Page 246 - Four Thousand Years Ago by Geoffrey Bibby

[1510-144° D-c-] T^e Amber Route 207

a single sailor from the village. For all the young men, and
many of the older ones, had determined to sail with their own
vessel. Nor had trade been good for the visitors; the greater part
of two years’ gleanings of amber would sail aboard the new ves­
sel, entrusted to members of the crew for private trade, or to the
captain. He was already selected, a middle-aged houseowner
who had sailed for nearly twenty years with foreign vessels

and who claimed to know the sea lanes as far as Gibraltar and all
the northern European rivers.

MOST OF THE SWEDISH SHIP CARVINGS ARE TOO CONVENTIONALIZED
FOR US TO BE ABLE TO OBTAIN MUCH IDEA OF THEIR STRUCTURE. THIS
IS ONE OF THE FEW THAT GIVES GREATER DETAIL. THE CLEARLY HU­
MAN FIGURES WIELDING PADDLES (OR BRANDISHING SWORDS AND
AXES?) SUGGEST THAT THE ROWS OF UPRIGHT “POSTS” NORMALLY
SHOWN ON THE DECKS OF ROCK-CARVED SHIPS (SEE PAGE 157) MAY
BE CONVENTIONALIZED ROWERS OR OARS. THERE APPEARS HERE TO
BE A DECKHOUSE TOWARDS THE STERN; THE “TREE” ABOVE THE CEN­
TER OF THE VESSEL IS ONE OF THE VERY FEW HINTS THAT THE SWEDES
MAY HAVE UNDERSTOOD THE USE OF MAST AND SAIL.

In the days before the ship sailed, the final preparations were
duly interspersed with religious ceremonies, both private and

public. The sacrifices to the sea-god rivaled in quantity those
normally offered to the sun, while the other gods of wind and
weather were not forgotten. And on the rock outcrops in the fields
a wealth of new carvings appeared, hammered out by the men
who were to form the crew, as a reminder to gods and men of the
venture on which they were to engage.