Roman turf and timber forts

[Anonymous]

How thick is the timber in the palisade? For the Archers out there how thick would it have to be to protect against 50 pound plus bows at 45/50 meters? I am wanting to start the palisade on the fort at Lafe, Arkansas but want to make it thick enough to defend against archers and slingers. <p></p><i></i>

[Lucius Aurelius Metellus]

Hi Marcellous,<br>
Do you have photos of the fort that we could see? I think it is an awesome project to undertake! <p>Lucius Aurelius Metellus, miles gregarius, Secunda Brittanica</p><i></i>

[Crispvs]

The pallisade timbers at the Lunt are made from split logs and are generally between three and five inches thick at the widest point (this is purely on memory as the pallisade has been fenced off for about two years now). Obviously they are wider than they are thick, although of course the semi-circular shape means that each is thinner at the edges than in the middle. I don't think that the wood would have to be very thick to be affective against arrows, given that there are numerous illustrations (the Bayeaux tapestry for example) which show arrows which have been stopped by shields, although of course the shields could have been made of plied wood which would render a narrower thickness stronger.<br>
<br>
Crispvs <p></p><i></i>

[Anonymous]

Were the Lunt pallasade timbers horizontal or vertical? Did it look like something from a movie about the American West Cavalry forts (vertical poles)? The Fort at Lafe, Arkansas is a fort big enough to hold a Cohort. It is 32 meters on a side with the moat (ditch) and dirt embankment allready in and the towers at the gates have their post in also. They have allready built a barracks with a tile roof. <p></p><i></i>

[Caius Fabius]

I have one or two photos of the Lafe fort at the romanis Romanorvm yahoo group site. The homepage photo is a photo of the barracks reconstruction in the fort.<br>
<br>
groups.yahoo.com/group/ROMANISROMANORVM/ <p></p><i></i>

[Vincula]

Yuor barrack looks very short, Marcellous.<br>
What site did you use as a modell? <p></p><i></i>

[Anonymous]

It is not mine. I just want to help the owner build the fort. I want it to be accurate not 'Hollywierd'. <p></p><i></i>

[Crispvs]

The timbers at the Lunt are vertical. It should be remembered that the Lunt, in its present form, is a reconstuction rather than the original, although the gate and granary are based on the original post-hole evidence and the embankment is based on the evidence of the compacted earth and filled in ditches. Except where they meet the gate, the pallisade timbers are only visible above the embankment, which accounts for about three quarters of the height of the wall. The evidence for the appearance of the Lunt, past what can be found in the archaeological evidence, seems mainly to come from Trajan's Column. In areas where there was insufficient turf to build a normal turf and timber fort, it was possible to build a fort where the pallisade timbers accounted for the full height of the wall (a la the Wild West forts), with the walls being backed up by wooden boxing filled with earth or sand.<br>
<br>
Crispvs <p></p><i></i>

[Anonymous]

Marcellus,<br>
<br>
I'll be working on the Celtic village at Lafe this January.<br>
<br>
Dave <p>[url=http://www.freewebs.com/davekufner" target="top]www.freewebs.com/davekufner[/url]</p><i></i>

[Vincula]

who pays for all this stuff, marcellous?! <p></p><i></i>

[Anonymous]

The ower of the land supplies the wood. He is clearing some of the property of trees. The tiles for the roof he found some people that had them and said 'you want them take all you want' he did take all they had. The time spent is whenever the reenactors can put in on the site baring some hunting seasons (some hunters think deer have two legs and make a lot of noise in the woods'. <p></p><i></i>

[Anonymous]

> How thick is the timber in the palisade? For the Archers out there how thick would it have to be to protect against 50 pound plus bows at 45/50 meters? I am wanting to start the palisade on the fort at Lafe, Arkansas but want to make it thick enough to defend against archers and slingers.<br>
<br>
Ave Marcellous,<br>
<br>
I have a bit of emperical data for you. I was shooting my 80# crossbow last week at 40yds and undershot the target, hitting the piece of wooden fence that my friend uses as a backstop. My bolt buried itself in about 3/8's of an inch. I could easily remove it. I expect it might have gone further in if I was using an authentic style head rather than a modern target head. As it was, the swell of the head where it formed the tube that slipped over the end of the bolt I think kept it from penetrating further.<br>
<br>
I hope this is a help,<br>
<br>
Gaius Septimus Lucianus <p></p><i>Edited by: <A HREF=http://p200.ezboard.com/bromanarmytalk.showUserPublicProfile?gid=gaiusseptimuslucianus>Gaius Septimus Lucianus</A> at: 10/16/04 12:02 am<br></i>