The ship

King Valdemar, his soldiers and horses came to Gotland on a total of around 50 ships.

No traces of Valdemar’s fleet have ever been found. Perhaps some of the ships were of the same type that we see part of here.

It is a small, single-mast sailing barge found in the early 1930s at the bottom of Slottsfjärden outside of Kalmar. The ship has been dated to the 1200s.

It was clinker built, less than eleven metres long and just over four and a half metres wide. There are no traces of oars. The large, round cylinder is what remains of a “capstan”, used to load and unload goods.