Page 138 - Kennemerland VOC ship, 1664 - Published Reports

R. PRICEETAL.:THEKENNEMERLAND
ficiently alike to suggest production from the group apart, there is no compellingevidenceto same pattern. The considerable dimensional suggest that the different shapes were produced variation within each class is not surprising, with different standards in mind, a consider- since only a slight change in the quantity of ation which tends to re-inforce the homo-
metal poured in would, with moulds of this
shape, lead to considerable variation in the
spread of the top surface. In fact, some of the
classes are remarkably closely defined, as,for information as to what these represent, al- example, class 5A which varies by only 0.025 m though they are presumably some sort of in length and 0.01 m in breadth (i.e. f 1-5 %) control marks applied by producers, middle- despite having eight members, or the three men, or the Dutch East India Company. It
members of class 10 with no measurable vari-
ation in breadth. The least homogeneous classes
in this respect are numbers 2A and 6 with
length variations of 0.1 1 and 0.1 15 m respect- loading on the Kennemerland. It should be
ively (i.e. k 7 %).
Looking next at the weights of these ingots,
noted, however, that the mark ‘1631’ has also been recorded on ingots from the VOC ship Krajenstein, sunk in 1698; it is highly unlikely that the Company would keep lead in store for 60, or even 30 years, so that it is difficult to see this stamp as indicating a date. There are also clear indications through overlapping of one mark being applied consistently after another; for example, EB and 53 are placed on top of WX on several ingots. Unfortunately,
the information is summarized in Fig. 12. With
a mean of just over 140 kg, this distribution
approximates fairly closely to a normal shape
and suggests that there was a standard weight
of about that figure which the manufacturers
were seeking to achieve. It is possible, however,
to distinguish minor peaks at around 135 and
146-149 kg, which might possibly represent
subsidiary standard units. The only substantial this does not occur frequently enough for shape class with a mean outside the range us to construct a comprehensive relative 137-143 kg is class 2B, with five members chronology of stamping. The frequency of oc- and a mean weight of 134.7 kg. This small currance of the stamps, and the range of shape
0 10 Figure 11. The top surfaces of ingots 53 and 69.
20 30
geneity of the assemblage.
The next attribute to be considered is the
incidence of the stamps. We possess no external
would seem reasonable t o conclude that at least one type, that labelled ‘MR 1664‘ had been applied only within the 10 months preceeding
cm
53
19