03-27-2006, 08:36 AM
I've just taken a look into
Höckmann, Olaf, 1985, Antike Seefahrt, Munich.
but did not find any comments about tar on ropes, sorry.
My knowledge about seafaring is only limited, but according to what I can scrape together from what I have read long ago, the standing rigging was treated with tar to make it more durable, while the running rigging stayed untreated. HOWEVER, in my opinion this makes only sense if the standing rigging was indeed a standing rigging = shrouds which were not moved. But for ancient galleys it was customary to take down the mast before any battles, so I would not use tarred ropes for this.
For sailing freighters it's something different - does Casson write something about this?
Höckmann, Olaf, 1985, Antike Seefahrt, Munich.
but did not find any comments about tar on ropes, sorry.
My knowledge about seafaring is only limited, but according to what I can scrape together from what I have read long ago, the standing rigging was treated with tar to make it more durable, while the running rigging stayed untreated. HOWEVER, in my opinion this makes only sense if the standing rigging was indeed a standing rigging = shrouds which were not moved. But for ancient galleys it was customary to take down the mast before any battles, so I would not use tarred ropes for this.
For sailing freighters it's something different - does Casson write something about this?
Florian Himmler (not related!)
