The Fiskerton log boat is an

Iron Age The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age (Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age (Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostly appl ...

log boat, found during excavations in 2001 on the banks of the

River Witham The River Witham is a river almost entirely in the county of Lincolnshire in the east of England. It rises south of Grantham close to South Witham at , passes through the centre of Grantham (where it may be closely followed using the Riversid ...

near

Fiskerton, Lincolnshire Fiskerton is a village and civil parish in the West Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England. The population of the civil parish at the 2011 census was 1,209. It is situated approximately east from the city and county town of Lincoln, and o ...

Discovery

The earliest excavations on the site were undertaken in 1981 by Naomi Field and

Mike Parker Pearson Michael Parker Pearson, (born 26 June 1957) is an English archaeologist specialising in the study of the Neolithic British Isles, Madagascar and the archaeology of death and burial. A professor at the UCL Institute of Archaeology, he previous ...

, who discovered an Iron Age timber causeway with Iron Age and

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

votive offerings associated with it. The 2001 excavations uncovered more of the timber causeway, used during the Iron Age by the

Corieltavi The Corieltauvi (also the Coritani, and the Corieltavi) were a tribe of people living in Britain prior to the Roman conquest, and thereafter a '' civitas'' of Roman Britain. Their territory was in what is now the English East Midlands. They were ...

tribe to deposit valuable objects into the waters as ritual offerings. The

Witham Shield The Witham Shield is an Iron Age decorative bronze shield facing of La Tène style, dating from about the 4th century BC. The shield was discovered in the River Witham in the vicinity of Washingborough and Fiskerton in Lincolnshire, England in 18 ...

may have been one such object. The Fiskerton log boat was made from a single oak tree trunk, and still bears axe marks from its manufacture. It was deliberately sunk as an offering and may have been specially made for this purpose. The process of the excavation at Fiskerton was the subject of a '

Meet the Ancestors ''Meet the Ancestors'' (later ''Ancestors'') is a BBC Television documentary series Television documentaries are televised media productions that screen documentaries. Television documentaries exist either as a television documentary series o ...

Special' entitled 'Celtic Causeway', first aired on 27 March 2002.

Description

The boat measures approximately 6 m in length and was worked from a single oak tree trunk. It has a bowed bow and a square stern, closed by a board slotted into a groove. This type of boat most likely would have been used to travel along rivers, transporting goods.

Significance

The causeway has been dated using

dendrochronology Dendrochronology (or tree-ring dating) is the scientific method of dating tree rings (also called growth rings) to the exact year they were formed. As well as dating them, this can give data for dendroclimatology, the study of climate and atmos ...

to date between 457/6–300 BC. As well as a second Iron Age boat, other votive offerings from the excavations include: a complete spear, a currency bar, a sword, a dagger, and some bronze fittings.

Public display

The boat first went on public display in March 2006 at The Collection, Lincoln.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fiskerton log boat 2001 in England 2001 archaeological discoveries Archaeological sites in Lincolnshire Iron Age Britain Celtic archaeological artifacts Collections of The Collection (Lincolnshire)