Gyptis : Sailing Replica of a 6th‐century‐BC Archaic Greek Sewn Boat
2018; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 47; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1111/1095-9270.12294
ISSN1095-9270
Autores Tópico(s)Maritime Security and History
ResumoA sailing replica based on the archaeological remains and structural analysis of the 6th-century archaic Greek sewn boat Jules-Verne 9 was built in Marseille as part of the city's European Capital of Culture 2013 programme. Full-scale reconstruction allowed investigation of specific aspects of the methods used to build a shell-first, sewn-plank, and lashed-frame vessel, as well as learning the gestures and know-how of the original shipbuilders. The first two seasons of sailing trials, including short journeys in the Bay of Marseille and longer, coast-hopping expeditions, reflecting the uses of the original vessel have taken place and are reported here. 吉普缇丝号:公元前6世纪古希腊缝接船的复原 基于对公元前6世纪古希腊缝接船朱尔斯—凡尔纳9号船的考古遗迹和结构分析复原而成的帆船 (吉普缇丝号) 在马赛建成, 其是马赛市2013欧洲文化之都项目的一部分。全尺寸复原不仅可考察船舶使用的船壳法、缝接船板、捆绑结构建造方法的具体特征, 还能学到原船建造者的姿势与技术诀窍。在前两个试航期中, 包括马赛湾的短线航行和长途的海岸探险, 我们已经开始探索原船的用途, 本文即这两次试航的报告。 关键词:复原船, 实验考古学, 缝接船, 马赛, 古代, 朱尔斯—凡尔纳9号 吉普缇絲號:公元前6世紀古希臘縫接船的複原 基于對公元前6世紀古希臘縫接船朱爾斯-凡爾納9號船的考古遺迹和結構分析複原而成的帆船 (吉普缇絲號) 在馬賽建成, 其是馬賽市2013歐洲文化之都項目的一部分。全尺寸複原不僅可考察船舶使用的船殼法、縫接船板、捆綁結構建造方法的具體特征, 還能學到原船建造者的姿勢與技術訣竅。在前兩個試航期中, 包括馬賽灣的短線航行和長途的海岸探險, 我们已經開始探索原船的用途, 本文即這兩次試航的報告。 關鍵詞:複原船, 實驗考古學, 縫接船, 馬賽, 古代, 朱爾斯-凡爾納9號 Gyptis: una réplica navegable de una embarcación arcaica griega cosida del siglo VI a.C. Una réplica navegable, basada en los restos arqueológicos y el análisis estructural de la embarcación arcaica griega cosida Jules-Verne 9, fue construida en Marsella como parte del programa de la ciudad Capital Europea de la Cultura en 2013. La reconstrucción a escala 1-1 permitió investigar aspectos específicos de los métodos empleados para la construcción a esqueleto previo, traca cosida y cuadernas atadas; así como aprender de las expresiones y el conocimiento de los constructores navales originales. Aquí se reportan las dos primeras pruebas de navegación llevados a cabo. Estas incluyeron viajes breves en la Bahía de Marsella y expediciones de cabotaje más prolongadas que reflejan el uso de la embarcación original. Palabras clave: réplica navegable, arqueología experimental, barco cocido, Marsella, Jules-Verne 9. Gyptis: Sailing Replica of a 6th-century-BC Archaic Greek Sewn Boat Une réplique navigante, fondée sur l’étude des vestiges archéologiques de l’épave grecque archaïque Jules-Verne 9, a été construite dans le cadre de Marseille capitale européenne de la Culture 2013. La reconstruction, grandeur nature, a permis d’étudier la méthode sur bordé utilisée pour construire ce navire aux bordés cousus et aux membrures ligaturées, mais aussi de retrouver les gestes et les savoir-faire des charpentiers de l’époque. Les essais en mer des deux premières saisons, comportant des navigations limitées à la baie de Marseille et des voyages le long des côtes, selon les différents usages du navire d'origine, sont présentés ici. Studies of shipwrecks lead, in the best cases, when there are sufficient archaeological remains, to graphic reconstruction of the original ship and, much more rarely, to sailing replicas. The experimental approach remains fundamental, however, insofar as it allows hypotheses concerning the construction methods employed to be validated, the gestures and know-how of the shipwrights to be rediscovered, and to establish a ‘chaîne opératoire’ and assess its use and performance. In this respect, if experimentation may take many forms, the construction of a sailing replica is the most advanced stage (Crumlin-Pedersen and Vinnet, 1986; McGrail, 1992; Coates et al., 1995; Crumlin-Pedersen, 1995; Pomey and Rieth, 2005; Bennett, 2009). Sailing replicas of ancient ships based on archaeological data and carried out within an experimental archaeology programme have remained quite rare in the Mediterranean until now. Only Kyrenia II, a replica of the Greek 4th-century-BC wreck (Katzev and Womer-Katzev, 1989; Katzev, 1990), and Olympias the floating hypothesis of a Greek 5th-century trireme (Morrison and Coates, 1989; Coates et al., 1990), both built in Greece in the 1980s, and lastly, the Ma‘agan Mikhael II, replica of the Greek 5th-century-BC wreck, recently launched in December 2016 (Kahanov, 2014–2015) can meet these criteria. In France, since the construction of a hypothetical replica of an ancient trireme in 1861 by A. Jal and H. Dupuy de Lome at the request of Napoleon III (Pomey and Rieth, 2001)—the earliest experiment in naval archaeology ever conducted—no such programme had been undertaken. The construction of Gyptis, the sailing replica of an archaic Greek sewn boat of the 6th century BC, today partly fills this gap. The project started in July 1993 with the discovery in Marseille of two archaic Greek shipwrecks during excavations in Place Jules Verne, assigned to the nautical archaeology team of the Centre Camille Jullian (Pomey, 1995) (Fig. 1). Abandoned near the shore, towards the end of the 6th century BC, both are wrecks of boats built by the middle of the century by the second generation of the Greek colonists from Phocaea who founded Massalia-Marseille around 600 BC. As a result, these wrecks reflect shipbuilding techniques in use in Phocaea and in the Aegean Sea during the archaic period, which Greek settlers brought with them to Marseille. Due to their exceptional interest, both wrecks were preserved to be presented to the public. They were recovered at the end of the excavation and sent to the Arc Nucleart laboratory in Grenoble for conservation and restoration (Bernard-Maugiron, 2007). Since 2013, they have been on display at the Marseille History Museum. While lying one against the other in the same archaeological context, the remains correspond to two different boats (Pomey, 1998, 2001, 2003). The larger wreck, Jules-Verne 7, with a preserved length of 13m, is that of a small sailing merchant vessel, originally about 15m long. Its construction corresponds to the technical transition that marks the adoption of the tenon-and-mortise fasteners in Greek shipbuilding, which traditionally had used ligatures as the assembly technique (Pomey, 1997, 2010). The smaller wreck, Jules-Verne 9, which gave rise to the sailing replica, is a coaster of about 10m in length, which served for fishing for coral, fragments of which were found trapped in the internal waterproofing of the hull (Pomey, 2000). It has the particularity of being fully assembled by ligatures following in the archaic Greek tradition of sewn boats then in use in the Aegean (Pomey, 2010). With a preserved length of 5m, the wreck retained some of its ligatures in place, which allowed the assembly system to be recorded in detail. Although archaic, it is far from primitive and appears, rather, extremely sophisticated, thus, for the planking, the sewing was implemented with a high level of efficiency, and the ligatures were well protected. The ligatures are made of three runs of linen thread following a IXIXIX pattern. Preliminary marks were made in dry point to ensure the accurate positioning of the assembly points. Pre-assembly dowels were used to hold the planks in place and shape, and to avoid the shear effect by preventing any risk of lateral or vertical movement. The oblique channels, through which the threads pass, open into tetrahedral recesses carved along the edge of the planks to ensure the regularity of the assembly and to protect the ligatures. Small pegs were used to block the threads and close the channels. Wadding made of rolls of linen fabric were placed over the joints and bound with the ligatures for water tightness and to protect the stitches (Fig. 2). The frames that reinforce the hull are lashed to the planking and an equal sophistication can be observed in their morphology: the narrow foot, flared sides, and rounded back provides the most effective means of tightening the lashings connecting the frames to the hull. Finally, the hull is made watertight with a coating of a mixture of conifer pitch and beeswax spread internally and externally (Connan, 2002). Alongside the work of preserving the ship remains, the nautical archaeology team of the Camille Jullian Centre studied the timbers and the construction systems. To this end, a life-sized model of the assembly system found on the Jules-Verne 9 wreck was made in 1994 to better understand the process involved (Fig. 3). In addition, the reconstruction of the original boat from the remains of its wreck has involved a long process based on the testing and validation of various stages of graphical reconstruction with three-dimensional models at 1/10th (Fig. 4) and 1/5th scale. Models of the timber remains served as a basis for the different stages of reconstruction: individual timber models were corrected for deformations and were then added to the structure following analysis of the means by which they were assembled; the shape of the hull was then extrapolated to produce a model of the entire hull; a final reconstruction model included form, structure, rigging and steering gear (Pomey, 2003). As one end of the Jules-Verne 9 wreck did not survive, it was necessary to have recourse to the characteristics of other wrecks of the same period in the same architectural family and of the same type to complete the missing parts. Thus, Villeneuve-Bargemon 1 wreck—also known as César 1—found in the immediate vicinity of Place Jules-Verne in the same context (Pomey, 2001), helped to restore the overall size. It belongs to the same architectural family and has similar scantlings to Jules-Verne 9, and the total length of the keel survived with the departures of its ends. The Golo wreck, also from the archaic period, the shape of which was well preserved and had some similarities with the Greek shipwrecks from Place Jules-Verne (Pomey, 2012), served as a model for the reconstruction of the general hull shape. Finally, the wreck Bon-Porté I, considered a sister-ship to Jules-Verne 9, has allowed the reconstruction of the mast-step (Joncheray, 1976; Pomey, 1981). Regarding the steering device, the rudders were designed after a study of comparative archaeological data, provided by fragments of archaic rudders found on the wrecks Grand-Ribaud F and Pointe-Lequin 1A (Long and Rival, 2007), and the iconography of contemporary Greek vases. Lastly, for the reconstruction of the rigging, we used comparative data, more particularly iconographic, having carefully checked dating to avoid anachronism. The result, as evidenced by the final reconstruction model, is a symmetrical coastal boat 9.50m long, 1.88m wide, and 0.75m deep, powered by oars and sail, intended for fishing and light local transport of people and goods (Pomey, 2003). Following the different reconstruction studies, the idea quickly emerged to build sailing replicas of the Greek shipwrecks within the framework of a programme of experimental archaeology in order to test the restitutions, to apprehend the building systems, and to evaluate the nautical qualities of the boats. After several attempts that failed because of the large sums necessary, Marseille-Provence's 2007 application to be European Capital of Culture 2013 offered the opportunity to develop the Prôtis Project to build sailing replicas of the Jules-Verne 7 and 9 wrecks. Several years were nevertheless needed to set up the project, which was ultimately limited, for financial reasons, to the construction of the sailing replica of the smallest wreck, Jules-Verne 9 (Pomey, 2017). The replica was named Gyptis in honour of the daughter of Nanos, the local King of the Ligurian tribe of Ségobriges, who married Prôtis, chief of the Greek colonists, to found Massalia-Marseille. The project gave rise to an agreement between, on the one hand, the Centre Camille Jullian as project leader, Aix-Marseille University, and the CNRS, and, on the other hand, the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Region and the Marseille-Provence-Metropole, which financed the construction. The traditional shipyard Borg of Marseille was commissioned to build the ship, and the Association Arkaeos, which has the vocation of developing nautical archaeology, managed and coordinated the project. Finally, a co-production agreement was passed with the Marseille-Provence 2013 organization to finance sailing within the Cultural year 2013 calendar and in 2014. In 2015 and 2016, the sailing trials and navigations were supported by a grant from the Honor Frost Foundation. Meanwhile, in 2010, the project proceeded to wood supply, in conjunction with the Office National des Forêts and according to the wood analyses from the wreck: oak and evergreen or holm oak (Quercus ilex) were obtained from the Cadarache forest (50km from Marseille), the former for the keel, the stem, and the sternpost, the latter for the mast-step, the supporting beam for the quarter rudders, the mast partner, and for the pre-assembly dowels and the pegs; Aleppo pine from the Gémenos forest (20km from Marseille) for the planking, and from Les Pennes-Mirabeau (13km from Marseille) for the frames. The dowels and pegs, originally in olive wood, were made of green oak and Aleppo pine due to supply problems. With regard to the tools, modern saws and drills were used, taking advantage of electrical instead of the manual energy, for repetitive actions. This was mainly to save time given the project's deadline. On the other hand, the shaping and trimming of particular pieces, and cutting of the tetrahedral recesses, were carried out with traditional tools, possibly adapted. Finally, all the sewing and lashing was carried out by hand. The challenge was great because the boat had to be ready to sail in the autumn, while the build had to respect the principles and methods of construction highlighted on the wreck (Pomey, 2014; Pomey and Poveda, 2015). Consequently, before starting work on the boat itself, large-scale experiments were conducted on a quarter hull model, 5m in length, to test procedures, determine the tools required, practice the gestures, and gain the know-how. Several aspects of the construction, no longer in the boatbuilders’ repertoire, required special attention. The first concerns the shell-first construction process. According to this method, well attested by many ethnographic (Hornell, 1946; Greenhill, 1976) and historical (Hasslöf, 1963; Lemée, 2006) examples, and unlike the traditional skeleton-first practices, the planking strakes are directly set up without using templates or frames. These last, intended to reinforce the hull, are inserted into the hull only after the completion of the planking. Indeed, in addition to the fact that all the frames are independent of the keel, the archaeological study shows that the assembly of the planking by continuous running sewing along the seams of the planks can only be carried out in the absence of pre-erected frames or templates. On the other hand, the planks are pre-assembled using dowels (coaks) that hold them in place and in shape. Finally, despite careful scrutiny, there is no evidence of the establishment of provisional moulds or templates. Nevertheless, blind holes placed in a seemingly random pattern were observed on the planking, which could be used to set up tighteners to hold the planks in shape during the construction (Pomey, 2014: 1349–1351). Totally forgotten today in the Mediterranean, this technique required recourse to steam-bending planks. First, the planks (25mm thick) were put in a steam box and pre-bent on a mould or by gravity. Then they were adjusted in place using a direct flame on soaked wood (Fig. 5). This construction method requires that all the strakes are solidly assembled together. The second aspect of the experiment concerned assembling by ligatures, which proved particularly long and tedious. After the preliminary carpenter's marks, which are necessary to ensure the even spacing of the sewing and that the assembly points line up, the oblique channels were drilled from the outside corner of the edge of the plank, as observed on the archaeological remains. Then the tetrahedral recesses were carved around the inboard exit of the oblique channels. It was necessary to recreate a specific tool to carve these tetrahedral holes: a pointed triangular chisel the size of the holes. Having tested the process with hand drills, boring channels for the rest of the 10,000 stitches was carried out with an electric drill, which provided a considerable time saving without calling into question the construction principle. As for the ligatures, 12 threads were found between each opposing pair of holes and three on each of the diagonals. The most satisfactory solution appears to have been a primary passage using a double-thread, with two stiches through each pair of holes and one diagonal stitch, from one end of the seam to the other and back again, followed by a second passage in each direction with a single thread (Pomey and Poveda, forthcoming a) (Fig. 6). The final experiment was sealing the hull with a compound coating. In accordance with the analyses of the boat remains (Connan, 2002), a mixture of beeswax and conifer pitch was used. In addition, a 3D computer model of the whole boat and of all parts of the structure, the rigging and the equipment was created as it was built (Poveda, 2015) (Fig. 7). This allowed all phases of construction and shaping of all the parts to be recorded with great precision. This record complements the reconstruction studies, and illustrates how closely the specifications book was followed, which has been an important factor in the success of the construction. Despite the earlier experiments, the beginning of the construction was difficult, but as the work progressed, and as the team of carpenters acquired experience, assisted by the students and volunteers who were given responsibility for the ligatures, the pace increased. Altogether, the boat construction took 5000 hours of shipwrightry, while the sewing needed about 5km of linen thread and 3000 hours of work (Pomey and Poveda, forthcoming a). It should be noted that the different checks of the hull shapes were designed to verify, during construction, the general symmetry of the hull and its conformity with the remains and the reconstructed hull plan. Slight asymmetries and differences in dimensions, comparable to those documented initially on the wreck, were thus observed, without compromising the construction. Except for the general symmetry, the construction would have been entirely possibly without making these checks. Finally, some ancient traditions were respected to give the replica the appearance of a Greek ship. According to a practice well attested on many ancient shipwrecks, a coin—in this case a modern 50 drachma piece depicting the portrait of Homer on the obverse, and an archaic galley on the reverse—was placed under the mast-step. The exterior surface of the hull coating was coloured black for the bottom and wine-red for the bulwark, matching iconographic representations and ancient texts descriptions (Casson, 1971: 45; Pomey, 1997b: 68–69). In addition, the bow has been adorned with painted eyes, or occuli, commonly seen on the bows of ancient Greek ships, in this case modelled on the Nikosthenes Attic cup at the Louvre museum (c.530–510 BC, catalogue no S.1291-F 123) (Fig. 9). Occuli are believed to have had both an apotropaic role and that of assimilating the vessel as a marine being. Finally, the stern received the name of the boat, in Latin letters on starboard and archaic Ionian Greek on the port side. On 12 October 2013 Gyptis was officially launched in the waters of the Vieux-Port of Marseille. Thus, some 2600 years after the original boat, its sailing replica sailed the same waters (Fig. 10). After a short return to the shipyard, the hull was completed with the top timbers inserted between the floor-timbers in the upper part of the planking, and small fore and aft decks added (Fig. 11). Then the boat was equipped with the two quarter rudders, the rigging, and a set of oars. The rigging consists of a square sail according to the model seen on ships and boats of the archaic Greek period. The sail is 24.75m2, made of a mixed fabric of linen and cotton, hung on a yard set perpendicular to the mast. A forestay and four lateral shrouds, two on each side, maintain the mast made of a single piece of fir 6.60m long. A double halyard enables the yard to be hoisted, and two braces are used to adjust it. Moreover, in addition to the usual sheets and tacks, the sail is fitted with eight brails, running up the front of the sail and returning to the stern of the boat. By working the brails, it is possible to quickly furl and unfurl the sail, or to change its geometry as required, or according to the wind. Finally, a little longer than the reconstruction model, Gyptis, measuring 9.85m in length, 1.88m in beam at the main frame, and 0.75m deep with a light draught 0.29m, weighing 750kg and ballasted with 720kg of pebbles from the river Durance (40km north of Marseille), was ready in mid November for the first sailing trials at sea. The second phase of experiments undertaken in the framework of the project was trials to establish the sailing capacity of the replica at sea. The main aim of the trials was to evaluate how well Gyptis is adapted to its proposed function, sailing area, and environment. For this purpose we paid special attention to how the quarter rudders and the square sail handled, and to the boat's performance under sail and under oar, but also to how the sewing and sealing materials stood up to being at sea. In order to make all these observations the boat had achieved, from mid November 2013 to June 2015, about 50 sailings, covering about 500 nautical miles in various conditions of sea and wind (Pomey and Poveda, forthcoming b). Trials are limited by Maritime Affairs’ rules for sailing replicas of historical boats as a result of the vessel's characteristics and equipment. So Gyptis is only sanctioned to sail in winds up to Beaufort 5, up to 6 nautical miles offshore, and during daylight. Theses voyages can be divided into distinct categories according to the two functions of the boat: firstly, day sailing in the Bay of Marseille corresponding to the main fishing area; and secondly, longer coastal journeys within a range of 50 nautical miles. The latter correspond to commercial goods redistribution, as evidenced by the wreck Bon-Porté 1, the sister-ship of the Jules-Verne 9, found in 1967 near Saint-Tropez with a small cargo of Etruscan and Massalian amphoras (Joncheray, 1976; Pomey, 1981) (Fig. 12, Table 1). As a result of its dimensions, its morphology, and its function, Gyptis was constructed with a double propulsion system of sail and oars. According to the ancient steering system attested by iconography, the boat is also equipped with two quarter rudders. The use of oars, 3.20m long, and made of ash, has mainly consisted of rowing with four (2 × 2) or six rowers (2 × 3). In long phases with a calm sea the average speed is 2.5 knots for a crew of four rowers and 3.5 knots for a crew of six rowers. The maximum speed achieved, for a few minutes only, was 4.1 knots at the cost of considerable effort from the rowers. In fact, the speed obtained while rowing much depends on sea and wind conditions and on the configuration of the boat—whether carrying cargo or crew, whether the yard is lowered or not, and so on (Fig. 12a). Handling the square sail was found to be demanding in terms of adjustment and trimming. The brails provide some security as they allow the sail to be furled very quickly if a problem occurs. The square sail proved to be particularly efficient running with the wind astern, and particularly at a broad reach, when speeds of 5–6 knots are easily attained with a medium breeze (Fig. 12e). The sailing trials also allowed Gyptis’ abilities when close-hauled to be ascertained. In this perspective, a relatively simple set of instruments was used to measure navigation data: a wind sensor placed at the top of the mast sent all of the necessary information for performance evaluation via Wi-Fi to a tablet equipped with a GPS (Englert, 2006; Palmer, 2009). Under ideal conditions, up to Beaufort 4 and a calm sea, Gyptis has an angle of upwind course over ground of 65°, including a leeway of about 15° (Fig. 12b). These tacks require the crew to pay very close attention, and the boat to be perfectly balanced. On the whole, going upwind is characterized by a significant decrease in the speed and a rapid increase in the leeway (15° to 25°), depending on the state of the sea (Fig. 13). It must be noted, that use of oars and sail together can be efficient under certain conditions, such as with low wind to hold the boat on course or while tacking (Fig. 12d). As for the quarter rudders, once adjusted to a good position, they are sensitive and efficient. In most cases, the use of only the leeward side rudder is sufficient, the other, on the windward side, is then lifted up (Figs 12c and d). The experience of constructing the sailing replica Gyptis has revealed much about ancient construction processes, and shown the remarkable know-how of Massalian shipwrights who were capable of achieving particularly efficient boats for their time. If experimentation has confirmed well-founded theories concerning the principles and methods of ‘shell-first construction’ and demonstrated the effectiveness of sewing as a means of joining the planks and lashing to attach the frames, it has also allowed some previously unsolved questions to be answered and, moreover, revealed unsuspected construction processes. The sailing trials have enabled the nautical qualities and performances of the ship to be identified on various tacks and for different sailing configurations. At the same time, a better understanding of the operating modes of the antique quarter rudder and the square rig has been obtained. Nevertheless, on this last point, there is still much to be learned as this field of exploration is particularly wide. Beyond the technical aspects, however important they may be, it should not be forgotten that building Gyptis, the sailing replica of an archaic Greek ship dating to the same century as the foundation of Marseille, also had an important heritage dimension that has enabled the city to reconnect with its earliest maritime heritage. The ‘Prôtis Project' was designed by a team of nautical archaeologists from the Centre Camille Jullian, under the direction of Patrice Pomey. Plans and models for the reconstruction study are by Michel Rival and Robert Roman. Xylological analysis was by Frédéric Guibal (AMU, CNRS). The specifications book was prepared by Sabrina Marlier. Coordination and sailing trials have been carried out by Pierre Poveda. The shipwrights from the Borg shipyard were Sammy Bertoliatti, José Cano, Thierry Garval, Pierre Jacot-Descombes, and Nabil Merabet. We would like to thank especially Bernard Morel, then professor at the University of Aix-Marseille, director of the Maison Méditerranéenne des Sciences de l'Homme and vice-president of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Region, who has supported the project and was its main architect.
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