A deceased needs a boat to cross the
deadly water,> the deadly winding waterway in Pyramidtext < to meet the sun-
god at the horizont, where gods were born.
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Problem: Besides a common belief biology supports the view the appear-
ance of blond people
If already in the 4th millennium BC Post - Magdalénian (Tamahu?)reached
the Mediterranian down the rivers by ship, then there must have been appro-
priate boats in the Neolithic North.
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Back to the ´facts´ At the end of the 4th millennium BC double-ended clinker
built (?) " long ships" become provable in Acient Egypt.

click

Egypt. Painted linen cloth from a grave on Gebelen .Negade II Culture,
around 3000.B.C.( Museo Egizio, Turin) Well-being the oldest illustration of a
rudder crew.
Could be a doubleended plank boat with typical steersman at the stern. All
of the crew wear a beard (?)

It might be argued that the above ´Egyptean long boat´ did not originate in
the North because in the North Viking boats (compareable in form!) became
provable about 4000 years later.

If so than the North took over the special technology of plank boats in a
process of a cultural ´diffusion; comparable to a supposed transfee of agri-
culture, i.e *ex oriente lux*. May be, but a technical objection

The technical ´standard´ proveable in Ancient Egypt and Near East is far from building such long ships.

1.) Egypt is not a timber-land ! (tamarisk and acacia can´t be split into long
planks, sycamore, fast growing, too weak, notable for its use by ancient
Egyptians to make mummy cases)
2.) The tools for splitting long trees to get long planks are not found in Egypt
within the 4th millennium BC. (Lucas,A. and Harris,J.R. Ancient Egyptian Materials
and Industry, 1962)
Worthwhile to note the famous Cedars in the neighbouring Libanon. In the Ghassulien ´Flint Industry ' a specialization for wood working took place
In Byblos and Ghassul an increasing number of axe, chisel and drill are
proven. Noteworthy: It´s the area of the Palestine Dolmens , in number
about c. 20000.
(Elliot, C The Ghassulian Culture in Palestine: Origins, Influences and Abandonment, in
Levant X 1978))
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Problem I

Who built the wooden ´Egyptian´ long-boats and in Palestine the numerous
dolmen?
In North Africa, in Palestine and along the coast of the Black Sea the Mega-
lithic monuments were built in the 3th millennium BC.They are compareable
in size and construction with corresponding Megalithic tombs along the
coasts of NW-Europe built in the 5th to 4th millennium BC.

A gap of about 1000 years still has to be explained.

Hypothesis: .The unknown myth behind the Megalithic tombs in Palestine
originated in the North. If so then likely to suppose that the early wooden ´
Egyptian´ ships were built in Palestine by ´immigrating´ Northerners, coming
down the rivers, at least down the Danube. The given technical standard in
the neolithic North may support this view.
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Technical ship-building standards in the Stone Age.

In Egypt and at the Euphrates the necessity to build river boats is obvious
The hunt fishing and the trade need river boats. In Mesopotamia there are
at times of Herodot (400 BC) the skin-covered round boats, on the Nile the
papyrus boats.
The boats are cheap and technically simple. The technical challenge to the
boat builder was the leisurely flowing Nile.The necessity to build sea-worthy
boats is missing along the Nile. The more dangerous open sea was not
the natural habitat of the native inhabitants.

In the North another situation. The Post-Magdalénian found in the North an unhabitual, dangerous hunting ground; the Danish islands with its surroun-
ding coasts abounding in fish. The neolithic hunt for cod fish, haddock and
seal is proven. All in all

In the North a necessity was given to develop
sea-worthy coastal ships
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So far sea-worthy neolithic ships have not been found, but the tools of that
time are known. This allows to look for an indirect technical ´proof.
The question:

Could one have built wooden /plank ships with neolithic tools?

a b

                             Disk wheels, 3th millennium BC

a):3th millennium BC. Overijssel in Holland. Diameter 92 cm. The socket is
24 cm long outstanding to both sides. I.e. the plan k was broad at least
24 cm.
For the preparation a straight-grown oak trunk of at least 135 cm diameter
was needed. With axe,adze and chisel the raw form out of the plank was
made. Such wheels were found several times
(van de Waals, Prehistoric disk Wheels into the Netherlands, 1964)
b): A repaired broken disk wheel with a dovetailing.

Making long planks had been technical standard in the neolithic North
   (In the 6th millennium BC planks were used for construction of houses (Rössner)



     Sewed plank, Sweden ( http:// www.foteviken.se/sewnboat/ planks.htm)

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For sewing planks holes must be set into I.e. drills are needed

Flint-drills. Actual size

In Denmark flint-drills were found in remarkable number. Up to 10-40 % of
the total flint-inventar. (Nielsen) Remarkable the number.
(What were the drills needed for?)

            drills all
Siderstedt    24    100
Vaerby       37    337
Stengade II    26    658
Harvnelev    118       293



   Part of the sunboat of the Nebra- sky disk (1600 BC) Three planks overlap

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There is technically a straight line from sewn skin boats of
the reindeer hunter to the sewn plank boats of the Viking.

In the North reindeers on the move while swimming across the rivers had
been an easy booty for Magdalénian hunters following the reindeers with
sewn skin boats.
To day still a hunting method used in Siberia (TV) Conceivable that in the
further development on the coasts the skins were replaced gradually by planks.Thereby open waters could become a new hunting ground.
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Facit:
Not later than the 4th millennium BC the technical prerequisits for building
long plank boats were given in the North.

The northern Post-Magdalénean- were qualified

1) to fell strong trees
   2) to split long trees into planks
3) to join planks by sewing.

Nielsen, P.O. 1985 Prozentualer Anteil der Flintgeraetetypen im Material
fruehneolithischer Fundplaetze Daenemarks und Schonens (Sigersted
und Havnelev.)
In >Beitraege zur fruehneolithischen TBK im westlichen Ostseegebiet
(Erstes internationales TBK Symposium in Schleswig 1989<)

Wechler, K.P. 1993 Mesolithikum - Bandkeramik- Trichterbecherkultur.
Zur Neolithisierung Mittel - und Ostdeutschlands auf grund vergleichender
Untersuchungen zum Silexinventar

                          1-1-ancient ship
                          25.12.03

Index

Next    Ancient shipbuilding II. Problems to built saegoing ships in Egypt.
No long cedar timber.

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