Moreover, in practical applications the lengths of the longhouses might well have required an additional qualifier -- one already consolidated by Farley Mowat, namely overlaps for the prows and sterns of the boats, whether they be of Alban or Viking designs. This requirement necessarily calls for the longhouses to be somewhat smaller in length that the boats themselves, perhaps by some five to ten percent as a rough estimate. In the case of Viking ships, however, additional complications arise from high prows and high sterns, a situation exacerbated by figureheads that might extend the height even further. As a start however, it may be suggested that small pits might be dug for prows and sterns should the height became a problem in this regard. This is merely a suggestion in keeping with Figure 1 (the stone walls are replaced by a few vertical spacing blocks for clarity). As it turns out, certain Viking ships had practical design features that make this option redundant in any case, as