File talk:ByzantineDromon.jpg

Hi. I am involved deeply into maritime archaeology, since around 25 years.

I would like to question the time frame of the ship shown in that picture. I doubt for two reasons that the time frame of the 10th century AD is correct.

Here are my points:

1. Over-All Construction The entire ship resembles a ship of the 15th or 16th century AD. A ship well-known from that time is the French galley "La Reale". When we look to the illutrations of the "La Reale" and this ship, we see many similarities, especially the stern, but the prow as well. The Byzantinian dromona, dromonarion, ousiakos, pamphilos, and galea of that time had a very different structure. They featured at that time the very tall hull extensions on both sides of the stern, which derrived from ancient Roman ships.

2. Rudder Construction We see here the single rudder mounted to the keel of the ship, as it was common after 12oo AD. This is another evidence that this ship just cannot date from the 10th century AD. Ships of that era had usually two rudders, one of each side of the hull, like ancient Roman ships and the ships before.

Conclusion

I cannot determine if this ship is a Byzantine ship or not, but at least I can be very sure that the time frame of the 10th century AD is set too early. I estimate it to be from the 14th to the 16th century AD.