When I went to the Museum Meermanno the museum itself is about books. So when I got asked to go to a reading about graphic I didn´t expect the outcome of that reading. It was about the Chinese art Kai-awase Symbolon. those based on a love story where you get one-half of a shell and you need to find the other half. It is like memory but there is a difference both shells have different paintings inside. But enough about that. What has this to do with Vikings or trading I will tell you.
We know that in the time of the Vikings they had coins. In The Netherlands, they found half a coin or a quarter coin. This brings me to the story of the trading partner and the reading that I went to. At the reading, they told the coins had a real trading system at that time.
If you got a piece of land that you bought from a trading partner, and you have particular agreements with that partner, for instance, he kept the watch over your land while you were gone, how did he keep his promise to watch over the land? How did you know it was the right trading partner? How did they do that in those times?
The answer is given in this way: They cut the coins in half or quarter. If you got half or quarter a coin in your possession and the trading partner has half or three-quarter a coin it fits into a whole coin. So if you came back and you showed them the piece of the coin they could easily fit it. If it fits the agreement was that it was given back to you.
This was also with family how to recognize family when not together or from another country it was your identification coin that would show if someone died or came to visit.
I had to come early and see the preparations from Thomas Finderup for the afternoon chop/splitting and carving reading so there were only a few persons on the Bataviawerf. After his preparations, I went to see the different aspects that you have on a ship like the sails and the woodwork maker. That was before I started a guided tour. A guided tour is the opportunity to ask your questions and can take up to two and a half hours and you could choose to leave when you like.
As the tour started I had one and a half hour before the symposium started so I didn´t do the guided tour maybe next time. I got distracted a lot during that tour although I choose to go on an English tour instead of the Dutch tour, not because of the guide. When we visit the `Batavia`I lost my concentration completely. The ´Batavia` a 17th-century ship with amazing woodwork and was able to see how detailed everything was. I listened to the guide but actually I wanted to explore and find out myself. Although I was able to do that I was thinking about the boatbuilding of the Vikings when the guide told some part of the ship is a construction invented by the Vikings. My distraction was gone immediately I heard the word Vikings and the concentration follow the guide was completely there again.
After my lunch, the symposium started I got seated next to the team of the 'Kamper Kogge' and they are also responsible for lifting the wrecked ship the 'IJssel Kogge' at first when they had lifted the wrecked ship I thought it was a Viking ship. It has the same plank structure on the outside as a Viking ship. But unfortunately, it isn't. They haven't found a Viking shipwreck in The Netherlands just yet.
The readings are very interesting and learned a lot about preserving methods and reconstructions. How they do it but also if you can imagine what the difference is in 2016 they only build a ship in a couple of months until 2 years depends on what kind of ship they construct from history in The Netherlands. In the Viking time, it would take years to build such a fleet to go to Paris, even if they had enough people it would take about 2 till 5 years to build only one ship. So when they concur other ships they could use that to get a greater fleet.
Left picture: Presentation Thomas Finderup Vikings iron or wooden front
Right picture: Tamara Bakx Dutch wooden front 17th century
They always have used mythology on the ships. That is how they recognized from which country you came from. That is how they recognize the Vikings because they used the same front and back on the boat with different mythology themes. In front always an animal like a dragon, it depends on the country mythology, under the dragon, there was some mythology.
He also talked about the 'Oseberg' they found it almost completely on a burial site. On that burial site, they found the tools to make a ship it could be a warrior as well because of the axes they found. They found multiple on multiple sides. He also talked about the ritual that comes with a Vikings dead and how amazed they really where to find a lot of boats intact while they knew that a Viking boat were burned with the dead in it. They also find two warrior women on one of the sides. They had a lot of axes and tools to make weapons.
After the talk, we went outside to split and chop a tree and get different demos with different axes. He also told how they made planks for the boat. When finding oak wood they use frames on the tree to find fitting wood for a boat. Those frames used to cut the tree as economic as possible. They burn or steam the wood in the right positions. Did you know they only need to get rid of the bark to see if the tree was good enough for preserving, without disease, and if the wood was hard enough to build a boat?
The different tools used after the split of the tree. Photo: Tamara Bakx
Chopping with a special axe Photo: Tamara Bakx
Photo Presentation Thomas Finderup
Photo Presentation Thomas Finderup Frames on the tree
Photo Presentation Thomas Finderup Mythology on a board
Photo Presentation Thomas Finderup
I needed to think about Ragnar when he introduced Bjorn to Floki where we see exactly the same thing happen. The presentation I needed to think about Floki and how we see him as boat builder and warrior. If the burial was from Floki it would look like the same as Thomas Finderup told us.The part of the mythology I liked as well. There are a few stories about boats in Norse mythology Naglfar is also used in the presentation a ship that exists only of toe and fingernails. The other ones are Hringhorni, Skíðblaðnir and Sessrúmnir.
I learned a lot today about history. I went to Utrecht (Trajectum in the time of the Vikings). I went to an archeological find under the Dom Tower and church. Everything I write about is from the tourguide point of view. The first thing we found out that there where archeological finds earlier but it wasn't relevant at that time so they destroyed it or threw it away. That is why there is not so much to be found about Vikings. It answered my question from last week. Archeologists did find a lot about the period before the Vikings. That is why the Dutch learn about the Roman period and then go on to the 17th century.
In The Netherlands, there was a difference between the Frisia culture and the ones that lived below Trajectum. Frisia wasn't that important according to the people who lived below Trajectum. Why because Frisia was poor and where farmers. Trajectum was rich. Trajectum had his first Heathen church build around 300 they assume. When Christianity came they placed a Christian church above a heathen church. Like we see in most countries what happened when Christianity took over. Now that church has the style gothic. But it all started with a roman fortress. We know that Ubbe was called Duke of Frisia. (From blog 17-05-2016)
But back to the Vikings we know from different books about that period that Vikings have been coming from the side of Frisia until they went to Paris they came from the North side of The Netherlands before Paris. After Paris, they came through Germany and Belgium. When they came from the north they are described as Barbarians or Pirates. When they came out Germany and Belgium they assumed it where traders.
They found two skeletons in their burial and they are eager to find out who they are because they aren't allowed just yet. Permission to go on with the digging and to find out more isn't there yet, this is because they are experimenting with how to preserve the digging in a way that everyone is able to visit it. Unfortunately, they don't know yet how. They actually hope to dig the whole Roman period but if they are allowed to dig further maybe they will find a little more about the attack from the Vikings in and around the church. They have layers of ground they dig for the first time and those layers of ground could prove something totally different and could show us what truly happened. They dig from donations.
In The Netherlands, October is the month of History. When I received the newsletter about this I went to see how much events about the Vikings I could find or I would see in this month. I came back very disappointed by the first things I saw. In total three events, I came across that had to do with Vikings. Things I already had done and all in one weekend. But the last event tricked me on the 14th of October.
I already knew that this year theme is about borders between lands, sea and everything to do with those borders. About that last event, I found. It is a symposium about Historical reconstructions of ships. The theme of this symposium is Authentic and Sustainability. At first, it has nothing to do with Vikings for one exception. Later I will tell you about the exception.
I will tell you why in our History the Vikings are not that important because it is not the Dutch history our history starts in the Dutch Golden Age the United East Indian Company time 17th century (V.O.C.) . For me also an interesting subject. But enough about that.
When I saw the leaflet surprised as I was to see that there are two presentations by Thomas Finderup. One about the reconstruction the Viking ship 'Oseberg' and one how to chop/split and carving the wood. I wouldn't want to miss this for a second. I will try to make a blog about this next week or in a fortnight.
