Lashed-lug boat

Last updated
Map showing the migration and expansion of the Austronesians Chronological dispersal of Austronesian people across the Pacific (per Benton et al, 2012, adapted from Bellwood, 2011).png
Map showing the migration and expansion of the Austronesians

Lashed-lug boats are ancient boat-building techniques of the Austronesian peoples. It is characterized by the use of sewn holes and later dowels ("treenails") to stitch planks edge-to-edge onto a dugout keel and solid carved wood pieces that form the caps for the prow and stern. The planks are further lashed together and unto ribs with fiber ropes wrapped around protruding carved lugs on the inside surfaces. Unlike western boat-building techniques, the shell of the boat is created first, prior to being lashed unto ribs. The seams between planks are also sealed with absorbent tapa bark and fiber that expands when wet or caulked with resin-based preparations. [1] [2] [3]


Lashed-lug construction techniques are found in all the traditional boats of Maritime Southeast Asia, Melanesia, Madagascar, Micronesia, and Polynesia, and was one of the early maritime boat-building innovations that allowed the rapid expansion of the Austronesian peoples throughout the islands of the Indo-Pacific starting at 3000 to 1500 BCE. [1]

Basic construction

Construction of the Naga Pelangi in 2004, a Malaysian pinas, using traditional lashed-lug techniques. Note the protruding dowels on the upper edges of the planks and the fiber caulking in the seams. Naga Pelangi building without frames.jpg

The lashed-lug technique remains remarkably homogeneous throughout the entirety of the Austronesian range. The keel and the base of the hull is a simple dugout canoe. Planks are then added gradually to the keel, either by sewing fiber ropes through drilled holes or through the use of internal dowels ("treenails") on the plank edges. [4] [1]

Generalized diagram of lashed-lug planking in Butuan Boat Two (Clark et al., 1993) Lashed-lug planking in the Butuan balangay boat Two (Clark, Green, Vosmer, & Santiago, 1993).png

The most distinctive aspect of lashed-lug boats are the lugs (also called "cleats" by some authors). These are a series of carved protrusions with holes bored into them on the inside surfaces of the planks which are then lashed tightly together with the lugs on the adjacent planks and to ribs using plaited fiber (usually rattan, coir, and other palm fibers). [1] [4]

The seams of the planks were commonly caulked with resin-based pastes made from various plants as well as tapa bark and fibers which would expand when wet, further tightening joints and making the hull watertight. The ends of the boat are capped with single pieces of carved Y-shaped wooden blocks or posts which are attached to the planks in the same way. [1]

Once the shell of the boat is completed, the ribs are then built and lashed to the lugs to further strengthen the structure of the ship, while still retaining the inherent flexibility of the outer hull. The outriggers, when present, are attached with similar lashings to the main hull. [3]

The smallest Austronesian boat (excluding rafts and dugout canoes) characteristically have five parts all put together using the lashed-lug technique. These consist of the dugout keel, two planks that form the strakes, and the end caps for the prow and the stern. Larger ships usually differed in the number of planks used for the strakes, but the construction techniques remain the same. [1]


Planks from one of the balangay burial boats (c.320-1250 CE) in the Butuan National Museum in the Philippines showing the holes on the edges where dowels were inserted Planks of a Butuan balangay in the Butuan National Museum.jpg

Lashed-lug techniques are distinctively Austronesian and are different enough from the shipbuilding techniques of South Asia, the Middle East, and China, that they can be used to readily identify ships as being Austronesian. Despite this, some lashed-lug Austronesian shipwrecks have been misidentified as Indian or Chinese due to their cargo in the past. Non-Austronesian ships also later adopted lashed-lug techniques from contact with Austronesian traders, the most notable example being the Belitung shipwreck (c.830 CE). [4] [6] [7]

The oldest recovered lashed-lug ships include the Pontian boat of Pahang, Malaysia (c.260-430 CE) and the balangay boat burials of Butuan, Philippines (c.320-1250 CE). Archaeological evidence of lashed-lug ships from 1500 BCE to 1300 CE remains negligible due to the perishable nature of wooden Austronesian ships in the tropics. [4] [6] [8]

Comparison with other traditions

Though the sewn boat technique (but not the lashed lugs) is also used for boats in the western Indian Ocean traditions, it differs in that the stitching in Austronesian boats are discontinuous and only visible from the inside of the hull. This indicates that the sewn boat techniques of the Indian Ocean and Austronesia are not culturally-linked and developed independent of each other. The planks of ancient Austronesian ships were originally joined together using only the sewn boat technique. However, the development of metallurgy in Maritime Southeast Asia in the last two thousand years resulted in the replacement of the sewing technique with internal dowels, as well as increasing use of metal nails. [4] [1]

See also

Related Research Articles

Shipbuilding Construction of ships and floating vessels


Boat building Design and construction of floating vessels

Boat building is the design and construction of boats and their systems. This includes at a minimum a hull, with propulsion, mechanical, navigation, safety and other systems as a craft requires.

Outrigger boat

Outrigger boats are various watercraft featuring one or more lateral support floats known as outriggers, which are fastened to one or both sides of the main hull. They can range from small dugout canoes to large plank-built vessels. Outrigger boats can also vary in their configuration, from the ancestral double-hull configuration (catamarans), to single-outrigger vessels prevalent in the Pacific Islands and Madagascar, to the double-outrigger vessels (trimarans) prevalent in Island Southeast Asia. They are traditionally fitted with Austronesian sails, like the crab claw sails and tanja sails, but in modern times are often fitted with petrol engines.

Sewn boat

A sewn boat is a type of wooden boat which is clinker built with its planks sewn, stitched, tied, or bound together with tendons or flexible wood, such as roots and willow branches. Sewn boat construction techniques were used in many parts of the world prior to the development of metal fasteners, and continued to be used long after that time for small boats to reduce construction costs where metal fasteners were too expensive.

<i>Calophyllum inophyllum</i> Species of tree

Calophyllum inophyllum is a large evergreen plant, commonly called tamanu, mastwood, beach calophyllum or beautyleaf. It is native to tropical Asia and Wallacea. Due to its importance as a source of timber for the traditional shipbuilding of large outrigger ships, it has been spread in prehistoric times by the migrations of the Austronesian peoples to the islands of Oceania and Madagascar, along with other members of the genus Calophyllum. It has since been naturalized in regions in the East African coast. It is also a source of the culturally important tamanu oil.

Hjortspring boat Large canoe type vessel dated to 350 found in Hjortspring Mose at Als, Denmark

The Hjortspring boat is a vessel designed as a large canoe, from the Scandinavian Pre-Roman Iron Age. It was built circa 400–300 BCE. The hull and remains were rediscovered and excavated in 1921–1922 from the bog of Hjortspring Mose on the island of Als in Sønderjylland, southern Denmark. The boat is the oldest find of a wooden plank ship in Scandinavia and it closely resembles the thousands of petroglyph images of Nordic Bronze Age ships found throughout Scandinavia. The vessel is a clinker-built wooden boat of more than 19 metres length overall, 13.6 metres long inside, and 2 metres wide. Ten thwarts that could have served as seats, span the boat with room for two persons each; this suggests space for a crew of at least 20 who propelled the boat with paddles. The boat would have weighed an estimated 530 kilograms (1,168 lb), making it easily portable by its crew.

Crab claw sail Triangular sail with spars along upper and lower edges used by traditional Austronesians

The crab claw sail is a fore-and-aft triangular sail with spars along upper and lower edges. The crab claw sail was first developed by the Austronesian peoples some time around 1500 BC. It is used in many traditional Austronesian cultures in Island Southeast Asia, Micronesia, Island Melanesia, Polynesia, and Madagascar. Due to its extraordinary performance and ease-of-operation, it has also become very popular in modern sport sailing. It is sometimes known as the Oceanic lateen or the Oceanic sprit, even though it is not restricted to Oceania, is neither a lateen sail nor a spritsail, and has an independent older origin.


The vinta is a traditional outrigger boat from the Philippine island of Mindanao. The boats are made by Sama-Bajau, Tausug and Yakan peoples living in the Sulu Archipelago, Zamboanga peninsula, and southern Mindanao. Vinta are characterized by their colorful rectangular lug sails (bukay) and bifurcated prows and sterns, which resemble the gaping mouth of a crocodile. Vinta are used as fishing vessels, cargo ships, and houseboats. Smaller undecorated versions of the vinta used for fishing are known as tondaan.


Paraw are various double outrigger sail boats in the Philippines. It is a general term and thus can refer to a range of ship types, from small fishing canoes to large merchant lashed-lug plank boats with two outriggers (katig) propelled by sails

Ship construction techniques can be categorized as one of hide, log, sewn, lashed-plank, clinker, shell-first, and frame-first. While the frame-first technique dominates the modern ship construction industry, the ancients relied primarily on the other techniques to build their watercraft. In many cases, these techniques were very labor-intensive and/or inefficient in their use of raw materials. Regardless of differences in ship construction techniques, the vessels of the ancient world, particularly those that plied the waters of the Mediterranean Sea and the islands of Southeast Asia were seaworthy craft, capable of allowing people to engage in large-scale maritime trade.

Traditional fishing boat

Traditionally, many different kinds of boats have been used as fishing boats to catch fish in the sea, or on a lake or river. Even today, many traditional fishing boats are still in use. According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), at the end of 2004, the world fishing fleet consisted of about 4 million vessels, of which 2.7 million were undecked (open) boats. While nearly all decked vessels were mechanised, only one-third of the undecked fishing boats were powered, usually with outboard engines. The remaining 1.8 million boats were traditional craft of various types, operated by sail and oars.


The mtepe is a boat associated with the Swahili people. The mtepe's planks are held together by wooden pegs and coir, so it is a sewn boat designed to be flexible in contrast to the rigid vessels of western technique.


Balangay, also spelled barangay, is a type of lashed-lug boat built by joining planks edge-to-edge using pins, dowels, and fiber lashings. They are found throughout the Philippines and were used largely as trading ships up until the colonial era. The oldest known balangay are the Butuan boats, which have been carbon-dated to 320 AD and were recovered from several sites in Butuan, Agusan del Norte.

Karakoa Type of warship from Nusantara

Karakoa were large outrigger warships from the Philippines. They were used by native Filipinos, notably the Kapampangans and the Visayans, during seasonal sea raids. Karakoa were distinct from other traditional Philippine sailing vessels in that they were equipped with platforms for transporting warriors and for fighting at sea. During peacetime, they were also used as trading ships. Large karakoa, which could carry hundreds of rowers and warriors, were known as joangas by the Spanish.

Lepa (ship)

Lepa, also known as lipa or lepa-lepa, are indigenous ships of the Sama-Bajau people in the Philippines and Malaysia. They were traditionally used as houseboats by the seagoing Sama Dilaut. Since most Sama have abandoned exclusive sea-living, modern lepa are instead used as fishing boats and cargo vessels.

Bangka (boat)

Bangka are various native watercraft of the Philippines. It originally referred to small double-outrigger dugout canoes used in rivers and shallow coastal waters, but since the 18th century, it has expanded to include larger lashed-lug ships, with or without outriggers. Though the term used is the same throughout the Philippines, "bangka" can refer to a very diverse range of boats specific to different regions. Bangka was also spelled as banca, panca, or panga in Spanish. It is also known archaically as sakayan.


Kalulis is a type of traditional boat from eastern Indonesia. It is mainly built in Kei islands, Southeast direction from Seram. It is mainly used for interinsular transport, but they are unsuitable for long haul voyages between Moluccas, Sulawesi, and Java. It is also known as perahu kalulis, ang kalulis, kalulus, and kulis.


Djenging is a type of large double-outrigger plank boat built by the Sama-Bajau people of the Philippines. It is typically used as a houseboat, though it can be converted to a sailing ship. It was the original type of houseboat used by the Sama-Bajau before it was largely replaced by the lepa after World War II. Larger versions of djenging were also known as balutu or kubu, often elaborately carved with bifurcated extensions on the prow and stern.

Junkun Indigenous Philippines canoe

Junkun, is a type of small dugout canoe of the Sama-Bajau people of the Philippines. They are usually made from a single log, though a single plank can be added to the sides, and longer boats can include ribs that support a deck made of planks. They are around 2.5 to 8 m long. They have knob-like protrusions on the tip of the prow and the stern, which also sweep upwards from the waterline. They are sometimes equipped with double outriggers. They are used for fishing and short-distance travel.

Phoenician joints Wood joinery technique used in shipbuilding

Phoenician joints is a locked mortise and tenon wood joinery technique used in shipbuilding to fasten watercraft hulls. The locked mortise and tenon technique consists of cutting a mortise, or socket, into the edges of two planks and fastening them together with a rectangular wooden knob. The assembly is then locked in place by driving a dowel through one or more holes drilled through the mortise side wall and tenon.


  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Horridge, Adrian (2006). "The Austronesian Conquest of the Sea - Upwind". In Bellwood, Peter; Fox, James J.; Tryon, Darrell (eds.). The Austronesians: Historical and Comparative Perspectives. ANU E Press. pp. 143–160. doi: 10.22459/a.09.2006.07 . ISBN   9781920942854.
  2. Manguin, Pierre‐Yves (23 August 2019). "Sewn Boats of Southeast Asia: the stitched‐plank and lashed‐lug tradition". International Journal of Nautical Archaeology. 48 (2): 400–415. doi:10.1111/1095-9270.12367.
  3. 1 2 Horridge, Adrian (2008). "Origins and Relationships of Pacific Canoes and Rigs" (PDF). In Di Piazza, Anne; Pearthree, Erik (eds.). Canoes of the Grand Ocean. BAR International Series 1802. Archaeopress. ISBN   9781407302898.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Pham, Charlotte Minh-Hà L. (2012). Asian Shipbuilding Technology (PDF). UNESCO. ISBN   978-92-9223-414-0.
  5. Clark, Paul; Green, Jeremy; Vosmer, Tom; Santiago, Ray (May 1993). "The Butuan Two boat known as a balangay in the National Museum, Manila, Philippines". International Journal of Nautical Archaeology. 22 (2): 143–159. doi:10.1111/j.1095-9270.1993.tb00403.x.
  6. 1 2 Brown, Roxanna M. History of Shipwreck Excavation in Southeast Asia (PDF). ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute. pp. 42–55.
  7. Lacsina, Ligaya (2016). Examining pre-colonial Southeast Asian boatbuilding: An archaeological study of the Butuan Boats and the use of edge-joined planking in local and regional construction techniques (PhD). Flinders University.
  8. Heng, Derek (2019). "Ships, Shipwrecks, and Archaeological Recoveries as Sources of Southeast Asian History". Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Asian History: 1–29. doi:10.1093/acrefore/9780190277727.013.97. ISBN   9780190277727.