and moulding irons, together with other tools typical of the Northern European carpenter's kit. As in traditional shipbuilding, generally, measurements were largely by eye.

The traditional practice of sheltering boats in bank-cuttings ("nausts") - small artificial harbours - was probably also employed with the birlinn. There is evidence in fortified sites of constructed harbours, boat-landings and sea-gates.

The influence of Norse shipbuilding techniques, though plausible, is conjectural, since

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