- Email: [email protected]
Boats of South Asia
The International Journal of Nautical Archaeology (1997) 26.4: 339–343
Note
Boats of South Asia
For the last two years Professor Sean McGrail, Dr Eric Kentley and the author have been involved in a project known as ‘Boats of South Asia’ under the auspices of the Society for South Asian Studies. An annual three-week season of fieldwork aims to undertake an ethnographic study of boats of the Indian sub-continent, evaluating the techniques used in the building of late-20th century plank-built boats. It is increasingly evident that the traditions of boatbuilding and handling in the region are changing, with the introduction of glass reinforced plastic hulls and outboard engines. Thus, it is the intention to record the traditional ‘country’ boats before they cease to exist. In this way an ethnographic database for the 20th century can be compiled which may also throw light on South Asia’s maritime past. There is very little direct knowledge of early vessels in Indian waters. There is only one boat with a confirmed early date in the entire Indian sub-continent: a log boat recovered from the Kelani Ganga in Sri Lanka, radio-carbon dated to the 6th to 4th centuries BC (Weizmann Institute, Jerusalem; Devendra, 1995). The only other known find is that of a 16th-century AD barge, probably of European design, found by chance in an abandoned tributary of the River Boro Bulong, near Balasore in northern Orissa (Behera, 1994: 67). Documentary evidence provides scant descriptions of boats dating from the 1st century AD, but there are a number of depictions on, for instance, seals, amulets, potsherds, that date from the late 3rd millennium BC Harappan culture through to the present century. 1057–2414/97/040339+05 $25.00/0 na970114
Reverse-clinker boatbuilding In 1996 a reverse-clinker fishing boat of Orissa, known as the patia was recorded at Kasafal, at the mouth of the Panchpara River, along the north-western reaches of the Bay of Bengal. From the measurements taken, a plan, a longitudinal section and several transverse sections were drawn. At Talesari, on the north bank of the Subarnarekha river mouth, a second patia was documented being built, and the boatbuilder was asked about the design of the vessel and techniques of construction. A full report has been published in South Asian Studies (Blue et al., 1997) and a brief summary of the results is as follows (Fig. 1). The patia is a near-double-ended fishing boat of the estuaries and coastal waters of northern Orissa. The overall dimensions of traditional patias, that is those without engines are: about 7 m in length, 1·30 m maximum beam, and 70 cm height of sides amidships. These boats are built shell-first. The lower eight strakes of planking, rising towards the stem and stern posts, are laid in reverse-clinker fashion with the upper planks overlapping the lower planks inboard. This is the opposite of the conventional, Northern European clinker tradition, where the upper planking overlaps and is outboard of the lower planks. The ninth strake stands on the eighth strake, forming a hard chine. The tenth and eleventh strakes are conventional clinker. The framing, which is fitted after the planking is fastened together, consists of: four floor timbers, seven upper crossbeams, two fixed lower crossbeams and ? 1997 The Nautical Archaeology Society
NAUTICAL ARCHAEOLOGY, 26.4
(a)
(b)
0
1m
Figure 1. (a) A view of the patia afloat at Kasafal, northern Orissa (Photo: L. Blue). (b) Midship cross-section of the patia, showing reverse-clinker construction (Illustration: E. Kentley).
several portable ones, and four side timbers. The plank fastenings and the frame-to-plank fastenings are iron nails which are clenched outboard by turning the emerging point back into the timber through 180 degrees. The patia is propelled 340
by oars, usually two oarsmen each with a single oar, or by a lugsail stepped near amidships. Steering is by means of a steering oar over the stern. The most striking feature of the patia fishing boat is the reverse-clinker planking.
NOTE
Figure 2. The vattai beached at Attirapattinam, Tamil Nadu (Photo: S. McGrail).
However, when the boatbuilder was asked why he constructed his vessel in this way, the only answer he could give was ‘tradition’. Elsewhere in South Asia vessels with reverse-clinker planking have only been noted in Bangladesh (Deloche, 1994: 169–170; Greenhill, 1976: 86–8). There are Indian depictions of boats that evidently have reverse-clinker planking but they are very few in number. They include a c. 12th-century AD stone carving in the Jagannath Temple, Puri, Orissa (Mookerji, 1912: 36), and a late 18thcentury AD depiction of the pettoo-a (Solvyns, 1799). Outside India actual examples of reverse-clinker planking are rare. Some 16th-century AD timber fragments have been excavated from Morgan’s Lane, Southwark, London (Marsden, 1996: 136–144), which could be reverseclinker planks, otherwise known to the
author, there are only ‘the scanty remains of a small reversed-clinker built ship’ known as the Medieval Utrecht II boat. This had a large fragment of reverseclinker ship planking adjacent to it. (Hoekstra, 1975: 390). It has been suggested that late Medieval hulcs of North-West Europe had this type of planking (Greenhill, 1995: 71–72, 251–255). Thus, it is possible that documenting the patia may help to shed some light on the construction technique of this elusive hulc. The design of frame-first boats The majority of traditional boats observed on the Bay of Bengal coast are, like the patia, are apparently designed ‘by eye’, that is, without the use of models or drawings, and built plank-first (Greenhill, 1995: 47–72). However, during the 1997 season of fieldwork, in the most southerly state of 341
NAUTICAL ARCHAEOLOGY, 26.4
Figure 3. The Cuddalore kotia under construction (Photo: L. Blue).
India, Tamil Nadu, vessels were observed being built by frame-first methods which first involved designing the framing. At shipyards in Tuticorin and Cuddalore, and at a boatyard in Attirapattinam, mestri (master builders) were seen to design most of the framing using only a mould of the master frame on a scrieve board (boats) or a mould loft floor (ships). Thus, the overall shape of the framework of the ships and boats observed was designed by simple geometric means, derived from the shape of a master frame. A beached vattai fishing boat was recorded and a second boat was documented under construction, at Attirapattinam (Fig. 2). The techniques used to ‘design’ the c. 13 m long vattai fishing boat are similar to those used in the design of the much larger, but similarly built, Tuticorin thoni and Cuddalore kotia (225–650 tonnes cargo carriers; Fig. 3). 342
A report is currently being compiled for the South Asian Studies which details the observations made on the building of these frame-first vessels. In Europe framefirst methods were first introduced to North West Europe in late-Roman times, were later archaeologically visible in the Mediterranean in the Byzantine period, and subsequently became known as the ‘Mediterranean moulding’ technique (McGrail, 1997). The results of this study of frame-first design and building techniques used in Tamil Nadu, may be compared to related methods used in 20thcentury Brazil (Sarsfield, 1984; 1988), and Newfoundland (Taylor, 1988) which are thought to derive from the ‘Mediterranean moulding’ technique, and thus shed light on the design methods used in LateMedieval Europe (Bellabarba, 1993). This note is not intended to give a comprehensive account of the work
NOTE
undertaken by the ‘Boats of South Asia’ project but simply to highlight the value of ethnographic study and inform IJNA readers. For a detailed report see the South Asian Studies volumes 13 and 14. Future plans are to investigate whether reverseclinker vessels are built in West Bengal and still exist in Bangladesh, in the hope of
defining the full geographical extent of, and design variations in, this unusual form of boatbuilding. Lucy Blue Department of Archaeology University of Southampton Highfield Southampton SO17 1BJ, UK
References
Behera, K. S., 1944, Maritime contacts of Orissa: literary and archaeological evidence. Utkal Historical Research Journal, 5: 55–70. Bellabarba, S., 1993, Ancient methods of designing hulls. M. M., 79: 274–292. Blue, L. K., Kentley, E., McGrail, S. & Mishra, U., 1997, The patia fishing boat of Orissa: a case study in Ethnoarchaeology. South Asian Studies, 13: 212–231. Deloche, J., 1994, Transport and communication in India, 2. Water Transport. Oxford. Devendra, S., 1995, Premodern Sri-Lankan watercraft: the twin-hulled logboat. Royal Asiatic Society of Sri Lanka, Sesquicentennial Commemorative Volume: 211–238. Greenhill, B., 1976, Archaeology of the Boat. A New Introductory Study. London. Greenhill, B., 1995, Archaeology of Boats and Ships. London. Hoekstra, T.J., 1975, Utrecht. IJNA, 4: 390. Marsden, P., 1996, Ships of the Port of London 12th to 17th centuries AD. English Heritage, Archaeological Report 5. London. McGrail, S., 1993, Medieval Boat and Ship Timbers from Dublin. Dublin. McGrail, S., 1997, Early frame-first methods of building wooden boats and ships. M M, 83:1: 76–80. Mookerji, R., 1912, Indian Shipping. A History of the Sea-borne Trade and Maritime Activity of the Indians from the Earliest Times. London. Sarsfield, J., 1984, Mediterranean whole moulding. M. M., 70: 86–88. Sarsfield, J., 1988, Survival of pre-16th century Mediterranean lofting techniques in Bahia, Brazil. O.L. Filguerias (Ed.), Local Boats, 63–86, BAR International Series 438. Oxford. Solvyns, F. B., 1799, Les Hindoos, 3. Calcutta. Taylor, D. A., 1988, Contemporary use of whole moulding in the vicinity of Trinity Bay, Newfoundland, in O.L. Filguerias (Ed.), Local Boats, 87–89 BAR International Series 438. Oxford.
343
Note
Boats of South Asia
For the last two years Professor Sean McGrail, Dr Eric Kentley and the author have been involved in a project known as ‘Boats of South Asia’ under the auspices of the Society for South Asian Studies. An annual three-week season of fieldwork aims to undertake an ethnographic study of boats of the Indian sub-continent, evaluating the techniques used in the building of late-20th century plank-built boats. It is increasingly evident that the traditions of boatbuilding and handling in the region are changing, with the introduction of glass reinforced plastic hulls and outboard engines. Thus, it is the intention to record the traditional ‘country’ boats before they cease to exist. In this way an ethnographic database for the 20th century can be compiled which may also throw light on South Asia’s maritime past. There is very little direct knowledge of early vessels in Indian waters. There is only one boat with a confirmed early date in the entire Indian sub-continent: a log boat recovered from the Kelani Ganga in Sri Lanka, radio-carbon dated to the 6th to 4th centuries BC (Weizmann Institute, Jerusalem; Devendra, 1995). The only other known find is that of a 16th-century AD barge, probably of European design, found by chance in an abandoned tributary of the River Boro Bulong, near Balasore in northern Orissa (Behera, 1994: 67). Documentary evidence provides scant descriptions of boats dating from the 1st century AD, but there are a number of depictions on, for instance, seals, amulets, potsherds, that date from the late 3rd millennium BC Harappan culture through to the present century. 1057–2414/97/040339+05 $25.00/0 na970114
Reverse-clinker boatbuilding In 1996 a reverse-clinker fishing boat of Orissa, known as the patia was recorded at Kasafal, at the mouth of the Panchpara River, along the north-western reaches of the Bay of Bengal. From the measurements taken, a plan, a longitudinal section and several transverse sections were drawn. At Talesari, on the north bank of the Subarnarekha river mouth, a second patia was documented being built, and the boatbuilder was asked about the design of the vessel and techniques of construction. A full report has been published in South Asian Studies (Blue et al., 1997) and a brief summary of the results is as follows (Fig. 1). The patia is a near-double-ended fishing boat of the estuaries and coastal waters of northern Orissa. The overall dimensions of traditional patias, that is those without engines are: about 7 m in length, 1·30 m maximum beam, and 70 cm height of sides amidships. These boats are built shell-first. The lower eight strakes of planking, rising towards the stem and stern posts, are laid in reverse-clinker fashion with the upper planks overlapping the lower planks inboard. This is the opposite of the conventional, Northern European clinker tradition, where the upper planking overlaps and is outboard of the lower planks. The ninth strake stands on the eighth strake, forming a hard chine. The tenth and eleventh strakes are conventional clinker. The framing, which is fitted after the planking is fastened together, consists of: four floor timbers, seven upper crossbeams, two fixed lower crossbeams and ? 1997 The Nautical Archaeology Society
NAUTICAL ARCHAEOLOGY, 26.4
(a)
(b)
0
1m
Figure 1. (a) A view of the patia afloat at Kasafal, northern Orissa (Photo: L. Blue). (b) Midship cross-section of the patia, showing reverse-clinker construction (Illustration: E. Kentley).
several portable ones, and four side timbers. The plank fastenings and the frame-to-plank fastenings are iron nails which are clenched outboard by turning the emerging point back into the timber through 180 degrees. The patia is propelled 340
by oars, usually two oarsmen each with a single oar, or by a lugsail stepped near amidships. Steering is by means of a steering oar over the stern. The most striking feature of the patia fishing boat is the reverse-clinker planking.
NOTE
Figure 2. The vattai beached at Attirapattinam, Tamil Nadu (Photo: S. McGrail).
However, when the boatbuilder was asked why he constructed his vessel in this way, the only answer he could give was ‘tradition’. Elsewhere in South Asia vessels with reverse-clinker planking have only been noted in Bangladesh (Deloche, 1994: 169–170; Greenhill, 1976: 86–8). There are Indian depictions of boats that evidently have reverse-clinker planking but they are very few in number. They include a c. 12th-century AD stone carving in the Jagannath Temple, Puri, Orissa (Mookerji, 1912: 36), and a late 18thcentury AD depiction of the pettoo-a (Solvyns, 1799). Outside India actual examples of reverse-clinker planking are rare. Some 16th-century AD timber fragments have been excavated from Morgan’s Lane, Southwark, London (Marsden, 1996: 136–144), which could be reverseclinker planks, otherwise known to the
author, there are only ‘the scanty remains of a small reversed-clinker built ship’ known as the Medieval Utrecht II boat. This had a large fragment of reverseclinker ship planking adjacent to it. (Hoekstra, 1975: 390). It has been suggested that late Medieval hulcs of North-West Europe had this type of planking (Greenhill, 1995: 71–72, 251–255). Thus, it is possible that documenting the patia may help to shed some light on the construction technique of this elusive hulc. The design of frame-first boats The majority of traditional boats observed on the Bay of Bengal coast are, like the patia, are apparently designed ‘by eye’, that is, without the use of models or drawings, and built plank-first (Greenhill, 1995: 47–72). However, during the 1997 season of fieldwork, in the most southerly state of 341
NAUTICAL ARCHAEOLOGY, 26.4
Figure 3. The Cuddalore kotia under construction (Photo: L. Blue).
India, Tamil Nadu, vessels were observed being built by frame-first methods which first involved designing the framing. At shipyards in Tuticorin and Cuddalore, and at a boatyard in Attirapattinam, mestri (master builders) were seen to design most of the framing using only a mould of the master frame on a scrieve board (boats) or a mould loft floor (ships). Thus, the overall shape of the framework of the ships and boats observed was designed by simple geometric means, derived from the shape of a master frame. A beached vattai fishing boat was recorded and a second boat was documented under construction, at Attirapattinam (Fig. 2). The techniques used to ‘design’ the c. 13 m long vattai fishing boat are similar to those used in the design of the much larger, but similarly built, Tuticorin thoni and Cuddalore kotia (225–650 tonnes cargo carriers; Fig. 3). 342
A report is currently being compiled for the South Asian Studies which details the observations made on the building of these frame-first vessels. In Europe framefirst methods were first introduced to North West Europe in late-Roman times, were later archaeologically visible in the Mediterranean in the Byzantine period, and subsequently became known as the ‘Mediterranean moulding’ technique (McGrail, 1997). The results of this study of frame-first design and building techniques used in Tamil Nadu, may be compared to related methods used in 20thcentury Brazil (Sarsfield, 1984; 1988), and Newfoundland (Taylor, 1988) which are thought to derive from the ‘Mediterranean moulding’ technique, and thus shed light on the design methods used in LateMedieval Europe (Bellabarba, 1993). This note is not intended to give a comprehensive account of the work
NOTE
undertaken by the ‘Boats of South Asia’ project but simply to highlight the value of ethnographic study and inform IJNA readers. For a detailed report see the South Asian Studies volumes 13 and 14. Future plans are to investigate whether reverseclinker vessels are built in West Bengal and still exist in Bangladesh, in the hope of
defining the full geographical extent of, and design variations in, this unusual form of boatbuilding. Lucy Blue Department of Archaeology University of Southampton Highfield Southampton SO17 1BJ, UK
References
Behera, K. S., 1944, Maritime contacts of Orissa: literary and archaeological evidence. Utkal Historical Research Journal, 5: 55–70. Bellabarba, S., 1993, Ancient methods of designing hulls. M. M., 79: 274–292. Blue, L. K., Kentley, E., McGrail, S. & Mishra, U., 1997, The patia fishing boat of Orissa: a case study in Ethnoarchaeology. South Asian Studies, 13: 212–231. Deloche, J., 1994, Transport and communication in India, 2. Water Transport. Oxford. Devendra, S., 1995, Premodern Sri-Lankan watercraft: the twin-hulled logboat. Royal Asiatic Society of Sri Lanka, Sesquicentennial Commemorative Volume: 211–238. Greenhill, B., 1976, Archaeology of the Boat. A New Introductory Study. London. Greenhill, B., 1995, Archaeology of Boats and Ships. London. Hoekstra, T.J., 1975, Utrecht. IJNA, 4: 390. Marsden, P., 1996, Ships of the Port of London 12th to 17th centuries AD. English Heritage, Archaeological Report 5. London. McGrail, S., 1993, Medieval Boat and Ship Timbers from Dublin. Dublin. McGrail, S., 1997, Early frame-first methods of building wooden boats and ships. M M, 83:1: 76–80. Mookerji, R., 1912, Indian Shipping. A History of the Sea-borne Trade and Maritime Activity of the Indians from the Earliest Times. London. Sarsfield, J., 1984, Mediterranean whole moulding. M. M., 70: 86–88. Sarsfield, J., 1988, Survival of pre-16th century Mediterranean lofting techniques in Bahia, Brazil. O.L. Filguerias (Ed.), Local Boats, 63–86, BAR International Series 438. Oxford. Solvyns, F. B., 1799, Les Hindoos, 3. Calcutta. Taylor, D. A., 1988, Contemporary use of whole moulding in the vicinity of Trinity Bay, Newfoundland, in O.L. Filguerias (Ed.), Local Boats, 87–89 BAR International Series 438. Oxford.
343