Lashed-lug boat

Map showing the migration and expansion of the Austronesians

Lashed-lug boats are ancient boat-building techniques of the Austronesian peoples. It is characterized by the use of raised lugs (also called "cleats") on the inner face of hull planks. These lugs have holes drilled in them so that other hull components such as ribs, thwarts or other structural components can be tied to them with natural fiber ropes (hence "lashed"). This allows a structure to be put together without any metal fastenings. The planks are further stitched together edge-to-edge by sewing or using dowels ("treenails") unto a dugout keel and the solid carved wood pieces that form the caps for the prow and stern. Characteristically, the shell of the boat is created first, prior to being lashed unto ribs. The seams between planks are also sealed with absorbent tapa bark and fiber that expands when wet or caulked with resin-based preparations.[1][2]: 297–302 [3][4]

Lashed-lug construction has been used on a wide size range of vessels, from small craft, such as logboats that have had planks added to their sides to increase their freeboard, to large plank-built ships.[1] It is found in traditional boats of Maritime Southeast Asia, Melanesia, Madagascar, Micronesia, and Polynesia. It forms part of the maritime technology used by Austronesian peoples in their spread throughout the islands of the Indo-Pacific starting at 3000 to 1500 BCE.[5][3] The oldest recovered remains of ships of lashed-lug construction is the Pontian boat of Malaysia dated to at around c.260–430 CE.[6][1]

The lashed-lug technique of Austronesians is considered to be very similar to that found in archaeological remains of some northern-European boats. This is considered to be a case of independent invention of one of a limited number of solutions to the same boat-building problem.[1]

  1. ^ a b c d Cite error: The named reference Manguin 2019 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ McGrail, Seán (2009). Boats of the world: from the stone age to medieval times (Reprinted ed.). Oxford New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0199271863.
  3. ^ a b Horridge, Adrian (2006). "The Austronesian Conquest of the Sea - Upwind". In Bellwood, Peter; Fox, James J.; Tryon, Darrell (eds.). The Austronesians: Historical and Comparative Perspectives. ANU E Press. pp. 143–160. doi:10.22459/a.09.2006.07. ISBN 9781920942854.
  4. ^ Horridge, Adrian (2008). "Origins and Relationships of Pacific Canoes and Rigs" (PDF). In Di Piazza, Anne; Pearthree, Erik (eds.). Canoes of the Grand Ocean. BAR International Series 1802. Archaeopress. ISBN 9781407302898.
  5. ^ Pawley, Andrew K.; Pawley, Median (1994). "Early Austronesian Terms for Canoe Parts and Seafaring". In Pawley, Andrew K.; Ross, Malcolm D. (eds.). Austronesian Terminologies: Continuity and Change. Australian National University. pp. 329–362. ISBN 9780858834248.
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference Pham was invoked but never defined (see the help page).