A late seventeenth century Dutch freighter, wrecked on the Zuiderzee

The subject of this study is the remains of a small freighter wrecked in the former Zuiderzee at the end of the seventeenth century. The wreck was named OH107 after the agricultural lot where it was found. OH107 was excavated furing the summer of 1993 by a team of archeology students from the United States, Federal Republic of Germany, and the Netherlands. This research was carried out under the supervision of the Netherlands Institute for Ship and underwaterArcheology. The date of the vessel's loss is approximately A.D. 1700. This is indicated by the dendrochronological analysis of the vessel's hull planking, two lead tokens, ceramics, kaolin tobacco pipes, and other artefacts. OH107 thus dates to the transition between the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. At this time there were a variety of Dutch watercraft plying the Zuiderzee. Because of the variety of watercraft, it is not an easy matter to assign OH107 to a specific type of Dutch freighter. However, its hull shares many similarities with those vessels categorized as praam-like.