Gribshunden crossbow reproduction (sort of)

In the late 15thC the Gribshunden, a Danish war ship burnt off the coast of Sweden whilst on a mission. In the 1970's it was found and last year it started to be recovered.

During the excavations, parts of a crossbow were found and a collaborative effort between Lund University and Blerkinge Museum asked me to reproduce the crossbow as best I could - this is the bow and these are my thoughts.

The project was particularly interesting for me because as a dynamic object as soon as the client starts to define the proportions and positions of parts it starts to effect how the finished object will work and I discuss the realities of the statement "the client is always right".

If you are interested in medieval crossbows have a look at my web pages here

For budget historical knives have a look here

Thanks also to the Society for Combat Archeology

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