Master Frame and Flat Floor-Timber: An ‘Architectural Signature’ of the Mediterranean Shipyards?

Abstract

This article is an attempt to analyse the master frame form characterised by a flat floor-timber, a sharp or shaped turn of the bilge, and more or less straight sides. This form of master frame is associated with the Mediterranean architecture of the ‘frame-based’ principle, as attested from the end of the 5th century to the beginning of the 6th century AD Dor 2001/1 shipwreck (Israel), which is considered as one of the five origins (Root 4: Nilotic-riverine) of the ‘frame-based’ architecture. A series of medieval and modern wrecks of coastal ships and galleys bear witness to this form of master frame linked more generally to the Mediterranean whole moulding. In view of the consistency of these archaeological as well as ethnographic evidence on traditional Mediterranean shipbuilding, this form of master frame with a flat floor-timber appears to be one of the most revealing ‘architectural signatures’ of the practices of Mediterranean shipyards.

Metal objects were much desired. A 16 th -century shipwreck cargo off the coast of Esposende (Portugal) and the importance of studying ship cargos

“…These features, though they are often shared by other cultural areas, typically appear in different clusters of shared features. These construction features have been called 'architectural signatures' (Rieth 2021(Rieth , 2624 and are the equivalent of Richard Dawkins' concept of memes in that they are either spread or contained in organic, non-intentional ways (Dawkins, 1976. ) To historians, an Iberian ship is a different thing, based more on Iberian cultural identity.…”