An Ethnography of Shetland’s Oldest Boat, the Sixareen Mary LK 981

Michael John Stratigos; Marc Chivers; Ian Tait

doi:10.1080/00253359.2019.1665342

An Ethnography of Shetland’s Oldest Boat, the Sixareen Mary LK 981

Michael John Stratigos, Marc Chivers, Ian Tait

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

The Mary LK 981 is the oldest surviving Shetland-built boat. Detailed recording of surviving examples of Shetland’s boats has been rare, and where undertaken, has focused on analysing overall boat form rather than their biographies. However, previous work has been critiqued as too narrowly focused on hull form and the direct connection between Shetland’s small boats and their Norwegian (or even Norse) antecedents. This paper presents new recording and analysis of the Mary’s surviving remains taking an archaeological approach combined with historical and archival research providing a more complete biography of the Mary. We argue that the Mary is a unique survival of Shetland’s vernacular boatbuilding tradition and its biography parallels important transitions in Shetland’s nineteenth-century maritime economy. This work has dramatically cast into relief areas for future research into Shetland’s vernacular boatbuilding and wider maritime history.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	442-460
Number of pages	19
Journal	Mariner's Mirror
Volume	105
Issue number	4
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1080/00253359.2019.1665342
Publication status	Published - 21 Oct 2019

Keywords

sixareen
Shetland
far haaf
vernacular boat
nineteenth century
nautical archaeology
boat recording
boatbuilding

Access to Document

10.1080/00253359.2019.1665342Licence: Other

http://eprints.gla.ac.uk/197647/

Cite this

@article{e2a646dcd78b4d208f0c76a13bda177c,

title = "An Ethnography of Shetland{\textquoteright}s Oldest Boat, the Sixareen Mary LK 981",

abstract = "The Mary LK 981 is the oldest surviving Shetland-built boat. Detailed recording of surviving examples of Shetland{\textquoteright}s boats has been rare, and where undertaken, has focused on analysing overall boat form rather than their biographies. However, previous work has been critiqued as too narrowly focused on hull form and the direct connection between Shetland{\textquoteright}s small boats and their Norwegian (or even Norse) antecedents. This paper presents new recording and analysis of the Mary{\textquoteright}s surviving remains taking an archaeological approach combined with historical and archival research providing a more complete biography of the Mary. We argue that the Mary is a unique survival of Shetland{\textquoteright}s vernacular boatbuilding tradition and its biography parallels important transitions in Shetland{\textquoteright}s nineteenth-century maritime economy. This work has dramatically cast into relief areas for future research into Shetland{\textquoteright}s vernacular boatbuilding and wider maritime history.",

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author = "Stratigos, {Michael John} and Marc Chivers and Ian Tait",

year = "2019",

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doi = "10.1080/00253359.2019.1665342",

language = "English",

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T1 - An Ethnography of Shetland’s Oldest Boat, the Sixareen Mary LK 981

AU - Stratigos, Michael John

AU - Chivers, Marc

AU - Tait, Ian

PY - 2019/10/21

Y1 - 2019/10/21

N2 - The Mary LK 981 is the oldest surviving Shetland-built boat. Detailed recording of surviving examples of Shetland’s boats has been rare, and where undertaken, has focused on analysing overall boat form rather than their biographies. However, previous work has been critiqued as too narrowly focused on hull form and the direct connection between Shetland’s small boats and their Norwegian (or even Norse) antecedents. This paper presents new recording and analysis of the Mary’s surviving remains taking an archaeological approach combined with historical and archival research providing a more complete biography of the Mary. We argue that the Mary is a unique survival of Shetland’s vernacular boatbuilding tradition and its biography parallels important transitions in Shetland’s nineteenth-century maritime economy. This work has dramatically cast into relief areas for future research into Shetland’s vernacular boatbuilding and wider maritime history.

AB - The Mary LK 981 is the oldest surviving Shetland-built boat. Detailed recording of surviving examples of Shetland’s boats has been rare, and where undertaken, has focused on analysing overall boat form rather than their biographies. However, previous work has been critiqued as too narrowly focused on hull form and the direct connection between Shetland’s small boats and their Norwegian (or even Norse) antecedents. This paper presents new recording and analysis of the Mary’s surviving remains taking an archaeological approach combined with historical and archival research providing a more complete biography of the Mary. We argue that the Mary is a unique survival of Shetland’s vernacular boatbuilding tradition and its biography parallels important transitions in Shetland’s nineteenth-century maritime economy. This work has dramatically cast into relief areas for future research into Shetland’s vernacular boatbuilding and wider maritime history.

KW - sixareen

KW - Shetland

KW - far haaf

KW - vernacular boat

KW - nineteenth century

KW - nautical archaeology

KW - boat recording

KW - boatbuilding

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DO - 10.1080/00253359.2019.1665342

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