Herculaneum South-east corner. Building with boat exhibition.
Ercolano. Angolo sud-est. Edificio con mostra in barca.
Herculaneum Entrance and views across terrace Terrace of Marcus Nonius Balbus Suburban Baths, atrium and surrounding rooms Suburban Baths, Waiting room, Frigidarium and Tepidarium Suburban Baths Caldarium Sacred Area Terrace Shrine of Venus Temple of four Gods Terrace north-west corner Ancient shoreline, arched vaults or boatsheds Building with boat exhibition
Herculaneum, June 2019.
Entrance to boat exhibit, and other artefacts. This can be found on the south side (left) of the access roadway. Photo courtesy of Buzz Ferebee.
Herculaneum, June 2019. Looking towards the boat in its support
frame. Photo courtesy of Buzz Ferebee.
According
to the information card –
“One
of the most important discoveries on the ancient shoreline happened on 3rd
August 1982, when the keel of a boat overturned by the force of the eruption
began to emerge from the volcanic material in front of the Suburban Baths.
It
lay on top of a debris layer made up of beams, pieces of wood, roof tiles and
building materials that had been carried by the first volcanic flow from the
city’s rooftops onto the beach below.
Later
a faster and more destructive pyroclastic flow came into contact with the sea,
creating eddies and seismic sea waves that knocked the boat over, hurling it
onto the beach. During this event the boat was damaged by the large roof and
floor beams from Herculaneum’s houses, which smashed the keel and bent the
planking, ending up wedged there,
The
boat was then buried by the subsequent pyroclastic flows and remained sealed in
the volcanic material which quickly hardened, and as this kept out oxygen, the
wood was preserved.”
Herculaneum, June 2019.
Drawing of how the boat would have looked, detail from information
card at exhibition. Photo courtesy of Buzz Ferebee.
Herculaneum, photo taken between October 2014 and November
2019.
Looking across exhibits towards the boat in its support frame. Photo courtesy of Giuseppe Ciaramella.
Herculaneum, June 2019. Looking towards stern of boat with attachment
for rudder. Photo courtesy of Buzz Ferebee.
Herculaneum, June 2019. Boat information card. Photo courtesy of
Buzz Ferebee.
Herculaneum, August 2021.
Carbonised wooden boat found on 3rd
August 1982 on the ancient beachfront. Photo courtesy
of Robert Hanson.
Herculaneum, June 2019.
Carbonised wooden boat found on 3rd August 1982 on the
ancient beachfront. Looking towards the stern. Photo courtesy of Buzz Ferebee.
Herculaneum, photo taken between October 2014 and November 2019.
Carbonised wooden boat found on 3rd August 1982 on the ancient beachfront, the boat is about 10 metres in length.
Photo courtesy of
Giuseppe Ciaramella.
Herculaneum, June 2019. Information card, showing detail of wooden
planking. Photo courtesy of Buzz Ferebee.
Herculaneum, June 2019.
Looking towards stern, with V shaped element used for attaching
the rudder. Photo courtesy of Buzz Ferebee.
Herculaneum, June 2019. Detail of wooden planking near stern of
boat. Photo courtesy of Buzz Ferebee.
Herculaneum, June 2019. Detail of wooden planking. Photo courtesy
of Buzz Ferebee.
Herculaneum, June 2019. Detail of wooden planking near stern on
other side of boat. Photo courtesy of Buzz Ferebee.
Herculaneum, June 2019. Detail of carbonised wooden interior of
boat. Photo courtesy of Buzz Ferebee.
Herculaneum, photo taken between October 2014 and November 2019.
Detail of carbonised wooden interior of boat. Photo courtesy of Giuseppe Ciaramella.
Herculaneum, June 2019. Detail. Photo courtesy of Buzz Ferebee.
Herculaneum, June 2019. Detail. Photo courtesy of Buzz Ferebee.
Herculaneum, June 2019. Detail. Photo courtesy of Buzz Ferebee.
Herculaneum, June 2019. Detail. Photo courtesy of Buzz Ferebee.
Herculaneum, June 2019. Detail. Photo courtesy of Buzz Ferebee.
Herculaneum, June 2019. Detail of conservation work on boat from
information card. Photo courtesy of Buzz Ferebee.
Herculaneum, June 2019. Detail of exterior of carbonised wooden
boat. Photo courtesy of Buzz Ferebee.
Herculaneum, June 2019. Detail of element for attaching the
rudder. Photo courtesy of Buzz Ferebee.
Herculaneum, June 2019. Detail of element for attaching the
rudder. Photo courtesy of Buzz Ferebee.
Herculaneum, June 2019. Detail of element for attaching the
rudder. Photo courtesy of Buzz Ferebee.
Herculaneum, June 2019. Detail of element for attaching the
rudder. Photo courtesy of Buzz Ferebee.
Herculaneum, June 2019. Detail. Photo courtesy of Buzz Ferebee.
Herculaneum, June 2019. Detail. Photo courtesy of Buzz Ferebee.
Herculaneum, June 2019. Detail. Photo courtesy of Buzz Ferebee.
Herculaneum, June 2019. Detail. Photo courtesy of Buzz Ferebee.
Herculaneum, June 2019. Detail. Photo courtesy of Buzz Ferebee.
Herculaneum, June 2019. Detail. Photo courtesy of Buzz Ferebee.
Herculaneum, June 2019. Detail. Photo courtesy of Buzz Ferebee.
Herculaneum, June 2019. Detail. Photo courtesy of Buzz Ferebee.
Herculaneum, June 2019. Detail. Photo courtesy of Buzz Ferebee.
Herculaneum, June 2019. Detail. Photo courtesy of Buzz Ferebee.
Herculaneum, June 2019. Detail. Photo courtesy of Buzz Ferebee.
Herculaneum, June 2019. Exterior detail. Photo courtesy of Buzz
Ferebee.
Beachfront, Herculaneum, June 2019. Anchor with lead anchor stock,
found in the sea in front of the seashore.
Now on display with the boat exhibit. Photo courtesy of Buzz
Ferebee.
Herculaneum, June 2019. Detail of anchor found in the sea in front
of Herculaneum’s seashore. Photo courtesy of Buzz Ferebee.
Herculaneum, June 2019. Detail of anchor found in the sea in front
of Herculaneum’s seashore. Photo courtesy of Buzz Ferebee.
Herculaneum, June 2019. Detail of anchor found in the sea in front
of Herculaneum’s seashore. Photo courtesy of Buzz Ferebee.
Herculaneum, June 2019. Wooden oars and anchor. Photo courtesy of
Buzz Ferebee.
Herculaneum, June 2019. Carbonised wooden oars.
Six oars were found in the bath building in
Insula Occidentalis at Herculaneum.
Also found were parts of other boats, a red
prow in the shape of a serpent, a wooden rudder and a pile of planking ready
for use.
This shows that the bath building was not
in use at the time of the eruption but had been transformed into a space for
laying-up boats and storing maritime equipment.
Photo courtesy of Buzz Ferebee.
Herculaneum, June 2019. Wooden oars, Photo courtesy of Buzz
Ferebee.
Herculaneum, June 2019. Wooden oars. Photo courtesy of Buzz
Ferebee.
Herculaneum, June 2019. Detail of wooden oars. Photo courtesy of
Buzz Ferebee.
Herculaneum, June 2019. Wooden rudder. Photo courtesy of Buzz
Ferebee.
Herculaneum, June 2014. Wooden rudder. Photo courtesy of Michael Binns.
Herculaneum, June 2019. Wooden rudder. Photo courtesy of Buzz
Ferebee.
Herculaneum, June 2019. Detail from wooden rudder. Photo courtesy
of Buzz Ferebee.
Herculaneum, June 2019. Red prow in
the shape of a serpent. Photo courtesy of Buzz Ferebee.
Herculaneum, June 2014.
Red prow of a boat in the shape of a serpent’s head. Photo courtesy of Michael Binns.
Herculaneum, June 2019. Detail from red prow in the shape of a
serpent. Photo courtesy of Buzz Ferebee.
Herculaneum, June 2019. Detail from red prow in the shape of a
serpent. Photo courtesy of Buzz Ferebee.
Herculaneum, June 2019.
Found in the SW Baths Complex in the Insula Occidentalis, a coil
of rope on top of wooden planking. Photo courtesy of Buzz Ferebee.
Herculaneum, June 2019. Coil of rope found in the SW Baths Complex
in the Insula Occidentalis.
The rope was found on top of some wooden
planking, probably belonging to a boat that had been dismantled in the Roman
period.
Various layers of leather had been placed
on top of the rope, some of which preserves signs of stitching. Photo courtesy
of Buzz Ferebee.
Detail
of wooden planking and coil of rope found in the SW Baths Complex in the Insula
Occidentalis. Photo courtesy of Buzz Ferebee.
Herculaneum, June 2019. Detail of coil of rope. Photo courtesy of
Buzz Ferebee.
Herculaneum, June 2019. Detail.
Photo courtesy of Buzz Ferebee.
Herculaneum, June 2019. Found in the “area of the new excavations
of the Insula Occidentalis”.
Capstan used for pulling large boats ashore. Photo courtesy of
Buzz Ferebee.
According to the information card –
“Even more exceptional is the winch found in the new excavations
area of the Insula Occidentalis.
This seems to be a capstan, with its slots for the manoeuvring
bars and elements for receiving the rope still well-preserved.
It is likely this was used in a maritime context, as there are
direct parallels with the wooden winches used on ships and in ports until the
nineteenth century.”
Herculaneum, June 2019.
Types of amphorae used for wine, garum fish sauce, oil in large
amphorae, high quality wine from the Aegean like the Cretan found in this
smaller amphora, and dried fruits, like dates and plums, from the eastern
Aegean and particularly the area of Palestine. Photo courtesy of Buzz Ferebee.
Herculaneum, June 2019. Exhibition of
finds in display case. Photo courtesy of Buzz Ferebee.
Herculaneum, June 2019. Trawl line in a wicker basket. Photo
courtesy of Buzz Ferebee.
According to the information card –
This wicker basket with its lid was recovered, then x-rayed to
show it contained a trawl line, one of the oldest pieces of equipment used by
fishermen in the Mediterranean. The long main rope was carefully laid in its
container, hooks were attached to it at regular intervals with pieces of line.
The size of the hooks influenced which fish were caught, showing
that the Romans were fishing selectively.
The preferred equipment of working fishermen were wide nets made
of vegetable fibres, mainly flax, weighed down by lead weights and with cork
floats (sagena) on
the edges.
A lone fisherman working from the beach could use a casting net (iaculum), still widely used in the Bay of
Naples until the last century.
This conical net was thrown with the opening downwards. Having
reached the bottom, the net was then brought in, lines closed off the opening
so that the fish could not get out.
For calling and signalling, fishermen used a large shell, called a
triton, with the point cut off.
This was one of the largest gastropods in the Mediterranean, and
it was used for this purpose throughout ancient times.”
Herculaneum, June 2019. X-ray of wicker basket showing the hooks. Photo
courtesy of Buzz Ferebee.
Herculaneum, June 2019. Detail of
trawl line in wicker basket. Photo courtesy of Buzz Ferebee.
Herculaneum, June 2019. Detail of trawl line in wicker basket.
Photo courtesy of Buzz Ferebee.
Herculaneum, June 2019. Detail of trawl line in wicker basket.
Photo courtesy of Buzz Ferebee.
Herculaneum, June 2019. Detail of trawl line in wicker basket.
Photo courtesy of Buzz Ferebee.
Herculaneum, June 2019. Lead
weights. Photo courtesy of Buzz Ferebee.
Herculaneum, June 2019. Bronze fishing hook. Photo courtesy of
Buzz Ferebee.
Herculaneum, June 2019. Lead
fishing weights. Photo courtesy of Buzz Ferebee.
Herculaneum, June 2019. Bronze
fishing hooks. Photo courtesy of Buzz Ferebee.
Herculaneum, June 2019. Bronze
fishing net needles. Photo courtesy of Buzz Ferebee.
Herculaneum Entrance and views across terrace Terrace of Marcus Nonius Balbus Suburban Baths, atrium and surrounding rooms Suburban Baths, Waiting room, Frigidarium and Tepidarium Suburban Baths Caldarium Sacred Area Terrace Shrine of Venus Temple of four Gods Terrace north-west corner Ancient shoreline, arched vaults or boatsheds