How a Lost Ship Takes Shape

A ship on a museum floor and a ship under sail can begin with the same fragments. Between them lies a succession of decisions about which lines survive in the timber and which must be inferred.

Every missing timber leaves a question for the builder.

Reading the missing pieces

At Roskilde, researchers combine the surviving shapes of ship timbers with evidence from other finds, historical images and Nordic boatbuilding traditions. A reconstructed hull and its rig can therefore draw on different kinds of evidence, even when they appear together in one finished vessel.

Make a sketch with two pencils. Use a solid line for a surviving part and a broken line for a proposed continuation. The change in line is a useful reminder to ask what supports each choice.

Further reading at the Viking Ship Museum ↗