Bronze Age Log-Boat Discovered in UK

Archaeologists recovering a log-boat, probably dating from the middle Bronze Age (circa 1300 BC), still carrying some of its cargo of quarried stone, have described the find as "spectacular".

The ten metre long oak boat was exposed at Shardlow quarry, near Derby by spring floods on the River Trent. Recovery work funded by quarry owner ARC, with advice and specialist support from English Heritage, is being carried out by the Trent & Peak Archaeological Trust - part of the University of Nottingham - and will take four weeks.

Daryl Garton, Director of the Trent & Peak Trust, said: "Log boat finds are rare but to be able to investigate and record one in this condition and with its cargo intact is spectacular."

At first quarry workmen thought the boat, lying on its side in a three metre deep gully, was the trunk of an oak tree but further flooding washed away the surrounding silt to expose the find. This was confirmed as a boat by local archaeologist, Dr Chris Salisbury, who has been monitoring the Shardlow site under an informal agreement with quarry manager Robin Woolley.

Five large blocks (up to a metre across) of Bromsgrove sand stone were found in the boat, with others spilled alongside. They were believed to have been quarried from a sandstone outcrop situated two kilometres up river. Originally the bow and the stern were missing but the bow has now been located.

A few days after the discovery, Jon Humble, English Heritage's Inspector of Ancient Monuments for Derbyshire, was called in to provide advice.

He said: "I realised immediately that this was a find of national archaeological importance which needed to be recorded and studied properly. It is likely that the boat was built by an agricultural community. The River Trent was undoubtedly a major economic lifeline during the Bronze Age. This boat, with its thickly hewn sides, was possibly custom built for ferrying stone."

Its location, buried in the bed of a former side channel of the River Trent, suggests three possible scenarios:

* It was being used for taking stones from the outcrop up river to strengthen a stone and timber platform built across the side channel. Some 250-300 oak posts have been found driven into the bed of the channel as evidence of this platform or causeway.

* It was transporting stone robbed from the platform for building elsewhere.

* The boat was deliberately rammed full of large blocks of stone in order to sink it as a gift to the gods.

Humble added: 'This log-boat is rare. It is one of the very few which survive of the 400 or so recorded examples found in Britain, and is possibly unique in this country in having its cargo still on board. Log-boats were used in Britain between the Mesolithic period (circa 7,000 BC) and the Medieval period.

"The boat provides a rare opportunity for study using modern archaeological techniques. It will yield important infomation on Bronze Age craftsmanship and technology. Excavations will also include examination of the surrounding earth wldch will tell us about the environmental conditions prevailing at the time - the flora and fauna and climate. "Our next priority, working closely with Derbyshire County Council's Archaeologist, Dave Barrett is to try to find a museum willing to take on the long-term preservation of the boat."

Garton said: "Over the next few weeks we have some difficult decisions to make. We will assess the possibilities of lifting the boat. We may also consider water-logging it in a pit to help preserve its condition."

The find comes as mineral operators all over Britain prepare to open sites to the public under the industry's Minerals'98 initiative. Many of these sites have been responsible for archaeological discoveries.

John Hopkins, ARC Central's managing director said: "This find of a Bronze Age boat with its cargo of quarried stone demonstrates once again that our forebears used minerals to make more of their lives.

"This is one of the key messages of Minerals'98 which seeks to explain the vital role of minerals in our everyday lives, in the past as we have seen today, and also in the present and future. The minerals industry is as old as Britons themselves and will remain important for the country's continuing prosperity.

"This find also emphasises the important and valuable relationship between the minerals industry and archaeologists in the discovering and helping to fund the interpretation of our past."