Fiumicino 1
Giulia Boetto
See this text in:
Introduction
The Fiumicino 1 wreck was found in 1959 during work on Leonardo
da Vinci
airport at Fiumicino (Rome) on the site of the ancient harbour
basin built in
42 AD by the emperor Claudius. The hull was salvaged in 1961 and,
after
conservation with a mixture of resins, was exhibited in 1979 in
the Museum of the Roman Ships.
Fiumicino 1 is a flat bottomed ship. Her shape and structure resemble
those of
Fiumicino 2, but she is better preserved in the upper lines of
the hull.
The wreck is conserved from sternpost to stem for a length of
13,83 m. The
starboard side from the middle body forward is 1,47 m high, while
the
remaining part and the port side are broken along the knee. The
maximum width conserved is of 4,57 m.
The hull remains
The keel
The keel is made of two pieces: the sterngripe and the keel. The
former (2,72 m long) is joined to the keel with a hook scarf but
this scarf is not fixed by a transversal bolt, as is normal in
other Roman ships. The internal step of the scarf is stiffened
by three wooden pegs.
The sterngripe (10/12 cm wide and 16 cm high) has asymmetric rabbets
to fix
the garboard and the ends of the other planks. The connection
is made with
iron nails.
The keel, a single piece of wood 11,11 m long, starts with a rectangular
section (17 cm high, 13 cm wide), it then becomes an overturned
trapezium (15 cm high, 12/9 cm wide) and then a square (10,5 cm
high, 10 cm wide). The sides are straight and not moulded for
connection with the garboards.
The Planking
The ship is single planked and carvel built.
Along the starboard side, the garboard is formed by two planks
(30 cm wide
and respectively 4,5 cm and 3,5 cm thick) and, on the port side,
by a single
plank (length 12, 51 m, 24 cm wide and 3 cm thick). The assembly
with the
middle body of the keel is made by mortise-and-tenon joints. Along
the
starboard side the tenons are fixed by treenails only on the garboard
and not
on the keel, while on port side the tenons are unpegged. From
the internal
surface of garboards, transversal iron nails have been driven
into the keel.
Troncopyramidal holes have been cut to avoid protrusion of the
nail heads.
The middle body of the ship has six strakes on both sides, with
very
wide planks (29-40 cm). The average thickness is 4,4 cm, while
in general the length is more than 6 m.
These planks are sharpened
and connected to the other
planks, which are narrower and thinner, by tenon-and-mortise joints
and by iron nails driven into the board edges. In this manner
it was possible to close the hull
shape at the ends of the ship.
The planking is assembled by mortise-and-tenon joints. The distance
between
pegs fixing tenons is irregular and measures on average 41,5 cm.
The tenons
(4,3 cm wide, 0,3/0,6 thick, 8/9 cm high) are much smaller than
the mortises
into which they are inserted (7,4 cm wide, 0,7/1 cm thick and
4,5 cm deep)
and both mortises and tenons are highly tapered. The pegs are
lightly
troncoconical and have been driven from the inside of the hull
(internal
diameter 1,1/1,3 cm, external 0,7/1,0 cm). The section is polygonal
with the
characteristic narrowing caused by the movement of the tenons
in mortises.
There are also planks with unpegged tenons and planks without
any tenons.
These ancient repairs have been fixed to the frame only by iron
nails,
while in the adjacent planks there are the mortises of the precedent
joints.
The port side garboard and perhaps also the keel have been replaced.
This allows us to understand why there are tenons pegged only
along the starboard side and transversal nails to strengthen the
structure. Moreover, there is a very thin plank, a sort of
"stopgap", nailed to frames between port side garboard
and the second strake
Perhaps the unpegged tenons of the other planks are indicators
of ancient
repairs, but this is also a constructional characteristic of this
ship. In
fact, a "loose" fragment of wale, probably belonging
to the ship, has pegged
treenails along one border and unpegged tenons along the other.
Also, on
the external border of the starboard side planks, we have recorded
an
alternation between pegged and unpegged tenons.
The Frames
The ship now possess 42 frames, rectangular or trapezoidal in
section (6/10
cm wide and 7/12 cm high) while the first floor timbers aftward
are higher
(from a low of 13 to a high of 18 cm). In general, the frames
are arranged in
the common pattern of floor timbers alternating with half frames
though their
distance is irregular (on average 19 cm). On the starboard side,
the
preserved futtocks are not fastened to the floor timbers.
The ship has rectangular limber holes (5 cm wide and 3 cm high),
one in a
central position along the keel and two in lateral positions along
the third
strake. Where the half frames are very narrow there is a half
limber hole on
each element.
The frame is fastened to planking by nails (squared shaft of 1/1,2
side, head
diameter 3,8/4,4 cm) driven through pre-inserted treenails (diameter
about
1,5 cm). Originally, the tips were clinched on the timbers.
Five floor-timbers are bolted to the keel. A sixth bolt has been
driven
through the sterngripe. The iron bolts are long nails driven from
the outside
of the keel passing through the limber holes (head diameter 4/4,5
cm,
decreasing shaft diameter from 2,5/2,2 cm to 1,6 cm). Through
the floor
timber the section becomes squared (sides of 1,2 cm) and the bolts
are driven into a pre-inserted treenail, similar to the other
links between frame and
planking. These bolts were clinched on the floor timbers.
The keelson
The keelson (2,75 m long, from 5 to 10 cm wide and 15 cm high)
is no longer in the right position: originally it was further
forward and fastened to
the frame and the keel by the iron bolts. On the upper surface,
there is a
very simple mast step with a slide to lower the mast (15 cm long,
5 cm wide
and 6 cm deep) and a squared recess to support a stanchion (sides
of 5 cm,
depth of 3,5 cm).
The Ceiling
Two displaced fragments of internal planks are conserved too. The former is
5,29 m long while the second measures 1,71 m. Moreover, both are 14 cm wide
and 3,5 cm thick. The longer one has empty holes probably for iron nails used
to fix it to frame. However, no traces of tips of iron nails are present on
the upper surface of framing, testimony to the presence of a fixed planking
on the bottom of the ship.
The Types of wood
Because of the resin treatments and the dryness and the hardness of wood, it
is possible to glean only general information regarding the types of wood used
in the structure of the ship. These have been identified as cypress (Cupressus
sempervirens), stone pine (Pinus pinea) and oak (Quercus sp.)
for the planking, oak (Quercus sp.) for the keel and the keelson and,
together with holm (Quercus ilex) for the frame. The holm was used also
for tenons and pegs while willow (Salix sp.) was used for the pre-inserted
treenails connecting frame to planking.
The Tool marks
Some tool marks have been recorded on Fiumicino 1. A saw has been used to make
logs into planking for the external and internal longitudinal woodwork. The
use of adzes is evident in the lowering of the external surface of some planks
to avoid the protrusion of the nail heads. Also the bottom of starboard garboard
has been trimmed by adze to connect it to the rabbet of the sterngripe. The
adze was used for the frame, but evidence of the use of a saw is also apparent.
Interpretation of hull remains
These technological observations about the ancient system of construction
allow us to advance some hypotheses on:
1. the date of the ship;
2. the principles and methods of construction;
3. the type of ship.
Date
The date of Fiumicino 1 is still uncertain. The result of
C14 analysis
is imprecise (13050 AD) and very different if compared with the
date
given by the associated material (IV-V cent. AD). However, the
late date of
the ship seems confirmed by some structural characteristics:
The high spaced mortise-and-tenon joints. Similar characteristics
are
present on the IV century AD wrecks of the County Hall, Yassi
Ada II, Dramont
E and on the V cent. AD wreck Dramont F.
The shape and size of the mortise-and-tenon joints are similar
to those of
the Yassi Ada II.
The presence of unpegged tenons as in the byzantine Yassi Ada
I wreck.
The widespread use of iron (nails driven through pre-inserted
treenails) to
fasten the frame to the planking.
Principles and methods of construction
The Fiumicino 1 appears to be based on the "shell-first"
construction
principle because of:
the general homogeneity of the planking with tenon-and-mortise
joints;
the weaknesses in the frames with futtocks not fastened to floor
timbers
and, in general, the absence of connection between these and the
keel.
However, we have recorded some particular construction processes.
They are:
floor timbers bolted to the keel;
unpegged tenons;
transversal iron nails connecting garboards to keel;
looseness of tenons.
Finally, it is possible that the numerous repairs and substitutions
-which
are probably in part "skeleton-first" construction solutions
or
processes - are tied to the long life of this river barge, to
later
interventions on it and to the necessity of strengthening the
general
structure of the hull.
Type of ship
The analysis of the hull allows us to identify Fiumicino 1
with a
particular type of ship. First of all, we are forced to conclude
that the
original position of the keelson was much further forward, because
we found
bolts connecting it to the frames and to the keel. In addition,
this
position is also confirmed by the photographs taken during the
excavation.
Moreover, the maststep has an internal slide to lower the mast
which
indicates the position of the prow, while the previous studies
wrongly
identified the stern of the ship as the stem.
The general structure of the hull, with the curved stern, the
elongated stem
and the mast which is set forward of the centre of gravity in
the fore part
of the vessel, lead us believe that Fiumicino 1 could be a caudicaria
navis.
The family of the caudicariae naves - towed boats utilised
on the Tiber
up the city of Rome - is known not only from ancient sources (Sen.,
De Brev.
Vitae, XIII, 4; Varr. and Sall. apud Nonnius s.v.;
Isid., Etym. sive Orig.,
XIX, I, 27), but also from several pictorial representations dating
from the
II to the IV century AD, such as the Vaticano fresco, the Piazzale
delle
Corporazioni mosaic, the Museo Nazionale Romano and the Salerno
reliefs.
Distinctive elements of the family are: the rounded hull at stern,
the
elongated stem typical of river barges, the advanced towing mast
with cleats,
the absence of sails, the tow line fastened to a bollard on the
mast and
towing posts or a small support at the gunwale, the lateral rudder,
the deck
and a stern cabin.
In Fiumicino 1, the tow line was fastened to the mast on the centreline
between 20% and 40% of the length from the bow, so the boat was
then towed
parallel to the near bank with minimum use of the steering device.
The
maststep is indeed very simple and of limited size. It is more
similar to a
foremast and we do not know if the mast was also used for a spritsail,
because dual purpose masts are known of and because of the difficulty
of
differentiating towing masts and their fittings from masts for
sails.
Finally, Fiumicino 1 was towed from the right bank by beats as
reported by
Procopius (Bell. Goth., V, XXVI), a practice used on the Tiber
river till the
XIXth century.
Back to the homepage of NAVIS
The keel is made of two pieces: the sterngripe and the keel. The
former (2,72 m long) is joined to the keel with a hook scarf but
this scarf is not fixed by a transversal bolt, as is normal in
other Roman ships. The internal step of the scarf is stiffened
by three wooden pegs.
The ship is single planked and carvel built.
Along the starboard side, the garboard is formed by two planks
(30 cm wide
and respectively 4,5 cm and 3,5 cm thick) and, on the port side,
by a single
plank (length 12, 51 m, 24 cm wide and 3 cm thick). The assembly
with the
middle body of the keel is made by mortise-and-tenon joints. Along
the
starboard side the tenons are fixed by treenails only on the garboard
and not
on the keel, while on port side the tenons are unpegged. From
the internal
surface of garboards, transversal iron nails have been driven
into the keel.
Troncopyramidal holes have been cut to avoid protrusion of the
nail heads.
These planks are sharpened
and connected to the other
planks, which are narrower and thinner, by tenon-and-mortise joints
and by iron nails driven into the board edges. In this manner
it was possible to close the hull
shape at the ends of the ship. 
There are also planks with unpegged tenons and planks without
any tenons.
These ancient repairs have been fixed to the frame only by iron
nails,
while in the adjacent planks there are the mortises of the precedent
joints.
The port side garboard and perhaps also the keel have been replaced.
This allows us to understand why there are tenons pegged only
along the starboard side and transversal nails to strengthen the
structure. Moreover, there is a very thin plank, a sort of
"stopgap", nailed to frames between port side garboard
and the second strake
The ship now possess 42 frames, rectangular or trapezoidal in
section (6/10
cm wide and 7/12 cm high) while the first floor timbers aftward
are higher
(from a low of 13 to a high of 18 cm). In general, the frames
are arranged in
the common pattern of floor timbers alternating with half frames
though their
distance is irregular (on average 19 cm). On the starboard side,
the
preserved futtocks are not fastened to the floor timbers.
The ship has rectangular limber holes (5 cm wide and 3 cm high),
one in a
central position along the keel and two in lateral positions along
the third
strake. Where the half frames are very narrow there is a half
limber hole on
each element.
Five floor-timbers are bolted to the keel. A sixth bolt has been
driven
through the sterngripe. The iron bolts are long nails driven from
the outside
of the keel passing through the limber holes (head diameter 4/4,5
cm,
decreasing shaft diameter from 2,5/2,2 cm to 1,6 cm). Through
the floor
timber the section becomes squared (sides of 1,2 cm) and the bolts
are driven into a pre-inserted treenail, similar to the other
links between frame and
planking. These bolts were clinched on the floor timbers.
The keelson (2,75 m long, from 5 to 10 cm wide and 15 cm high)
is no longer in the right position: originally it was further
forward and fastened to
the frame and the keel by the iron bolts. On the upper surface,
there is a
very simple mast step with a slide to lower the mast (15 cm long,
5 cm wide
and 6 cm deep) and a squared recess to support a stanchion (sides
of 5 cm,
depth of 3,5 cm).
Some tool marks have been recorded on Fiumicino 1. A saw has been used to make
logs into planking for the external and internal longitudinal woodwork. The
use of adzes is evident in the lowering of the external surface of some planks
to avoid the protrusion of the nail heads. Also the bottom of starboard garboard
has been trimmed by adze to connect it to the rabbet of the sterngripe. The
adze was used for the frame, but evidence of the use of a saw is also apparent.
The general structure of the hull, with the curved stern, the
elongated stem
and the mast which is set forward of the centre of gravity in
the fore part
of the vessel, lead us believe that Fiumicino 1 could be a caudicaria
navis.