A fleet of eight prehistoric boats has been discovered in a quarry in England. The vessels, all deliberately sunk more than 3,000 years ago, are one of the largest group of Bronze Age boats ever found in the same site. Most of the ancient boats are startlingly well preserved. One is covered inside and out with decorative carving; another has handles carved from the oak tree trunk for lifting it out of the water; one still floated after 3,000 years and one has traces of fires lit on the wide flat deck on which the catch was evidently cooked; several had ancient repairs, including clay patches and an extra section shaped and pinned in where a branch was cut away. The boats were deliberately sunk into the creek, as several still had slots for ransoms – boards closing the stern of the boat – which had been removed. Archaeologists are puzzled as to why the ships were intentionally immersed, but whatever the custom meant to the Bronze Age fishermen and hunters who lived in the nearby settlement, it continued for centuries. It is believed that the oldest boats are 3,000 years old. The boats are on display at Flag Fen. (edited from The Guardian) See the vessels on the Far Horizons’ Archaeological Pub Crawl of Great Britain!
