Skywizard
7th June 2016, 02:55
Mesolithic carpenters left stone tools, wood chippings and a partially
constructed boat on a site that’s now 11m below the sea. What’s more,
there’s evidence that they were using woodworking techniques not
otherwise seen in Britain for another 2,500 years.
http://digventures.thepixelparlour.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Submerged-tree-roots-11m-underwater-at-Bouldnor-Cliff.-Land-drowned-when-sea-level-rose-e1464868909267-600x390.jpg
At Bouldnor Cliff, evidence of an 8,000 year-old partially constructed log boat was
found near a submerged ancient forest.
When someone says something was ahead of its time, you don’t usually assume they
mean 2,500 years ahead of its time. But at Bouldnor Cliff, archaeologists are finding
evidence that this was very much the case.
Eight thousand years ago, this stretch of now-submerged coastline off the Isle of Wight, was a rich, verdant landscape and an ideal home for Mesolithic families. But there was one small problem: rising sea levels.
Today, the site is 11m below the waves, but what’s down there is changing our understanding of the people who first settled island Britain, and of one of the most important technologies they had at their disposal: boats.
Surprisingly, archaeologists know very little about prehistoric boat-building. We know that people have been doing it for tens of thousands of years (how else did people get to places like Australia?) and yet solid evidence of what they looked like, and how they were constructed, is frustratingly rare.
In Europe, the oldest waterborne vessel ever discovered by archaeologists is a 10,000 year-old dugout canoe from the Netherlands, while the oldest plank-built vessels in the region are the Bronze Age boats found at Dover in Kent and North Ferriby in Yorkshire, which have been radiocarbon dated to between 3,500 and 4,000 years old.
That picture may be about to get a little bit clearer though. At Bouldnor Cliff, Garry Momber and his team of underwater archaeologists from the Maritime Archaeology Trust have found something up to twice that age, built using a woodworking technique that hasn’t otherwise been seen in Britain for another 2,500 years.
Garry’s first clue to the discovery came in 2005 when he was inspecting a ridge at the bottom of a 7m high underwater cliff, when he spotted something made him do an underwater double-take.
“The current was pushing me along, but what I saw was enough to make me turn 180 degrees and come to a complete stop. Among the branches of an old tree was a collection of coloured flints, some of which had been superheated. They looked so out of place, I just had to know what they were doing there” Garry said.
It was another two years before the Maritime Archaeology Trust had enough funds to go back and find out, but what they discovered next was definitely well worth the wait.
What they found was a piece of wood that gave it all away. It was just shy of one meter long, about 8,100 years old and had been tangentially split, lengthways as if to make planks. It might not sound that remarkable, but when you know that’s a technique which doesn’t otherwise appear in the British archaeological record for another 2,500 years, it’s enough to make your jaw drop.
http://digventures.thepixelparlour.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Screen-Shot-2016-06-02-at-12.20.38-e1464866514738-600x390.png
Found in line with the tangentially-split oak, this scalloped out end piece includes
two small drilled holes – a common process when checking the thickness of the
bottom of the boat during construction.
Read Full Story: http://digventures.com/2016/06/has-the-worlds-oldest-boat-building-site-been-discovered-near-the-isle-of-wight/
peace...
constructed boat on a site that’s now 11m below the sea. What’s more,
there’s evidence that they were using woodworking techniques not
otherwise seen in Britain for another 2,500 years.
http://digventures.thepixelparlour.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Submerged-tree-roots-11m-underwater-at-Bouldnor-Cliff.-Land-drowned-when-sea-level-rose-e1464868909267-600x390.jpg
At Bouldnor Cliff, evidence of an 8,000 year-old partially constructed log boat was
found near a submerged ancient forest.
When someone says something was ahead of its time, you don’t usually assume they
mean 2,500 years ahead of its time. But at Bouldnor Cliff, archaeologists are finding
evidence that this was very much the case.
Eight thousand years ago, this stretch of now-submerged coastline off the Isle of Wight, was a rich, verdant landscape and an ideal home for Mesolithic families. But there was one small problem: rising sea levels.
Today, the site is 11m below the waves, but what’s down there is changing our understanding of the people who first settled island Britain, and of one of the most important technologies they had at their disposal: boats.
Surprisingly, archaeologists know very little about prehistoric boat-building. We know that people have been doing it for tens of thousands of years (how else did people get to places like Australia?) and yet solid evidence of what they looked like, and how they were constructed, is frustratingly rare.
In Europe, the oldest waterborne vessel ever discovered by archaeologists is a 10,000 year-old dugout canoe from the Netherlands, while the oldest plank-built vessels in the region are the Bronze Age boats found at Dover in Kent and North Ferriby in Yorkshire, which have been radiocarbon dated to between 3,500 and 4,000 years old.
That picture may be about to get a little bit clearer though. At Bouldnor Cliff, Garry Momber and his team of underwater archaeologists from the Maritime Archaeology Trust have found something up to twice that age, built using a woodworking technique that hasn’t otherwise been seen in Britain for another 2,500 years.
Garry’s first clue to the discovery came in 2005 when he was inspecting a ridge at the bottom of a 7m high underwater cliff, when he spotted something made him do an underwater double-take.
“The current was pushing me along, but what I saw was enough to make me turn 180 degrees and come to a complete stop. Among the branches of an old tree was a collection of coloured flints, some of which had been superheated. They looked so out of place, I just had to know what they were doing there” Garry said.
It was another two years before the Maritime Archaeology Trust had enough funds to go back and find out, but what they discovered next was definitely well worth the wait.
What they found was a piece of wood that gave it all away. It was just shy of one meter long, about 8,100 years old and had been tangentially split, lengthways as if to make planks. It might not sound that remarkable, but when you know that’s a technique which doesn’t otherwise appear in the British archaeological record for another 2,500 years, it’s enough to make your jaw drop.
http://digventures.thepixelparlour.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Screen-Shot-2016-06-02-at-12.20.38-e1464866514738-600x390.png
Found in line with the tangentially-split oak, this scalloped out end piece includes
two small drilled holes – a common process when checking the thickness of the
bottom of the boat during construction.
Read Full Story: http://digventures.com/2016/06/has-the-worlds-oldest-boat-building-site-been-discovered-near-the-isle-of-wight/
peace...