Nails and Roves
When Basil Brown's famous excavation at Sutton Hoo was completed in 1939, it was perhaps of no surprise that those fabulous ship-burial treasures revealed in Mound One took centre stage: That beautifully decorated helmet and the garnet-encrusted jewellery have become icons of Anglo-Saxon craftsmanship. And yet, one of the most significant finds, which had immense implications for constructional archaeology, was a host of humble iron nails, still joined to their washers which, like a join-the-dots diagram, clearly delineated the position of the ship's planking, long since rotted away. These are what every ship and boat builder now knows as nails and roves: an extremely sturdy and adaptable fastening that essentially rivets two planks of wood together. It creates an effective - or almost effective - waterproof union. I have a lovely 17th-century single boat-rib with the verdigris patinated copper nail and rove still clinging on, long after the rest of the hull had disappeared. ...