Page 157 - TINA Dergi Sayi 08

TINA
TINA NEWS

Maritime Archaeology Periodical

he ship yard is the land, Greenland and even
only one left in the America, carrying all kinds
Tcounty of Vestfold, of trading goods and some-
and one of a very few times even sheep, horses
where Viking ships are and cattle.
being built. Behind the The ship was discovered
building stands The New in a field in the southern
Oseberg Ship Foundation, part of Vestfold county
which has received finan- back in 1893, but only ex-
cial support from local au- cavated in 1970 by archae-
thorities, institutions, com- ologist Arne Emil Chris-
mercial companies and tensen, who later was to
private citizens. become director of the Vi-
The foundation was es- king Ships Museum. The
tablished back in 2005 to Klastad Gemisi’nin inşası devam eden rekonstrüksi- original is on display in the
build an archaeological yonu. (Fotoğraf: Eivind Luthen) local museum in Tonsberg.
replica of the famous Ose- The ongoing reconstruction of the Klastad ship. The ship was approxi-
berg Viking ship (built AD (photo by Eivind Luthen) mately 60 feet long, only
820), now on display in slightly shorter that the Os-
the Viking Ships Museum eberg and Gokstad. Some
in Oslo. The replica was launched back in 2012, after a 40 per cent of the hull, all on port side, was preserved,
building period of two years, and using only Viking Age which is enough to give a fair idea of its total hull shape.
tools and working methods. Like all other Viking ships, the Klastad was clinker-built.
Two years later, the foundation started building yet an- Oak was used for most of the hull, while pine was used
other Viking Ship replica, the Klastad, a commercial ves- for the three top boards.
sel from around AD 1000. The work is taking place in the Klastad is the “trade horse” of the Vikings, having been
middle of Tonsberg´s port area, in open air and also open built to carry cargo rather than a crew of warriors. While
to the public and ongoing all year around, regardless of ships like Oseberg and Gokstad would typically carry a
weather and sometimes snow. crew of up to 50, the Klastad would carry a crew of per-
Five professional boat builders are presently engaged, haps six to eight. This meant, in turn, that oars would
but a large number of volunteers are also participating, only have been used as propulsion in an emergency, or
such as weavers and textile workers, blacksmiths, wood- say, in and out of port. Otherways, they would have had
carvers and others. Other volunteers are manning and op- to depend on a favourable wind to take the ship to its
erating the Oseberg replica, including crew, sail group, destination.
guides etc. Many of the volunteers have arrived from The Vikings would have been made from different
abroad, including archaeologists Evren Türkmenoğlu og types of materials like wool, hemp, flax and – normal-
Taner Güler, both from the University of Istanbul. Yet ly connected with royalty; even silk. According to the
another Turkish citizen, Fuat Sariyildiz, is presently en- Icelandic sagas, Norway´s king Sigurd Jorsalfare´s ship
gaged as a boat builder. carried a brightly coloured silken sail when arriving in
The Klastad ship is known as Norway´s fourth Viking Istanbul back in the early 12 century. All Viking ships
th
ship. Unlike her more well-known “sisters”, The Ose- would have carried square sails, however.
berg, Gokstad and Tune ships (all three displayed in the So how did the original Klastad ship come to rest in a
Viking Ships Museum in Oslo, and all of them excavated farmer´s field? We do not know exactly, of course, but
from grave mounds), the Klastad is a result of a ship- it is easy to imagine that the ship hit trouble in the shape
wreck. It is different in other ways as well, since it was of a storm and ended up as a wreck. And due to the fact
not a ship built for a chieftain or for battle. The Klastad is that the Scandinavian landmass is still rising after the end
a typical Viking trading ship. It was this type of ship that of the last ice age, the original wrecking site gradually
was used for the long and often perilous voyages to Ice- turned into dry land through the centuries.
155