Early Medieval Slavic Ship Reassembled – History Blog

The wreckage of an early medieval Slavic ship discovered in 1984 is being pieced together by conservators of the Kamieńpomorski Museum of the History of Kamieńpomorski in northwestern Poland.

Its history can be traced back to the second half of the 12th century and has been used for a hundred years in the late 13th century. During this period, KamieńPomorski was an important center of trade and government in the Principality of Pomerania. It is estimated that its original dimensions are placed at a height of 12.1 meters (39.7 feet) in length, 2.84 meters (9.3 feet) in width and one meter (3.3 feet) in height. About half of the length (19.7 feet) is less than six meters (19.7 feet) and its width is 2.32 meters (7.6 feet).

The hull of the ship was found during drainage work, and its wood was well preserved by the water outlet environment. The excavator was cut by the excavator during a land improvement project before the crew realized they had found the historic wreck, but archaeologists were able to remove the remaining part of the hull and transport it to the archaeological pond in Szczecin to prevent the wood from drying.

The ship was discovered for 38 years in December 2022, and the conservator began a complex conservation plan. Oak wood was analyzed, sampled and freeze-dried to stabilize them for treatment.

“The work of assembling the fragments requires tremendous precision and patience, but the end result – showing such a well-preserved example of Slavic shipbuilding – would be impressive.” [Grzegorz Kurka, director of the Kamień Land History Museum] emphasize. The directors acknowledge that it is hard to say how long the entire process of assembling the ship will take, but the results of the work will be on display in the museum soon.

He also stressed that in the context of the development of maritime links in Nordic Europe and related to regional Slavic aviation, wreckage has great historical value and is a source of research on shipbuilding and navigation history.

“The ship may have two purposes depending on demand. It could have been a trading ship, but it could also be used in combat. However, we tend to think that it is a trading ship, perhaps belonging to the local aristocrats, but that’s just our theory,” said the museum director.