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Urbanism Under Sail : An Archaeology of Fluit Ships in Early Modern Everyday Life

In the seventeenth- and early eighteenth centuries, fluits were the most common type of merchant ship used in Baltic trade. Originally a Dutch design, the majority of all goods transported between Sweden and the Republic was carried on board such vessels. Far from all voyages reached their destination. Down in the cold brackish water of the Baltic, the preservation conditions are optimal, and several of these unfortunate vessels remain nearly intact today. Although thousands of more or less identical fluits were built, surprisingly little is known about the arrangement of space on board, their sculptural embellishment and other aspects that formed the physical component of everyday life on and alongside these ships. Fluits were a fixture in early modern society, so numerous that they became almost invisible. The study of wrecks thus holds great potential for revealing vital components of early modern life. Inspired by phenomenological approaches in archaeology, this thesis aims to focus on the lived experience of fluits. It sets out to grasp for seemingly mundane everyday activities relating to these ships, from the physical arrangements for eating, sleeping and answering nature’s call, to their rearrangement for naval use, and ends with a consideration of the architectonical contribution of the fluit to the urban landscape.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:sh-24415
Date January 2014
CreatorsEriksson, Niklas
PublisherSödertörns högskola, Arkeologi, Södertörns högskola, Baltic & East European Graduate School (BEEGS), Huddinge
Source SetsDiVA Archive at Upsalla University
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeDoctoral thesis, monograph, info:eu-repo/semantics/doctoralThesis, text
Formatapplication/pdf
Rightsinfo:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
RelationSödertörn Doctoral Dissertations, 1652-7399 ; 95, Södertörn Archaeological Studies, 1652-2559 ; 10

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