Shipbuilding Tools from the Bronze Age Boatbuilder to the Traditional Shipwright: Tracing the Evidence in the Mediterranean Basin

Eleni Maragoudaki Στο H. Frielinghaus, T. Schmidts & V. Tsamakda (eds) 2017. Schiffe und ihr Kontext. Darstellungen, Modelle, Bestandteile-von der Bronzezeit bis zum Ende des Byzantinischen Reiches. Internationale Kolloquium 24-25. Mai 2013 in Mainz, Mainz: 233-247.

The present study traces the presence of shipbuilding tools through time and discerns the changes to which they were subjected, when and why. The aim set was developed through the recording, re-examination and classification of the available archaeological and ethno-archaeological evidence. Moreover, experimental methods like tool reconstruction and partial hull rebuilding proved useful in the allocation of sufficient criteria for understanding the use of a tool (utility, functional differences). Through the aforementioned process it could be proven that the types of woodworking tools used in shipbuilding have persisted largely without fundamental changes, while the tool evolution is due to the material and techniques used, as well as to socio-cultural influences.