16th International Symposium on Boat & Ship Archaeology

84 16 th International Symposium on Boat & Ship Archaeology Wouter Waldus ADC Maritiem / Groningen Institute of Archaeology (GIA), Groningen, the Netherlands 17 th century turf shipping in the Dutch Zuyderzee area: historical maritime archaeology In this presentation I’ll discuss the results of the excavation of a peat transport vessel found in the polder of the former Zuyderzee and dated 1638-1664 AD. The 20 m long cargo ship contained a large amount of peat bricks, combustible destined for Amsterdam. The find will be interpreted in the context of the large scale peat extractions in the north of the country and within the maritime transport landscape of the Zuyderzee. Based on the elaborate inventory found in the wreck, the biography of the skipper can be reconstructed. This shipwreck offers convincing evidence of the importance of inland shipping for the remarkable socioeconomic developments during the Dutch Golden Age.