Xanten Roman River Boats

The Xanten Roman river boats are first-century inland vessels associated with the Roman site at Xanten (Colonia Ulpia Traiana) on the lower Rhine in Germany. Flat-bottomed barge and patrol-craft types of this class served the Rhine frontier fleet (Classis Germanica), moving troops and supplies along the river limes. Comparable lower-Rhine finds, such as the Roman ships excavated nearby at locations including De Meern and Woerden in the Rhine delta, show the bottom-based plank construction of provincial river craft. The vessels are studied and displayed through the Xanten Archaeological Park.