Iron knees in wooden vessels - An attempt at a typology (Ship construction)

Knees were brackets in the structure of a wooden ship. They were introduced in the second half of the 18th century and were in common use for naval an d merchant ships in the 19th century. They were fashioned in various design s. A typology of these is proposed based on archaeological and documentary evidence. Iron knees could be used to assist the dating of unidentified shi pwrecks.