22/05/2026
The Viking Ship / Tuneskipet
I had long intended to open this topic: over time I gathered material, studied research, and analyzed all available data concerning the Tune ship. Why this particular vessel? First of all, because ships such as the Oseberg ship and the Gokstad ship have already been extensively studied, and there exists a large body of scholarly work, reconstructions, and drawings dedicated to them. The Tune ship is a somewhat different case. The surviving remains leave considerable room for interpretation, since no one can say with certainty what the vessel originally looked like. My goal is to attempt a reasoned reconstruction drawing based on archaeological finds and research into Viking Age shipbuilding. The main idea behind this project is also to somewhat diversify the familiar range of Viking ship models, which is usually limited to Oseberg and Gokstad. The Tune ship, or Tuneskipet, is one of the best-known Viking Age finds discovered in Norway. In Norwegian archaeological tradition, such ships are usually named after the parish, municipality, or farm near which they were found. In this case, the vessel received its name from the parish of Tune. The ship was discovered in the autumn of 1867 on the Nedre Haugen farm. It became the first Viking Age ship to be excavated in a relatively good state of preservation. However, the archaeological methods of the time caused enormous damage to the find. The excavation was carried out hastily and completed in only fourteen days, after which another eight days were spent transporting the remains to Oslo. Numerous shovel marks are still visible on the lower part of the hull, left by workers who hastily scraped away the clay. This clearly demonstrates the extremely careless treatment of the ship. The situation was made even worse by the fact that the landowner, Ole Arnesen Haugen, had already begun dismantling the burial mound in the early 1860s. For nearly seven years, the burial remained exposed to oxygen, moisture, and erosion. As a result, the hull was completely destroyed above the waterline. Archaeologists managed to preserve only the keel, keelson, mast step, fragments of the mast, and ten strakes of planking on each side. The stems, stern, as well as most of the rigging and spars, were almost entirely lost. Originally, the Tune ship was dated to approximately 900 AD based on comparisons between fragments of a carved wooden saddle and bronze ornaments found in the mound and similar artifacts from Gokstad. Later, however, after further revisions and corrections, the construction of the vessel was more precisely dated to between 905 and 910 AD. It is worth noting that, from a typological perspective, the Tune and Gokstad ships (around 890 AD) are not only close in date, but also represent the peak of Viking Age shipbuilding technology. The main difficulty in reconstructing the Tune ship lies in the fact that most of its principal dimensions can only be estimated hypothetically. Only the lower part of the hull has survived, and therefore such important features as the height of the sides, the shape of the stems, the vessel’s length, the number of planking strakes, and even the overall silhouette of the ship remain subjects of ongoing debate. One of the most difficult issues is the reconstruction of the upper hull planking. For a long time, it was believed that the ship had only ten strakes per side and a very low freeboard. However, later studies revealed traces of additional fastenings and lost structural elements, suggesting the existence of at least two additional strakes. As a consequence, the estimated proportions of the entire vessel also change: its seaworthiness, freeboard height, arrangement of the oars, and even the dimensions of the sail plan. The problem is further complicated by the fact that the ship’s timber became heavily deformed over the centuries. Many parts changed their original shape under the pressure of the burial mound and due to deterioration following the excavations of the 19th century. Therefore, even the precise dimensions of the surviving elements do not always reflect their original form. For more than a hundred years, researchers repeatedly attempted to create a convincing reconstruction of the Tune ship, yet no final consensus has ever been reached. Each new study offers its own interpretation of the hull form and ship construction, based both on the archaeological remains and on comparisons with other Viking Age vessels. One of the most significant modern studies was conducted by Knut Paasche, who used modern analytical methods and digital reconstruction techniques in an attempt to restore the vessel’s presumed original appearance. His research allows us to better understand what the Tune ship may actually have looked like.
Continued...
I would like to show the first cautious steps in creating the lines plan that defines the shape of the future model. Theframe spacing has been taken from B. C. Arntzen's drawing.The stems and the upper strakes of the hull sides have not been preserved, but the fastening holes on the uppermost remaining planks indicate that the hull must originally have had at least two additional strakes. Recent studies by Dr. Knut Paasche show that with a keel length of 13.6 meters, the ship could have had an overall length of about 18.7 meters and a beam (width) of 4.2 meters. Unfortunately, the exact height from the keel to the gunwale is unknown; I have cautiously chosen a height of 1,45 meters and tried to adapt the shape of the stems to the historical find from Ryfylke.
