1. The Doel ships: interpretations and conclusion
Jeroen Vermeersch
SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE 2013
25 April 2013
‘De Kogge’ team: T. Lenaerts, J. Van Laecke, T. Jacobs, L. Poelmans, K. Haneca, K. Deforce, J. Vanmassenhove, S. Corveleyn, P. De Neef,
N. Beernaert, F. Vereycken, W. Bartels , L. Allemeersch and C. Lenaers (†)

2. Doel 1 Doel 2
Containers 26/29 1/4
Timbers 700 31
Tree ring series 147 15
Samples taken 340 19

3. Doel 1 Doel 2
Keel length (incl hooks) 8 (11,24) 8? (11,24)
Carvel strakes 4 (symmetrical) 3 (remaining)
Clinker strakes 14 0
Framing stations Ca. 40 (assymetrical) Ca. 20
Reconstructed dimensions Ca. 21 m x 7, 5 x 4 m Ca. 21 m x 7, 5 x 4
m
Felling date 1325/26 1328-1340
Provenance Lower Saxony Southern Baltic
(Gdansk area)
Repairs 1339/Southern Baltic
(Gdansk area)
Caulking Mainly mosses (1 ex.
wool)
Mainly mosses (1
ex. wool)

4. 3D drawings -> scale model Landscape & History of the area
What’s next? - Need for further analysis!
sGrooten - 1575

5. Ship model
23 March 2012 — Late medieval shipfinds — © Onroerend Erfgoed

6. 3D drawings -> laser-sintered models (FRAUG)
-understanding interconnection of the (+ 800) ship parts
-working towards the original form
-hull analysis, stability, hydrostatic analysis, etc.
-comparison with similarly-built vessels (cogs/cog-like/hybrids)

7. Take home messages
Tree-ring analysis essential in archaeological research
on ship remains. Not only a ‘nice’ dating technique.
Provenance
Timber conversion
Ship construction/layout
…
Repairs have high information content.
Symmetrical layout (of bottom) on other cog finds?
Deviating date of keelplank from other cog finds?

9. Landscape & History of the area
Both ships laying upside-down
Understanding the medieval
landscape and its use (maritime
cultural landscape)
Maritime history of the area
Doel
Antwerp
Bruges
Ghent

10. Hulst
Doel
Austruweel &
Lefebvre dock
Antwerp
St-Maartensdijk
Wenduine

11. Conclusion
‘Belgium is a microcosm of
Western Europe (…). The Scheldt
and Meuse basins have not only
served as the cockpits of Europe:
they were also the place where
ideas were traded between the
Latin and German world (…), it was
their ports which for centuries
were the entrepôt for merchandise
from both North and South’.
Henri Pirenne,
Histoire de Belgique, 1900s

12. Een huisstijl voor het VIOE
Thank you for your attention!