Images

The split pieces were roughly shaped in the Viking timber yard, and the sapwood and pith were removed. The remaining core became stronger and more reliable timber for the clinker overlap. Charcoal...

At this stage, the saw had almost disappeared from the process of Viking shipbuilding, and production relied mainly on cleaving and axe hewing. Ship planks were made by opening the log along the grain...

In the Viking timber yard, the logs were divided into halves, then quarters, then eighths, and then into even smaller sections. The goal was to cut fibres with a saw, but to open the wood along its natural...

In the Viking timber yard, large logs were split from the root end. Small wedges first opened a line, then larger wedges and mallet blows drove the split deeper, and the wood followed its natural...

When the logs for a Viking ship reached the shipyard or timber yard, they were sorted by quality and intended use. At this early stage, builders had already decided which trunks would serve for the keel...

The tree for a Viking ship was felled with long-handled axes rather than saws, and the fall was carefully directed. After it fell, the trunk was roughly cleaned, and useful curved branches and forked sections...

The frames that formed the Viking ship’s internal skeleton were cut from naturally curved branches with an axe. Blows delivered parallel to the grain ensured these structural elements reached the strength...

In Viking ships, long and straight trunks were sought for the keel. The Skuldelev 2 report documented that finding a suitable keel piece created a critical production bottleneck since a suitable trunk...

Ash was preferred by Viking shipbuilders for oars and for parts exposed to heavy impact. Thanks to its toughness and high shock resistance, ash offered the ideal engineering solution for ship components that...

In clinker Viking ships, branches and trunk junctions with natural curves were vital for making frames without cutting the fibres. This search for curved timber required extensive scanning within...