„… treidelten wir das Schiff mit Mühe in den Hafen des Arsinoites“ – Überlegungen zu den Akteuren in der Binnenschifffahrt und zu Quantifizierungsmöglichkeiten

Abstract

Only a few precise data on the economic and historical importance of inland navigation and its efficiency can be obtained from ancient sources. Although there is a lot of archaeological material and also sporadic written references in papyrological and literary sources, it has so far been
impossible to determine the efficiency of inland navigation due to the lack of accurate data on the sailing characteristics of river vessels and the physical strain of the tow against the direction of flow. On the basis of new experimental archaeological data, which could be worked out in the context of a Trier research project, there are now reliable data available especially for the towing of a smaller leaf-bottom vessels (so-called „Prahme“) for the first time. These allow precise determination of personnel costs and transport speed as well as general conclusions about the efficiency of inland navigation.