Construction of the Nydam Boat
The National Museum has performed a precise survey of the Nydam Boat as it appears today in Gottorp Castle. Based on these measurements, supplemented by the newly-found boat parts, the National Museum has prepared a reconstruction of the boat.
The reconstruction provides a new, interesting picture of the boat. The investigations show that stem and stern were reversed upon erecting the boat 130 years ago. The investigations also show in comparison to previous knowledge that::
- the prow of the Nydam Boat is higher
- the keel is more curved
- the cross-section of the boat has a deeper v-form
- the draught is deeper
The thwart and frame timber construction is more highly developed since there are, among other things, floorboard supports, as shown in the drawing below.
An archaeological and scientific milestone was achieved with the mounting of copies of the defiant wooden figureheads on the Nydam Boat. The figureheads were found during excavations in 1997. The National Museum’s investigations have shown that the figureheads with their mounts fit perfectly in a position upon the bow gunwale. Read more about the figureheads on the page about The Nydam Boats.
