Bronze Age ‘Washingborough Boat’ Will Reveal Boat Building Techniques Of Ancient People

AncientPages.com - A 6m long boat made from a tree trunk has been discovered by archaeologists in a silted-up channel of the Witham, near Washingborough, East Midlands, England.

It is still too early to determine the boat’s age; a tiny sample of its timber has been sent to Florida for radiocarbon dating, but the boat could be up to 4,000 years old.

This log boat would have been made by splitting an entire tree-trunk with wedges, then using flint or metal tools to hollow-out one half, helped perhaps by controlled burning. Image credit: lincolnshirelive.co.uk

Preliminary, experts suggest the boat may be dated to Bronze Age (c.2000-1000BC).

This log boat would have been made by splitting an entire tree-trunk with wedges, then using flint or metal tools to hollow-out one half, helped perhaps by controlled burning, reports Lincolnshire Live.

The prow (front) of the boat was formed from the hollowed-out pointed end of the trunk, while at the back, slots cut around the inside would have held a transom board, giving the boat a squared-off stern.

It is believed that the boat could carry five or six passengers but it is also possible it was used for fishing or hunting fowl.

The boat was discovered with the prow slightly higher than the stern, as if it had been hauled out onto a riverbank - the archaeologists believe this indicates the boat was moored here after its final journey.

Its tilted position also means the front of the boat was more exposed to the air, causing more of the wood to rot away. The back of the boat (nearest the camera) is much better preserved.

It is believed that the boat could carry five or six passengers but it is also possible it was used for fishing or hunting fowl. It was long time ago, when the landscape of the Witham valley would have been very different when the boat was in use. The ancient river would have snaked across a wide, flat fenland, bounded by woodland on the higher ground.

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