1The families of ships are often very interbred (Witsen 1671).
2In the course of 100 years it has not been possible to arrive at the proper understanding of any one rate (Pieter Van Dam, in Stapel 1927).
3It is difficult to judge what the real dimensions of these ships were (Parthesius 2010, p. 68).
4It is almost impossible to make any hard and fast statements about seventeenth-century ship types (Hoving 2012, p. 12).
5It is not specifically known what made these fully rigged ships so different from other mercantile ships… and what specific customized features were considered important for their long voyage to Asia (van Duivenvoorde 2015, p. 39).
6The quotations all discuss Dutch merchant ships of the 17th and 18th centuries and underline the difficulty in obtaining a clear view of the evolving physical qualities of these vessels from both contemporaries and modern researchers. The design of these ships is thought to have played a major role in the rise and fall of Dutch global power in this period, but for many historic vessel types, archaeological evidence remains very limited, due to the small number of located wrecks, the destructive power of the marine environment and the loss of material to treasure hunters and salvors. This is particularly true of large Dutch ocean-going merchant ships of this period, despite their large scale of production over 200 years.
7Primary written sources show that there were major changes in design and shipbuilding philosophy occurring across this period in the Netherlands, such as a divergence between warships and merchant ships, as well as a shift away from bottom-built approaches to sporadic use of the English style of frame-first shipbuilding. Archaeologically surveyed ship hulls have not resolved these issues due to their scarcity, and discoveries have been difficult to place in their proper context.
8This PhD project applies a 3D spatial approach to draw evidence from contemporary ship models, iconographic, historical and archaeological sources into a common spatial format. This will provide the most comprehensive possible tracking of trends in Dutch ship design over this period. Contemporary scale models are particularly useful but are scattered in museums across Europe. Researchers have usually relied on a handful of photographs, but scanning allows a much more complete and useful record, and new modes of analysis and dissemination for the benefit of curators, academics and the wider public. Not all the models are likely to represent accurately ships as built, but this spatial approach will allow quantification of that divergence as well as recording historical objects of great interest in their own right.
9Around 25 contemporary scale models of these ships survive in museums, mainly in the Netherlands but also in Norway, Belgium and the UK. Although a few models are inaccessible due to staff availability or storage conditions, scanning of most of these contemporary models in Europe was conducted in 2018. Due to their complexity, rigged ship models are one of the most difficult subjects to scan, and a programme of testing and refinement of scanning methods was undertaken throughout 2017 in Australia.
10This project aims to create a comprehensive library of scanned ship models of a particular type and will define more precisely what an Indiaman looked like in the 17th-18th centuries. Variation will be captured in a way that moves beyond the descriptive into the quantitative. This methodology will be of wider relevance to other classifications of ship types and will demonstrate meaningful ways to combine the 3D underwater survey that has become so widespread in recent years with a wide variety of other data sources to develop typological datasets.
11Extensive effort has been put into capturing and gathering 3D data for the fragmentary and widely scattered archaeological remains of VOC ships. Three-dimensional workflows also mean that iconographic evidence can also be exploited more fully through morphometric analysis. For those hull configurations believed to be accurate reflections of built ships, hydrostatic analysis will be carried out using Orca 3D. Ultimately it is hoped that analysis of design trends over a long period can illustrate changing priorities for defence, capacity and seaworthiness through the 17th and 18th centuries.
12Effective use of 3D technology can powerfully facilitate both archaeological analysis and dissemination to a wider audience. This project explores a wide variety of 3D dissemination methods aimed both at researchers and the public. One of the most useful is a virtual museum where the scans of the scale models have been brought together for the first time. As the models are held in museums across Europe and are regularly used in exhibitions, it would be impossible to gather them together in this way. The virtual museum also allows the models to be appreciated both in their original size, or at full-size ship scale. The scans of models can also be used in animations, virtual reality wreck-diving experiences, 3D printing and even holographic displays – all of these formats are being created as part of this project. The focus in all cases has been on quantifiable impact, and outputs will be assessed through formal public feedback.
Fig. 1: Scans of VOC scale models from several different museums, approximately half of the projected total
These date from the mid-17th century to the end of the 18th century. In this illustration, all rigging and masts have been removed and models have been scaled to the same size to allow for visual comparison. Models are arranged in rough chronological order, with the oldest at the bottom.
13This project is funded by the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Canberra and Flinders University. Scanning is carried out in partnership with museums including the Rijksmuseum, the Scheepvaartmuseum, the Amsterdam History Museum, Maritiem Museum Rotterdam, Huis van Gijn in Dordrecht, Zeeuws Maritiem muZEEum, Stadhuismuseum Zierikzee, Aust-Agder Museum in Norway, Museum Aan de Stroom in Antwerp and Greenwich Maritime Museum.
Flux RSS
