Urbanism Under Sail - An archaeology of fluit ships in early modern everyday life

In the seventeenth- and early eighteenth centuriesfluits were the most common ships used in the tradebetween the Dutch Republic and Sweden. The fluitwas ubiquitous, becoming such a fixture in both themaritime and urban landscapes that these ships werealmost invisible. Despite there having been thousandsof more or less identical ships built, surprisingly littleis known about their sculptural embellishments, howspace on board was arranged and how early moderneveryday life was lived on board.Far from all voyages reached their destination.Down in the cold and dark brackish water of the BalticSea, the conditions for preservation of organic materialare optimal and several of the unfortunate fluits stillremain intact today.Inspired by phenomenological approaches in archaeology this thesis focuses on the lived experience of fluits. Using well-preserved wrecks it examines seemingly mundane everyday aspects, from the physical arrangements for eating, sleeping and answering nature’s call to their rearrangement for naval use. The study concludes with a consideration of the architectonical contribution of the fluit to the urban landscape.