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The Nao of the Livro Nautico

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The Nao of the Livro Nautico THE NAU OF THE LIVRO NAUTICO: RECONSTRUCTING A SIXTEENTH-CENTURY INDIAMAN FROM TEXTS A Dissertation by ALEXANDER DEAN HAZLETT Submitted to the Office of Graduate Studies of Texas A&M University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY May 2007 Major Subject: Anthropology THE NAU OF THE LIVRO NAUTICO: RECONSTRUCTING A SIXTEENTH-CENTURY INDIAMAN FROM TEXTS A Dissertation by ALEXANDER DEAN HAZLETT Submitted to the Office of Graduate Studies of Texas A&M University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Approved by: Chair of Committee, Luis Filipe Viera de Castro Committee Members, Kevin Crisman C. Wayne Smith Gerald Vinson Head of Department, David Carlson May 2007 Major Subject: Anthropology iii ABSTRACT The Nau of the Livro Nautico: Reconstructing a Sixteenth Century Indiaman From Texts. (May 2007) Alexander Dean Hazlett, B.A., University of California at Santa Barbara; M.A., University of Hawaii Chair of Advisory Committee: Dr. Filipe Castro Documents and illustrations show that the premier ship in Portugal's India trade during the 16th century was the nau, a beamy, three-masted ship, known in northern Europe as a “Carrack.” For decades these vessels carried passengers and cargo between Portugal and Asia. Despite the number of vessels involved, relatively little archaeological evidence of these ships exists. While 16th century shipbuilding documents predate the development of ships plans, they include theoretical treatises and scantling lists. From these documents it is possible to reconstruct the construction of a nau timber by timber, employing the mathematical relations and formulas used by the Portuguese shipwrights in conjunction with the timber specifications from a scantling list, creating a 3D computer model of the ship with Rhinoceros 3 modeling software. The result is an annotated and illustrated construction sequence that shows the placement of every timber in the vessel. iv DEDICATION For my wife, Karen, who came to central Texas without complaint. v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS A great many people have contributed to the completion of this dissertation in a variety of ways. Before I knew anything about Texas A&M University and the Nautical Program, Dr. Hans van Tilburg got me interested in Maritime History and Archaeology while I was studying Asian History with him at at the University of Hawaii, and I will be eternally grateful he redirected my attention toward maritime history and archaeology. Early on, Dr. Filipe Castro lured me into researching Portuguese shipbuilding when he loaned me an untranslated Portuguese document that gave the scantlings and dimensions for an Indiaman when I needed a project for Dr. Crisman’s course on the rigging of ships. His enthusiasm for the study of shipbuilding treatises led me to further study these documents. In addition, the experience of two years as one of Dr. Castro’s teaching assistants in the Ship Reconstruction Laboratory turned drafting and the study of ships lines from the daunting challenge I faced in my first semester to the center of my research interests. Dr. Kevin Crisman and Dr. Cemal Pulak taught me the all-important basics of our field; their courses were the foundation of all my subsequent study. My interest in computer drafting and modeling was sparked by Dr. C.Wayne Smith, who got me started using Rhinoceros 3 software and was further strengthened by Mr. Jeffrey Otey and Dr. Gerald Vinson. vi J. Barto Arnold gave me my first chance to work on an underwater excavation when he hired me as a crew chief for the summer 2002 season of the Denbigh project in Galveston Bay. This was my first experience with diving and excavating in black water, and the first practical use of my training in taking lines and drawing timbers. In 2003 Paul Creasman gave me the opportunity to record and document timbers in a dry-land site (inside the Cairo Museum) as part of the Cairo Dashur boats project. Taras Pevny was tremendously helpful in explaining how shipwrights conceived the shape of vessels before the graphic depiction of ships lines developed, and how the runs of planks flow over the hull of a ship. I took great advantage of Glenn Grieco’s knowledge of ships and rigging and often stood in the hallway to examine his model of the Belle as I puzzled over construction details in my computer model. My fellow teaching assistant in the Ship Reconstruction Laboratory, Erik Flynn, taught me a great deal about how to analyze ships lines; both the level of and attention to detail in his drafting projects were an inspiration to me. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ABSTRACT.............................................................................................................. iii DEDICATION .......................................................................................................... iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ...................................................................................... v TABLE OF CONTENTS.......................................................................................... vii LIST OF FIGURES................................................................................................... viii CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION ................................................................................. 1 II HISTORICAL CONTEXT.................................................................... 6 The Legacy of the 15th Century......................................................... 7 Sixteenth-Century Portugal............................................................... 12 Portugal’s Overseas Empire and the Carreira da India.................... 19 III THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE NAU................................................. 28 IV THE DEVELOPMENT OF NAVAL ARCHITECTURE.................... 37 The Dawn of Naval Architecture ...................................................... 38 Sources on Sixteenth-Century Shipbuilding ..................................... 39 Whole Molding ................................................................................. 43 V THE NAU OF THE LIVRO NAUTICO................................................... 48 Reconstructing a Nau From Texts..................................................... 48 Illustrated and Annotated Sequence of Construction........................ 51 The Escoteiras That This Nau Takes................................................. 158 The Masts of This Nau ...................................................................... 159 VI CONCLUSIONS...................................................................................... 162 viii Page The Text and the Author ................................................................... 162 Portuguese Shipbuilding ................................................................... 164 Computer Modeling .......................................................................... 170 Shortcomings..................................................................................... 172 REFERENCES.......................................................................................................... 176 APPENDIX A ........................................................................................................... 180 APPENDIX B ........................................................................................................... 181 APPENDIX C ........................................................................................................... 187 VITA ......................................................................................................................... 213 ix LIST OF FIGURES FIGURE Page 1 Cog (left) and Nave (right)......................................................................... 28 2 Fourteenth-Century Cocche After Friel ..................................................... 29 3 Nau After Meagher..................................................................................... 30 4 Mezza-luna With Ruler .............................................................................. 46 5 Graduated Ruler in Use .............................................................................. 46 6 Rising and Narrowing Floor Timbers ........................................................ 47 7 Keel and Couces......................................................................................... 51 8 Roda and Contra Roda ............................................................................... 52 9 Codaste....................................................................................................... 53 10 Gio.............................................................................................................. 54 11 Master Frame and Almogamas .................................................................. 56 12 Pre-designed Frames .................................................................................. 56 13 Enchimentos and Astes .............................................................................. 57 14 Enchimentos and Piquas and Areuessados................................................. 58 15 Carlinga and Trinquanis............................................................................. 59 16 Sobrequilhas ............................................................................................... 60 17 Dromentes and Contradromentes ............................................................... 61 18 Escoas........................................................................................................
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