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The Hanson Log Boat was a
derbymuseums.org, accessed 21 April 2013
StonePages.com, citing Derby Evening Telegraph on 24 November 2003 accessed May 2011
The display at Derby Museum also includes metal finds that were also found during quarrying at Shardlow. The items mostly date from the Middle Bronze Age and were usually found by metal detectors on the quarries conveyor belts although in one case the artefact was identified by a customer of a bag of sand, and it was possible to trace the supply chain back to Shardlow quarry. The number of finds of axes and broken rapiers is thought to be due to religious offerings where valuable items were thrown into the water.Labels at Derby Museum, read June 2011
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...
dugout boat found in a gravel pit in Shardlow in Derbyshire. The log boat is now in Derby Museum and Art Gallery.
Discovery and preservation
The log boat was discovered at the Hanson gravel pit in Shardlow, a village south ofDerby
Derby ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area on the River Derwent, Derbyshire, River Derwent in Derbyshire, England. Derbyshire is named after Derby, which was its original co ...
, in 1998, as part of an archaeological watching brief during quarrying operations at the site. The boat was almost complete but was damaged slightly by the quarry machinery before its importance was identified.
The boat had to be sawn into small sections so that it could be transported and conserved because it was so heavy. Much of the weight was due to the boat's waterlogged condition which had preserved the wood and kept it from rotting. The wood was slowly dried at the York Archaeological Trust after it had been immersed for 18 months in polyethylene glycol
Polyethylene glycol (PEG; ) is a polyether compound derived from petroleum with many applications, from industrial manufacturing to medicine. PEG is also known as polyethylene oxide (PEO) or polyoxyethylene (POE), depending on its molecular wei ...
, a chemical which penetrated the wood and provided strength.
The boat's conservation was completed at a cost of £119,000 and the object is now on display at the Derby Museum and Art Gallery.
Description
The boat was dated to 3,500 bp, which, at 1500 BC, is in theMiddle Bronze Age
The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...
, making it around the same age as the Dover Bronze Age Boat
The Dover Bronze Age boat is one of fewer than 20 Bronze Age boats so far found in Britain. It dates to 1575–1520 BC, which may make it one of the oldest substantially intact ''boat'' in the world (older boat finds are small fragments, some ...
and somewhat younger than the Ferriby Boats
The Ferriby Boats are three Bronze Age Britain, Bronze-Age British sewn boat, sewn plank-built boats, parts of which were discovered at North Ferriby in the East Riding of Yorkshire, East Riding of the England, English county of Yorkshire. Onl ...
from Yorkshire. It is made of a single dug-out oak tree trunk.
Unusually, the boat still had a cargo of Bromsgrove sandstone which had been quarried at Kings Mills nearby. The stone is presumed to have been destined for strengthening a causeway across the River Trent
The Trent is the third Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, longest river in the United Kingdom. Its Source (river or stream), source is in Staffordshire, on the southern edge of Biddulph Moor. It flows through and drains the North Midlands ...
.1001 objects to inspire derbymuseums.org, accessed 21 April 2013
Second log boat
A second log boat was also discovered at the quarry five years later but it was reinterred in order that it could be preserved.StonePages.com, citing Derby Evening Telegraph on 24 November 2003 accessed May 2011
Other finds from Shardlow
The display at Derby Museum also includes metal finds that were also found during quarrying at Shardlow. The items mostly date from the Middle Bronze Age and were usually found by metal detectors on the quarries conveyor belts although in one case the artefact was identified by a customer of a bag of sand, and it was possible to trace the supply chain back to Shardlow quarry. The number of finds of axes and broken rapiers is thought to be due to religious offerings where valuable items were thrown into the water.Labels at Derby Museum, read June 2011
See also
* List of surviving ancient shipsReferences
{{coord, 52.86, -1.37, display=title 1998 archaeological discoveries History of Derby Collection of Derby Museum and Art Gallery Ancient boats 15th-century BC works Archaeological discoveries in the United Kingdom