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THE SHIPMENT OF TRADED GOODS AND OF BALLAST IN ANTIQUITY
Author(s) -
McGRAIL SEAN
Publication year - 1989
Publication title -
oxford journal of archaeology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.382
H-Index - 31
eISSN - 1468-0092
pISSN - 0262-5253
DOI - 10.1111/j.1468-0092.1989.tb00210.x
Subject(s) - stowage , ballast , pottery , archaeology , container (type theory) , port (circuit theory) , engineering , ancient history , history , mechanical engineering , electrical engineering
Summary.A ship's Master has to ensure that goods are loaded in such a combination, and stowed in such a manner, that his ship has a safe freeboard and adequate stability. In antiquity these considerations would have been evaluated from experience and by inherited rules of thumb, whereas today stowage factors are used. Greek decorated pottery, with a relatively high stowage factor, is most unlikely to have been used as ballast in the ancient Mediterranean, but small consignments may have been used as ‘space‐fillers’.