Abstract
The Batteau plat is a type of double-ended, flat-bottomed craft well known for its crucial role in the French—English colonial wars in North America. While many European boatbuilding traditions were transferred to the colonies, the New France batteau plat represents a specific type that spread in the context of New World fisheries and military inland navigation. Four examples of this boat-type from Québec City (Canada) are studied as a means to grasp an uncommon boat mass-production phenomenon. This chapter discusses the origin and evolution of the batteau plat, and demonstrates the model that was first introduced by the French in 1665. More specifically, it also studies the design method used in its construction as well as the technology involved in the wide board sawing process, either power mill sawn or hand sawn.
This text is partly derived from my Master’s dissertation, Les “batteaux plats” en Nouvelle-France (Dagneau 2002).
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
- 1.
1 In French, the modern spelling of “batteau plat” is bateau plat, or the plural bateaux plats, which means flat boat. Both spellings, with one or two ‘t’s, were used in seventeenth and eighteenth century. Batteau plat is the boat-type.
- 2.
1 pied (foot) = 12 pouces (inches) = 32.48 cm.
- 3.
For more detailed information on the construction and dimensions of the craft, see Dagneau (2004).
- 4.
Archives Nationales du Québec à Québec, hereafter ANQ-Q.
References
Barker, R. (1991). Design in the Dockyards, about 1600. In R. Reinders, & K. Paul (Eds.), Carvel construction technique. International Symposium on Boat and Ship Archaeology 5 (Amsterdam 1988) (pp. 62–63). Oxford, England: Oxbow Monograph 12.
Beaudouin, F. (1985). Bateaux des fleuves de France. Douarnenez: Éditions de l’Estran.
Beaudouin, F. (2000). Les bateaux garonnais I. Les Cahiers du Musée de la batellerie (Vol. 44). Conflans-Sainte-Honorine, France: Musée de la Batellerie.
Bellico, R. P. (1992). Sails and steam in the mountains: A maritime and military history of Lake George and Lake Champlain. New York: Purple Mountain Press.
Brisson, R. (1983). Les 100 premières années de la charpenterie navale à Québec: 1663–1763. Collection Edmond-de-Nevers No 2. Québec, QC: Institut Québécois de Recherche sur la Culture.
Chapelle, H. I. (1951). American small sailing craft. Their design, development and construction. New York: W.W. Norton.
Crisman, K. (1988). Struggle for a continent: Naval battles of the French and Indian wars. In G. F. Bass (Ed.), Ships and shipwrecks of the Americas. A history based on underwater archaeology (pp. 129–148). New York: Thames and Hudson.
Dagneau, C. (2002). Les “batteaux plats” en Nouvelle-France. Master’s thesis, University of Paris 1, Panthéon—Sorbonne, Paris, France.
Dagneau, C. (2004). The ‘Batteaux Plats’ of New France. International Journal of Nautical Archaeology, 33(2), 281–296.
Dagneau, C. (2009). Batteau plat de Kingston, Navy Bay (Fieldnote 2010-11-79). Ottawa, Ontario, Canada: Underwater Archaeology Service, Parks Canada.
de Baugy, L.-H. C. (1883). Journal d’une expédition contre les Iroquois en 1687: lettres et pièces relatives au fort Saint-Louis des Illinois. Paris: E. Leroux.
de Bougainville, L.-A. (2003). Écrits sur le Canada. Mémoires—Journal—Lettres (1756–1758). Québec, QC, Canada: Septentrion.
Drolet-Dubé, D., & Lacombe, M. (1976). Répertoire des contrats d’engagement, de marché de construction et autres types d’actes concernant les artisans du XVIIe siècle à Québec. Québec, QC, Canada: Parks Canada, unpublished.
Farrar, J. L. (1999). Les arbres du Canada. Ottawa, Ontario, Canada: Service Canadien des Forêts.
Fauteux, J.-N. (1928). Essai sur l’industrie au Canada sous le Régime Français. Québec, QC, Canada: Imprimeur du Roi.
Gardner, J. (1967a, April). Bateau played key role in American history. National Fisherman, pp. 8a, 9a, 19a.
Gardner, J. (1967b, August). Bateau reconstructed from remains. National Fisherman, p. 8a.
Gardner, J. (1967c, June). Construction details of old bateaux show basic design with variations. National Fisherman, pp. 8a, 9a.
Gardner, J. (1967d, May). Famous boat type in transitional stage. National Fisherman, pp. 8a, 9a, 28a.
Gardner, J. (1987). The Dory book. Mystic, CO: Mystic Seaport Museum.
Harris, R. C. (Ed.). (1987–1993). Atlas historique du Canada (Vol. 1). Montréal, Quebec City, QC, Canada: Les Presses de l’Université de Montréal.
Kalm, P. (1977). Voyage de Pehr Kalm au Canada en 1749. (J. Rousseau, G. Béthune, & P. Morisset, Trans.). Montréal, QC, Canada: Pierre Tisseyre.
Laroche, D. (1985). Rapport d’étude préliminaire suite à la fouille de l’embarcation située dans la cour de la maison Estèbe à Québec (CeEt-7). Québec, QC: Report to the ministry of Culture.
Laroche, D. (1986). La surveillance et le sauvetage de vestiges archéologiques au Musée de la Civilisation à Québec. Québec, QC: Report to the Ministry of Culture.
Laroche, D. (1987). The small boats finds at the Musée de la Civilisation in Québec City. In A. B. Albright (Ed.), Underwater archaeology proceedings from the Society for Historical Archaeology conference (pp. 108–112). Ann Harbour, MI: Society for Historical Archaeology.
Laroche, D. (2009). Sailboats used on the St Lawrence river in Quebec City, Canada, in the 18th century: Tradition and adaptation. International Journal of Nautical Archaeology, 38(1), 21–37.
Meany, J. F. Jr. (1998). “Batteaux” and “Battoe Men”: An American colonial response to the problem of logistics in mountain warfare. New York State Museum, New York. Page creation December 8, 1998, Retrieved February 22, 2006, from http://www.dmna.state.ny.us/historic/bateau.html.
Millot, G. (1999). Les gens de la rivière d’Etel. Le Chasse-Marée, 126, 2–15.
Pepe Productions. (2005). Wooden bones: The Sunken Fleet of 1758 [DVD]. New York: Glens Falls.
Pritchard, J. S. (1971). Ships, men and commerce: A study of maritime activity in New France. Doctoral dissertation, University of Toronto, Toronto.
Renault, F. (1984). Bateaux de Normandie. Rennes, France: Édition de l'Estran.
Rieth, E. (1996). Le maître-gabarit, la tablette et le trébuchet. Essai sur la conception non-graphique des carenes du Moyen Age au XXe siècle, Mémoires de la Section d’Histoire des Sciences et des Techniques (Vol. 9). Paris: CTHS.
Acknowledgments
Thanks to Daniel Laroche who carried out the excavation of the batteaux plats remains and the preliminary analysis of the boat remains. Also thanks to Brad Loewen for comments on earlier versions of this paper. Any errors remaining in the text are mine. Special thanks to the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada and the Society for Historical Archaeology for their financial support.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2016 Springer Science+Business Media New York
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Dagneau, C. (2016). The Batteau Plat of New France: Its Origin, Construction, and Design. In: Evans, A. (eds) The Archaeology of Vernacular Watercraft. When the Land Meets the Sea. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-3563-5_11
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-3563-5_11
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY
Print ISBN: 978-1-4939-3561-1
Online ISBN: 978-1-4939-3563-5
eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)