Ancient Transportation

Well, another year gone and a new one about to start. After a week (Christmas) without news on Ancient Transportation, I think it is about time to sum up on 2006 and to introduce some of my ideas of what is to come on this blog in 2007.

After only three months of Ancient Transportation the statistics on blog-activities says:

• Posts: 15
• Comments: 13
• Total views: around 2200

This is probably not much for three months on the Internet, but since my topic here is relatively narrow I am satisfied so far.. after all, not much happened the first month.

In 2007 my thesis on roman wagons will be handed in (around March/April) and therefore the work on this subject, including some discussions on water-transportation, will be a major theme in the first few months. Beside my own work I will also concentrate my posts on wagon-research around the world, especially in Scandinavia and Germany, where the now ongoing research on the Danish “Dejbjerg-wagons” (see photo left), a group of Celtic wagons, six in all, from more parts of Denmark, will be followed closely because they are of great interest to my own work on roman wagons.

I hope you will continue your interest in the archaeology of transportation and I also hope you will enjoy the 2007-edition of Ancient Transportation.

Now an “ongoing bibliography” is posted on its own page, called “bibliography”. It should be visible at the top of the main page.

“Ongoing” means this is no definite list of literature on the subjects of Roman Wagons or Ancient Transportation. It is merely a list of the literature I work with in my thesis and in writing posts on this blog.

If you have knowledge of books or articles not mentioned here, but working with Ancient Transportation, especially Roman Wagons, please write a comment and (if possible) leave a small review of it.

This list also includes titles on water-transportation.

Searching for 20th century literature on roman wagon-technology is not an easy task. It is a well-known fact that most studies like the one I am doing here is missing a “handbook” saying what is to be said on the subject.

This said, a few authors actually have made some chapters in their books on the subject of transportation and even on land-transportation and wagon-construction, but water transport is still the hotter topic.

Concerned with ancient technology and therefore also writing on wagon-construction is K. D. White. “Greek and Roman Technology” and J. G. Landels “Engineering in the Ancient World”, both books being more than 20 years old and written without direct knowledge of the archaeological material. They leave out some important and interesting details on the construction, ex. the suspension system as discussed in earlier posts, but they do make use of roman carvings in the general analyses of wagons, but unfortunately not in discussing details in roman wagon-construction (Landels argues against the wagon-”pole” as being invented in roman times even though it is seen on carvings from the 3. century, see photo left).

K. Greene.”The Archaeology of the Roman Economy”, also 20 years old, discuss roman transportation from an economic point of view, and therefore the land-transportation is not left much attention. He believes carvings is no good in the research on roman wagons, so I am really looking forward to make a chapter on the use of roman carvings in my thesis.

I think we need some new editions of “Roman Technology” books, preferably new books on the subject! I do not know if anyone out there is writing a book on the subject right now, but if you do, please let me know and let us discuss the problems of roman land transportation and wagon-construction, and hereby eliminate the obvious errors in this field of research.

Troels Myrup (at iconoclasm) had, Sunday, a post on the ongoing investigation of “stolen” artefacts from Italy, asking if the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek is standing next in line. One of the artifacts in question is the newly re-exhibited Etruscan wagon from a Sabine-village.

The wagon, as seen in the exhibition “Middelhavshorisonten” (here on the left), is some kind of a “ritual-wagon”, but only metal-fittings from the wagon are now to be seen, along with other artifacts from the grave, in the large exhibition case. As seen on the photo, the wagon is reconstructed in a glass/metal-like material with most of the original iron-parts placed on the floor. The exhibition of this wagon is a job done in co-operation with the Italian archaeological authorities and the local museum from the Sabine-area, with whom the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek have had a good collaboration since the 1970’s.

It is nice to see so much energy and attention put into this, in danish collections, unique wagon, but I think the exhibition is missing a model of this wagon, in which non-preserved parts (of wood) should be reconstructed as good as possible. This wagon does not look like most preserved wagons and chariots from the Etruscan area, which is why, I think, it is important to “bring the wagon to life” and show the museum-guests the meaning and function of this wagon, before it was stashed away in a tomb.

The idea of this weblog is, as mentioned more than once, to learn more about roman transportation, especially wagons and transportation on land.

But ancient transportation also includes ships and seafaring, which is why posts on this material now will be introduced on this blog. The water-transportation material is parallel to the wagon material, and the different groups of archaeological evidence (original parts and iconography) are the same as in the case of the wagons (in my opinion, anyway). Therefore, I think, the ship-research, which, in many cases, is more discussed than the research on wagons, can be useful in the methodical part of research on roman transportation in general.

Any progress in this “new” topic will be noted on this page and categorized under “Water Transport”.