The Ljubljanica
— a River and its
Past
edited by
Peter Turk,
Janka Istenié,
Timotej Knific and
Tomaz Nabergoj‘The Uvbanica =a River ana Part
Acargo ship of
Mediterranean sewn
construction from
Lipe
In October 1890, at Brezov login Lipe in the
eastern part ofthe Ljubljansko bare (Ljubljana
Marshes), 3om long cargo ship from the Roman
period was discovered, which represents the best
confirmation ofthe statements made by ancient
‘geographers about the importance ofthe naviga
ble route along the Ljubljanica.’
‘The barge was discovered by chance by work:
‘ers digging a drainage ditch on the property of
Dr. Josip Koster between the Ljubljanica and the
Gmavas-Podpeé road «rs, 1»). The owner of the
land informed the curator ofthe Landesmuseum at
Ljubljana (present-day National Museum of Slow-
Andrej Gaspari
nia), Alfons Mallner, and permitted him to exca
vate, Mllner published an exhaustive description
and a drawing inthe very next yearin the museum
journal Argo. The National Museum of Slovenia
keeps 100 wooden parts of the boat and 20 ion
nails and to aid in determining the ship construc
tion the original field sketches ae stil available,
along with two photographs, and an exact 3m long
‘model ata seale of 1:40, two examples of which
were made Fs. 120)
‘The great age ofthe vessel, which was doubted,
bysome atthe time of discovery because ofits sim-
ilarties to moder period ships, is proven both
by the Greco-Roman manner of construction as
well as the results of radiocarbon analyses. On the
basis ofthe analyses undertaken in 2002, itean be
‘concluded thatthe ship was builtin the 1 century
BBC, while the three earlier dates most probably
referto the use of some older wood:
“The barge was symmetrical, with an elongated
‘oval form and truncated ends, Itwas 3om long,
4.8m wide, and o.6m high. thad a flat bottom
‘without a keel and ourwards-sloping sides res.
120,120. The self-supporting hull, which repre-
sents the main characteristic of Mediterranean
ships in antiquity, was composed ofa carvel base
and lateral planking from symmetrically ar-Fou 121 tomate projection o etal at‘The ubonica—a River nats Past
.ged spruce planks in lengthwise strakes, The
flowing transition between base and sides was
achieved with planks of rounded section. The ele-
‘ments ofthe planking were joined together with
ropes of lime bast, which were pulled through
densely set oblique holes drilled into the side
edges of the planks. The cords held in place bun:
dles of the same material, which were placed on
the straight lateral and oblique transverse june:
tures of the planks in individual strakes, in order
to make them watertight. After the sewing was
finished, the holes were closed with pegs of black
alder wood,
‘AMediterranean technological origin is further
indicated by the joining ofthe lateral planking
with wooden dowels of circular section, which had
been inserted into mortices in two neighbouring
planks before sewing. The skeleton was formed
by transverse floor timbers of oak wood and the
pairs of kneeshaped ribs, which extended from
the next-to-last bottom plank tthe top of the lat-
eral planking. The floor-timbers and ribs, builtin
atuniform intervals of 60cm, were attached tothe
hull with wooden dowels anda few iron nails. The
“uniform intervals between the floor t
ribs, which correspond to two Capit
‘pes monetalis=29.7em), indicate that the Roman
‘measuring system was probably used.
‘The bow and stern both ended in a simply
sloping wal, therefore they could be dist
guished merely from the position ofthe standing
place for the helmsman, which might indicate
the use of a rudder. Two bands of lengthwise
planks along the middle of the ship served as an
additional reinforcement ofthe hull, aswell as for
placement of eargo.
‘The construction features included the tech:
nique of sewing, which has been documented
the Mediterranean from the Bronze Age onvards,
and was very probably known in even earlier pe
rods.’ The sunken remains of vessels and ieono-
‘graphic as well as epigraphic sources tellus that
sewing was in use primarily between the Archaic
period and the 4* century BC. In the Mediter-
ranean the sewing technique remained in use
particulary in the Adriatic Sea and inits northern
hinterland, as in the ate Republican and early
Imperial period it was used both for building sex
going ships as wel as river and lagoon vessels.
Dating to approximately the same period are the
remains of three ships recovered from the sedi-
‘ments of the harbour of Roman Aenona atZaton
near Nin,’ and the recently discovered boat from
‘Caska Bay on the island of Pag which confirm
historical citations ofthe use ofthis technique
among the Histrians and Liburnians. The finds of
sewn ships from the rivers, lagoons, canals, and
swamps ofthe western coastline of the northem
‘Adriatic’ include the well preserved remains of
‘boat in the Po delta near Comacchio,*and the
shipwreck from the river Stella near
(Presenit) in Italy
The geographi
of the type of barge from Lipe was probably the
continental waters of Cisalpine Gaul, where the
shallow waters and periodic flooding predicated
the development ofa vessel witha shallow draft
and. flat hull, as mentioned by the historian Ti
tus Livius (Livy, 4b urbe condita, X.2). The form
‘of the boat corresponds best to the Roman term
pontonium (Isidorus, Etymologiae, 19. 1.24), used
inthe early medieval period to denote large and
slow river vessels intended for the transportation
‘of goods.
“The increased transportation requirements
afcer the Roman conquest meant that efficient
vessels of similar form and dimensions to those of
the barge from Lipe began to be used on the rivers
and lakes of continental Europe." Cargo vessels
ofthe Celtic Roman type indicate technological
solutions that some authors tie to pre-Roman,
traditions, as well as series of details that defi
nitely indicate a Mediterranean origin. Te latter
‘ean also be recognized in the construction of the
planking and frame of a cargo boat from the Kupa
River in Sisak(Sisia), dated tothe middle of the
century AD.”
“The majority of such efficient transportation
vessels from the Germanic and Gallic provinces
‘were discovered in the vicinity of military strong:
hholds, and hence it appears that for the most
part these were strategic means that satisfied the
logistic needs of the Roman army. The remains
of eargoes indicate that they mostly transported
construction material stone, brick, and tle),
breakable goods (pottery, glass), and preserved19) Ande Gaspar Acorao ship
foodstuffs in sacks and bartels, On the basis of the
‘general dating, it ean be concluded that the barge
from Lipe was used for the transportation of mili-
tary goods between the supply base at Nauportus
and Emon
Noes 20 Bert 90.
4 Saiel Kos 1990, 17-20. 4 Viti eral. 2005.
2 Mallner 38924, 412 Bocklus 2000, 465-488,
3 Karinja 1998. fig. 27.
4 Theas yet unpublished 13 Gaspari, Bri, Smaleelj 2006,
analysis was performed by 14 Illustration by. Dolinar,
the Research aboratoryfor concept by A. Gaspari,
Archaeology and the History
of Ar at Oxford, Calibration
ofthe dates was executed in
the Oxcal 4.0 programme,
using ntCal og eurve,
Floor-imber(B 3881/1-3; 0x
111496) age 2037 £37 PS,
calibrated (68.2% probabil
iy) 94 BC-AD 18,
Plank (B 3881/9371; Ox4-11497)
2064 + 39, calibrated
(68.2% probability) 161
BC-40 BC.
5 Bxi€ 1994; Gaspari 1998,
19
6 Pomey 1985.
7 Brusig, Domjan 1985;
Glussevié 2005,
8 Celhar 2008.
9 Beltrame 2000.