Waterlogged wood and logboats

In the past year, excavations by the Cambridge Archaeological Unit at the Must Farm Quarry, Peterborough, have revealed eight log boats lying within the silts of a Late Bronze Age palaeochannel on the edge of the Flag Fen Basin. These unusual finds, the product of excellent preservation due to waterlogged conditions, offer a rare opportunity to explore Bronze Age creativity through the medium of woodworking. The boats, each unique in design and use-life, from ingenious problem-solving during initial carving to later intricate repair work, reveal the practical realities of the theory that rivers acted as natural conduits for travel and transport in the Bronze Age. Here, instead of relying on cross-regional analysis of traded items in order to explore the use of waterways, the evidence speaks of riverine activity as the stuff of everyday life. Numerous eel-traps and hurdle weirs were discovered within the same short span of channel as the eight log boats. The Must Farm boats represent, in their varying designs, an exploration of the form, of the possibilities, of the log boat taking place not on some theoretical plane but within the everyday, lived reality of fishing and water management on a fen-edge river.

I 1930 fant to karer en stokkebåt i myrkanten ved et lite vann som heter Lauv i Siljan i Telemark. I nord- og sørenden av vannet snor det seg en smal elv. Vannet ligger midt i et lite vassdrag som forbinder fjellområder og småvann mot Kongsberg i nord med lavlandet, Farrisvannet og sjøen i sør ved Larvik. Dette er Siljan-vassdraget (fig 1).

Først 75 år etter funnet viste det seg at båten er en av de eldste båtene som er funnet i Norge. Denne artikkelen er en kort presentasjon av Siljanbåten med en arkeologisk dokumentasjonstegning laget av Knut Paasche og Arne Emil Christensen. Videre tematiseres hvordan fordommer om forhistoriske båter kan synliggjøres, utfordres og diskuteres og ved å forsøke å se funnet i sammenheng med det vassdraget båten sannsynligvis har vært brukt i.

I Siljan er det et svært driftig historielag. Laget har selv påvist mange av kulturminnene i Siljan kommune, de har gitt ut bok og har omfattende hjemmesider. Da historielaget arbeidet med et stort registreringsprosjekt i 1999 kom de over stokkebåten der den i dag ligger på Telemark Fylkesmuseum i Skien. Historielaget ville vite mer om den sprukne båten og fikk på eget initiativ gjennomført en 14C-datering i 2001. Analysen ga et ganske oppsiktsvekkende resultat, båten var omlag 1760 år gammel -fra romertid (Beta 240 e. Kr. +/- 70). 

Den gangen Siljanbåten ble funnet gjorde ikke Historisk Museum i Oslo særlig mye for å undersøke båten nærmere, ei heller var de spesielt interessert i å overta den. Det var Godseier Treskow som i den første tiden tok vare på båten, og senere overførte den til Fylkesmuseet i Skien. Mon tro om ikke denne funnhistorien er litt typisk også for andre stokkebåtfunn der de ligger som rariteter på bygdetun og lokale samlinger rundt om?

The dugout canoes discovered in the neolithic site of La Marmotta (in the waters of Lake Bracciano) are among the oldest in Europe. This article discusses the second dugout –
named La Marmotta 2 – recovered in 1998.
After analysis of the excavational data regarding its resting condition on the bottom of the lake, this article describes the recovery, conservation and restoration techniques as well as the specifications of the dugout itself. It is hypothesized that fire, lithic axes, and chisels were used to dig and shape the dugout.
In conclusion, suggestions are made as to the possible uses of the vessel.

"Original: POTOPLJENA PRETEKLOST, Arheologija vodnih okolij in raziskovanje podvodne kulturne dediščine v Sloveniji . Zbornik ob 128-letnici Dežmanovih raziskav Ljubljanice na Vrhniki (1884–2012)

Urednika / Editors: Andrej Gaspari, Miran Erič
Oblikovanje / Design: Luka Seme
Fotografija na naslovnici / Cover photograph by Milan Tomažin
Angleški prevodi / English translate: Andreja Maver
Lektoriranje / Proof-reading: Katja Paladin,
Multilingual Pro d.o.o.

© Didakta d.o.o., Radovljica, 2012
Za založbo Rudi Zaman
E-pošta založba@didakta.si
Spletna stran založbe www.didakta.si
Tisk / Printed by Grafika Soča, d.o.o.
Naklada / Printrun: 400

CIP - Kataložni zapis o publikaciji
Narodna in univerzitetna knjižnica, Ljubljana
902(497.4)(082) 903/904(497.472)(082)
POTOPLJENA preteklost: arheologija vodnih okolij in raziskovanje podvodne kulturne dediščine v Sloveniji: zbornik ob 128-letnici Dežmanovih raziskav Ljubljanice na Vrhniki (1884-2012) / uredila Andrej Gaspari in Miran Erič ; [angleški prevodi Andreja Maver]. - Radovljica : Didakta, 2012 ISBN 978-961-261-251-1

1. Gaspari, Andrej
262228224

Naslovnica: Ena redkih evidentiranih arheoloških najdb iz Bohinjskega jezera je nedatiran čoln deblak, ki so ga odkrili potapljači Specialne enote Generalne policijske uprave junija 2001 blizu južne obale na globini 32 m (foto: M. Tomažin)

Cover: One of the rare registered archaeological finds from lake Bohinj is an undated logboat, found by divers of the General Police Directorate’s Special Unit in June, 2001, near the southern shore at the depth of 32 m (photo: M. Tomažin)"

The Autor describes many ceramic boat models which were discovered in the Early Neolithic settlement of La Marmotta, built on the shores of Lake Bracciano (not far from the Tyrrhenian sea).
A typology about these findings has been developed and some suggestions have been made on dating, both relative and absolute. 
Some hypoteses have also been made regarding the use of the ceramic boat models as lanterns and their symbolic function.
My full publication of the  38 ceramic boats models found in the village unfortunately is still in press, since many years, in Bullettino di Paletnologia Italiana n.100.

In questo articolo ho presentato in via preliminare soltanto alcuni dei numerosi modellini fittili di imbarcazioni recuperati nell'abitato perilacustre del Neolitico Antico de "La Marmotta" (Lago di Bracciano,Lazio), con le relative attribuzioni tipologiche e cronologiche (sia relative che assolute).
Dopo aver paragonato le fogge dei modellini di natanti presentati a quelle di imbarcazioni reali, ne ho ipotizzato un utilizzo come lucerne ed una funzione anche simbolica, aggiungendo considerazioni su possibili forme di ritualità in uso nel villaggio.
Il mio articolo dedicato all’edizione completa dei 38 modellini fittili di imbarcazioni rinvenuti nel villaggio purtroppo è  da molti anni ancora in corso di stampa nel Bullettino di Paletnologia Italiana n.100.

Every state or region on the eastern seaboard of North America has attempted to develop a typology for both pre-and post-contact archaeologically documented logboats. In many ways these typologies have not helped scholars understand the reasons for variation or change of this technology through time. A partial fault exists in the tendency of the senior literature to downplay the complexity of possible manufacturing sequence for logboats. Even recent scholarship has attempted to look at their hull form instead of the techniques used to build them. Much has been done to describe the building sequence of logboats in European, African, and Asian/ Pacific literature over the last three decades which has removed the conclusions based on biological racism of their being inferior watercraft. Rather than highlighting cultural features, the literature places emphasis on hull form, which may be more linked to the logboats construction from a single log, and the different waterways and environments it needed to traverse. The following section is a very condensed version of the works of Arnold, Crumlin-Pedersen, Hirte, Kegler, Leshikar, McGrail, and Mowat cited in the references of this work. Ethnographic data is drawn from many sources cited in the reference section; however, the work of Barbot, Kegler, Leshikar, and Meide are of importance. All of these studies have the advantage of not being bound to the paradigm that they are simply dugouts; that is, they are all made from trees felled and burnt and dug out with stone and shell tools only. There are consistent practices of contemporary Amerindian groups using expansion and extension practices pre-and post-contact with surviving groups still making them. However, expansion and extension in logboats, which is a global technology, is largely ignored by scholars of the Mid-Atlantic. The author, knowing the audience will not be familiar with this concept, here gives a brief description of the practices of making an expanded/-extended logboat. The core of logboat technology is the log, a fact reflected in the European words for these watercraft. In Dutch they are referred to as Boomstamkano, which means " tree trunk canoe. " In German literature they are referred to as Einbaum, which translates to " one log. " Regardless of where on the planet a logboat is built, and regardless of whether the tree is felled with fire, stone, copper, bronze, or iron tools, some constraints are forced upon the builder of a logboat by the material itself. In spite of the constraints a solid log generates, logboats are extremely complex and make up one of the most diverse groups of watercraft. Peoples who live in pre-industrial societies have a far more intimate relationship with natural materials than those that inhabit our detached postmodern world. In order to understand the expanded/-extended logboat we need to build one.

Curci in her dissertation from East Carolina University continued the tradition of trying to create a typology of logboats based upon hull form. While in her work looking at pre-and post-contact logboats in North Carolina, she admitted that the environment in which a logboat are used often dictates the hull form. She also in her dissertation conceded that the type of tree, the constraining material, is very important to hull form. In her work as well as most recent scholarship a distinctive issue has emerged. That is preservation and recording biases can often skew data analysis of logboats. Logboats which are often chance finds, are recovered by untrained personnel, which leads to data loss and rough handling. Due to this, by the time archaeologists are contacted, logboats often become distorted from drying, fragmented, or even modified by the people who find them. The recorded data recovered for logboat finds varies between each region of the logboat find due to North America's disparate data collection traditions, each region placing emphasis on different logboat features they consider to be markers of culture or technological importance. Often logboats are recorded by local vocational groups who do not have the resources to document construction features, repairs, and other data making in depth comparison impossible. Another inherent bias is a result of site formation processes. If a logboat has been expanded, when the logboat is discarded or lost, the hull becoming waterlogged may have a tendency to relax back to the C or U shaped cross-section it started out as before being manipulated by its builders. A recent thesis at Texas A & M University, which used similar methods to Jessica Lee Curci's was unable to find clear typological order in the logboats documented. Both of these attempts were very well framed studies, but the haphazard way in which data was collected by the original principal investigators makes any attempt to differentiate site formation processes, construction constraints, and the areas in which the logboats were used by the people who built them from the features that would define any concise technological or cultural tradition impossible. European scholars, while still examining hull form, have attempted to stress aspects of a logboats initial construction and repair. A move has been made in much of the European literature to document logboats heavily first, stressing data recovery, followed by the use of the data collection to look at how the ethnic groups present when it was constructed used it. While this type of analysis does not lend itself presently to the formation of large scale typologies, until we collect data of high consistent resolution we will never be able to tease out " identity " of the people who built them. While the concept that distinct ethnic groups have distinct technological or material culture traditions is entrenched in modern historical archaeology, the use of technology or certain classes of material culture to define ethnicity can only hint at identity. Boats by their very nature are tools; they are built for various purposes but enable contact with other groups

German - English - French
ZUSAMMENFASSUNG Die Untersuchung der Holzartefakte von 13 Fundplätzen des Endmesolithikums und Frühneolithikums demonstriert die intensive Nutzung der marinen Ressourcen an der südwestlichen Ostseeküste. Der Fischfang mit stationären Anlagen, Reusen und Aalstechern war weit verbreitet. Weniger häufig wurde Fischfang mit Netzen oder die Angelfischerei betrieben. Durch Funde von Einbäumen und Paddeln in der Flachwasserzone ist der Gebrauch dieser Wasserfahrzeuge gut belegt. Weiterhin wurden Jagdgeräte wie Pfeil und Bogen oder Speere gefunden. Stiele für Stein- oder Geweihgeräte zeigen die Handhabung dieser Geräte.
Die Fischfanggeräte sind technisch weitgehend ausgereift und zeigen nur geringe Veränderungen.
Chronologische Entwicklungen sind lediglich für Paddel, kaum für Aalstechersprossen nachgewiesen. Kleine regionale Unterschiede werden durch die Nutzung anderer
Holzarten für die Herstellung von Aalstechersprossen und Reusen deutlich. Insgesamt kann für die Küstensiedlungen der Ertebølle-Kultur und des Frühneolithikums die Bevorzugung bestimmter, besonders gut geeigneter Holzarten für die Herstellung spezifischer Geräte und Gegenstände deutlich gezeigt werden.
Die Gleichförmigkeit der geraden Haselruten (Corylus avellana) im Fundmaterial und der Bedarf großer Mengen Flechtmaterial für die Fischzäune weist auf die intensive Nutzung der Haselsträucher hin. Basierend auf der Form, Größe, Jahrringanzahl und Jahrringweite der Stangen kann das „auf den Stock setzen“ der Hasel seit dem Endmesolithikum nachgewiesen werden. Der regelmäßige Schnitt von weiteren Sträuchern, namentlich Rotem Hartriegel (Cornus sanguinea) und Gemeinem Schneeball (Viburnum opulus), kann ebenso angenommen werden, da gerade Stangen dieser Gehölze gespalten und für die Herstellung von häufig verwendeten Fischreusen genutzt wurden. Die Art des Fischfangs mit stationären Zaunanlagen sowie die niederwaldartige Bewirtschaftung von Haselhainen erfordert die Sesshaftigkeit
in einem begrenzten Gebiet. Diese erste stark eingreifende Maßnahme zur bewussten Produktion von natürlichen Rohstoffen leitet zum Wesen der neolithischen Wirtschaftsweise hin.

SUMMARY The investigation of wooden artefacts from thirteen Terminal Mesolithic and Early Neolithic sites shows that the marine environment of the southwestern Baltic Sea was used intensively. Fishing with the help of stationary structures, fish trap baskets and eel catching spears was widespread. By comparison, fishing with nets and hooks was less commonly employed. Travelling and transport with log boats manoeuvred by paddles is welldemonstrated by wooden finds from the shallow water zone. Moreover, hunting tools such as bows and arrows as well as spears were excavated. Handles for stone and antler axes show how these tools were hafted.
Fishing implements were already technically advanced, so there was little variation through time. Small signs of chronological development were only found for paddles and leister prongs. Furthermore, minor regional distinctions became evident in the usage of different types of wood for producing leister prongs and fish trap baskets. Generally, a preference for certain, well-suited types of wood to create specific objects or tools could be proven for coastal settlements of the Ertebølle Culture and the Early Neolithic.
The uniformity of straight hazel poles in the find material, and the requirement of large quantities of such poles for the construction of wattle fishing fences indicate that hazel
bushes (Corylus avellana) were used intensively. Based on shape, size, age and annual ring widths of the hazel poles, the coppicing of hazel bushes could be proven for the Terminal Mesolithic and later. The regular cutting of red dogwood (Cornus sanguinea) and guelder rose bushes (Viburnum opulus) can also be assumed since straight rods from these plants were split and used to build fish trap baskets, which were likewise in high demand. In addition to this kind of woodland management, the exploitation of fish with stationary structures required sedentism in a restricted habitation area as well. This is one of the first profound interventional procedures indicating a purposeful production of natural resources, thereby leading towards the Neolithic economy.

RESUMÉ L’examen d’artefacts en bois provenant de 13 sites du Mésolithique final et du Néolithique ancien démontre l’exploitation intensive des ressources marines sur la côte sudouest de la Baltique. La pêche à l’aide d’installations passives, de nasses et de foënes était fort répandue. Plus rarement furent utilisés les filets et l’hameçon. La découverte de pirogues monoxyles et de pagaies en zone peu profonde prouve l’usage de ce véhicule. On a également découvert des armes de chasses telles que des flèches et des arcs, ou encore des javelots. Les manches des outils en pierre ou bois de cerf indiquent comment ils furent manipulés.
Les engins de pêche sont très développés techniquement et ne présentent que de légers changements. On constate des évolutions chronologiques seulement pour les pagaies, à peine pour les dents de foëne. L’utilisation d’essences différentes pour la fabrication des dents de foëne et des nasses révèle nettement de légers écarts régionaux. Globalement, on peut établir que les habitants des sites côtiers de la culture d’Ertebølle et du Néolithique ancien affichaient une préférence pour certaines essences particulièrement adaptées à la fabrication d’outils et d’objets spécifiques. La régularité des verges de noisetier (corylus avellana) dans le matériel archéologique et les besoins en matériaux pour le tressage de barrages révèle une exploitation intensive des noisetiers. La forme et la grandeur des perches, ainsi que le nombre et la largeur de leurs cernes, indiquent que les noisetiers étaient « rabattus jusqu’à la souche » dès le Mésolithique final. La coupe régulière d’autres arbustes, notamment le cornouiller sanguin (cornus sanguinea) et la viorne obier (viburnum opulus), peut être aussi envisagée, vu que des perches régulières appartenant à ces essences ont été fendues et utilisées pour la fabrication des nasses fort répandues. Le mode de pêche avec des installations de palissades et
l’exploitation des bosquets de noisetiers par recépage exigent une sédentarité dans un territoire limité. Cette première mesure radicale en vue de produire sciemment des matières premières naturelles mène au coeur de l’économie de production néolithique. (Y.G.)

In a brief summary the Author describes the preliminary results of its investigations in the neolithic Settlement submerged in the Lake Bracciano (Lazio, Italy). The Author describes the cultural facies, the economic basis, the settlement’s model, the structures and the religious beliefs of the community that has been living on the shores of the lake from the first half of the sixth millennium BC. The Author believes that the people who founded the large village had brought with them from motherland - in addition to domesticated plants and animals and to a rich heritage of technological knowledge - religious conceptions and images connected to a complicated symbolic universe (such as stylized human figures, the sun, ears, butterflies, wild goats, etc.). The Author compares the material culture and the dates of absolute chronology of the village of La Marmotta with those of other Neolithic settlements in Italy, in Corsica, in the Balkan Peninsula, in Macedonia, in Thessaly and in few western regions of  the Near East.

In una brevissima  sintesi l’Autrice descrive i risultati preliminari delle indagini da Lei condotte nell’insediamento del Neolitico attualmente sommerso dalle acque del lago di Bracciano (Lazio, Italy).  Fornisce indicazioni relative alla facies culturale, alle basi economiche, al modello insediamentale, alle strutture ed alle credenze religiose della comunità  insediata sulle rive del lago dalla prima metà del VI millennio a.C.. Ipotizza che le genti che fondarono il grande villaggio avessero portato con sé dalla madre patria - oltre a piante ed animali domesticati e ad un ricco patrimonio di conoscenze tecnologiche - concezioni religiose ed immagini ricollegabili ad un complesso universo simbolico (quali figure umane stilizzate, il sole, spighe, farfalle, capre selvatiche, ecc.). Mette in relazione e confronta la cultura materiale e le date di cronologia assoluta elaborate per il villaggio de La Marmotta con quelle di altri insediamenti neolitici in  Italia, Corsica, penisola balcanica, Macedonia, Tessaglia e le regioni occidentali del Vicino Oriente.

The prominent hill Vladar has been recognized for centuries for its extensive, multivallate fortifications, which were recorded in old chronicles (16th C.) as well as in the first military maps of Bohemia (18th C.). Despite this early knowledge, intensive archaeological research of this site started relatively recently (in
2002). Thanks to funding from several grant projects, a detailed plan of the whole hillfort was accomplished and several trenches excavated across fortification lines and on the top plateau of the hillfort. Alongside numerous archaeological objects, it was also possible to recover exceptionally
rich palaeoenvironmental record, illuminating the human-nature relationships in the last 2400 years.
Today the main attention of the researchers is paid to the west suburb of the hillfort (No. IV), where more waterlogged sediments recently came to light. Here the excavation yielded well-preserved remains of wooden structures, originally representing roughly rectangular, interconnected chambers (Figs. 3-4). Radiocarbon
dating and dendrochronology placed them into the 5th century BC (Fig. 6). A stratigraphically later evidence shows that in the 10th century AD these wooden constructions – possibly water cisterns and foundations of superstructures built in the marshy area – were already out of use, destroyed and completely covered by sediments. Such Iron Age wooden features have few analogies, although of a somewhat later date. One of the closest parallels comes from the late La-Tène period (2nd C. BC) hillfort Altenburg by Niedenstein in Hessen.

Ignorance is undeniably ever present in the act of knowledge generation and the published continuity of academic traditions. Ignorance and fact are woven together in cultural historical narratives to provide readers with societal " truths, " which are comforting. Most modern anthropologists would recognize that ignorance is a significant aspect of any academic publication in two ways. First, can we really quantify everything we don't know which applies to the narrative our published work is supposed to entail versus the sources we have cited? Second, how does our preference for our own societal norms via selecting comfortable accepted secondary sources contradict the generation of knowledge by framing our narrative in a manner inconsistent with the reality the primary historical data presents us with? In other words, how can we gain awareness of our own subjectivity and use that awareness to create a more objective narrative? In the field of maritime archaeology for the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries, no one vessel type has been subject to the generation and continuity of published ignorance more than that of the logboat. To understand this, we must take a step back and start a narrative with influence in the Annales school of thought. Let us start our narrative at the beginning with the work of M. V. Brewington, heavily cited in our current literature. " After 1590 when the drawings of John White had made at Raleigh's Roanoke settlement were published, Englishmen were familiar with the dugout canoes the southern Indians built. The colonists were quick to adopt these canoes, so great was their need for watercraft which could not be otherwise obtained. The white man's superior knowledge of small craft soon indicated changes which would improve the canoe: sharp ends would make her easier to propel and more seaworthy; broader beam and a keel would increase stability: sail would lessen the work of getting from place to place. " From an anthropological perspective, the above quote which is often cited regarding logboats, is problematic for the Chesapeake. It is riddled with the causal yet persistent racism directed at the First Nations of North America that was part of our populist cultural historical narrative well into the 1970s. In addition, M. V. Brewington, clearly race biased in the above quote, also fails to examine cause and effect outside of a white British colonial perspective in any of his works. He fails to investigate deeper and move past his own British colonial cultural historicism. He assigns technological development to a specific race, without taking into account the fact that cultural continuity has nothing to do with ethnicity, just as technology use has no strict correlation with ethnicity.

I Norge har kystens farkoster spilt viktige roller langs de lange linjene i landets historie. Samtidig vet vi at både stokkebåter og andre småbåter har vært en viktig del av folks materielle kultur i vann og vassdrag så langt tilbake som vi kan vite noe om.

Før vi begynte å arbeide med den store stokkebåten fra Glomma og med det øvrige stoffet i denne boken, tenkte nok vi - som de fleste andre - at stokkebåten er en farkost som har stått ”på stedet hvil” siden steinalderen. Der tok vi feil. Flere artikler i denne boken viser at stokkebåter, selv om de vel som oftest er både trauste og ”enkle”, så langt i fra er noen ensartet type. Kategorien ”stokkebåt” innholder tvertimot et mangfold av forskjellige farkoster - ikke bare i tid og rom, men også i form og bruksområde.

Som innlandsbåt har ikke stokkebåtene på langt nær fått samme oppmerksomhet som kystens farkoster. Stokkebåten trekkes gjerne frem når man skal diskutere hvordan de første båtene så ut eller som typologisk utgangspunkt for mer ”avanserte” båter. Bortsett fra slike ur-, opphavs- og evolusjonsspekulasjoner har stokkebåtene stort sett fått hvile i fred for forskernes blikk. Når vi vet i hvor langt tidsrom stokkebåter har vært i bruk, og over hvor store og varierte områder de har vært i utbredt, virker dette typologi-perspektivet ganske uegnet.

Da Sørum-båten kom for dagen, ville vi gjerne gripe sjansen til å lære mer om båten og båttypen. Som nevnt i bokens første artikkel ble det definert et firedelt stokkebåtprosjekt, og takket være en anonym giver fikk vi også økonomisk mulighet til å gjennomføre alle fire delene.

Privat fullfinansiering av et arkeologiprosjekt av dette omfang er ikke dagligkost i Norge. Norsk Sjøfartsmuseum befant seg plutselig i en uvanlig priviligert arbeidssituasjon. Samtidig bidro den anonyme gaven til at vår skuffelse over det offentliges uvilje eller - i beste fall - sendrektighet ble tonet mer ned enn den nok fortjente. Det er et åpenbart tankekors at museene ikke har økonomisk mulighet til å rykke ut og ta hånd om kulturminner som uforutsett trenger sikring, eksempelvis etter flom – slik tilfellet var med Sørumbåten.

Stokkebåtprosjektets "Delprosjekt 1 – konservering av Sørumbåten" ble realisert i perioden 1997-2004 og omtales i eget kapitel om konservering i boken. Kort oppsummert kan vi si at det unike og godt bevarte funnet har gjennomgått en tilsynelatende vellykket konserveringsprosess – også hva tid og penger angår. Båten er litt endret fra utgravningen, men har bevart sine viktige særtrekk.

Vi visste at konserveringen ville ta flere år. Tiden fra oppstart av konservering til utstilling av ferdig konservert gjenstand ville vi bruke til å lære oss mer om bygging og bruk stokkebåter. Vi fant det derfor naturlig å legge ”Delprosjekt 3 – kopibygging” til denne fasen. Kopibyggingsprosjektet ble realisert i 2003 og 2004 og omtales i flere kapitler i boken. Vi ville bygge en stokkebåt med metoder og verktøy som liknet mest mulig på dem som ble anvendt ved bygging av originalen. Dette mente vi i seg selv var såpass spennende at vi valgte å gjøre kopibyggingen tilgjengelig for publikum. En prosessuell utstilling viste seg å være en god form for populærvitenskapelig formidling.

Da vi åpnet utstillingen ”Stokk konservativ – kopi av Norges eldste båt blir til” den 15. januar 2004, var det en nokså uvanlig utstilling for Norsk Sjøfartsmuseum. For det første skulle utstillingen fortelle om en tid som lå så langt tilbake at Norge og det norske på langt nær var funnet opp. Det var like langt fram til Harald Hårfagres rikssamling som fra samme Harald og fram til oss. For det andre fortalte utstillingen ikke noe om sjøfart; den var til og med kjemisk fri for saltvann. Videre pleier vi ikke å åpne utstillinger som ikke er ferdige, men denne gangen var vi på langt nær ferdig. Utstillingen skulle forandre seg fra time til time etter åpningen. Den var en prosess, hvis utstrekning i tid vi ikke kjente.

Mye ny kunnskap kom frem gjennom kopibyggingsprosjektet, både om materialer og verktøy, men også mer praktisk erfaring med håndtering og lagring av en stokkebåt. Sist men ikke minst fikk vi mulighet til å erfare båtens egenskaper direkte gjennom å padle den store kopien på Glomma.

Det var tømrer Hans Marumsrud som laget den svære stokkebåtkopien. Etter vår vurdering bør hans måte å arbeide på karakteriseres som forskning. Gjennom den håndverksmessige arbeidssituasjonen frembringer han empirisk materiale som lar seg dokumentere og prøves. Dette materialet vurderer han så kritisk i forhold til tidligere viten og kunnskap om materialer, verktøy og håndverksmessige arbeidsprosesser. Marumsruds arbeidsform representerer en viktig form for kunnskapsutvikling i skjæringspunktet mellom håndverk og kulturvitenskap.

”Delprosjekt 2 – permanent utstilling av Sørumbåten” er en realitet fra og med 11. mai 2005.
Arbeidet med planlegging av utstillingen begynte parallelt med kopibyggingen og resulterte i at en fløy i museets store utstillingssal i annen etasje ble tømt og bygget om til formålet.
Med dette har vi også startet en prosess for revitalisering av hele utstillingsarealet. Den store stokkebåten fra Glomma blir således et nytt tema i Norsk Sjøfartsmuseums faste utstillinger - en unik mulighet til å formidle bredden og tidsdybden i menneskers bruk av – og forhold til – sjø og vann. Fra museets øvrige mangeslungne arkeologiske virksomhet har vi også andre funn som med tiden vil få plass under temaet mennesket og vannet i forhistorien.

”Delprosjekt 4 – formidling og publisering” er dels realisert gjennom kopibyggingsprosjektet og utstillingen om dette. Videre ble delprosjektet realisert i perioden 1997-2005 gjennom diverse intervjuer til riks- og lokalaviser, radioinnslag i P1, P2 og P4 samt fjernsynsinnslag i NRK Østlanddsendingen og Norge Rundt. Endelig er delprosjekt 4 realisert gjennom herværende publikasjon.

Etter funnet og hevingen av Sørumbåten har det kommet syv meldinger om nye funn av stokkebåter til Norsk Sjøfartsmuseum. Inntrykket vi sitter med etter å ha arbeidet med stoff til denne boken, er at både antall registrerte funn og fylkesvis fordeling av dem bare er en bitteliten del av alle de stokkebåter som må finnes i innlandsvann og vassdrag Sør-Norge.

Det later til at stokkebåter er en kategori arkeologiske kilder vi har fått tilgang til helt tilfeldig. Hvordan funnene er gjort taler her sitt tydelige språk. Formuleringer som ”funnet etter flom i elva”, ”funnet under bading”, ”funnet i forbindelse med markfiske på myrkanten”, ”oppdaget i forbindelse med nedtapping av damanlegg” er alle typiske for beskrivelser av funnomstendigheter for de båtene vi har fått melding om. Med unntak av gravfunn er det ikke funnet en eneste stokkebåt i forbindelse med systematisk registrering eller andre arkeologiske undersøkelser.

At stokkebåter best oppbevares nedsenket i vann, og at mange av dem nok ble liggende slik etter at de gikk av bruk, er trolig en av årsakene til at selv svært gamle stokkebåter fortsatt er bevart – og skjult. Av dette må vi videre kunne slutte at primærkildene til kunnskap om bruken av vann og vannveier i innlandet i forhistorien er der, men at de er lite utnyttet.

Av artiklene i denne boka har vi sett at stokkebåters bruksegenskaper minst kan inndeles i to. Det kan være en enkel farkost – brukt fra steinalder helt opp til ny tid, da først og fremst i mindre vann som redskap til fiske, jakt og til å ferdes over kortere avstander. Vi har også sett at stokkebåter kan være mye mer. Det kan være store fraktebåter som kanskje kan utdype bildet av fortidens næringsveier, transportsystem eller sosiale organisasjon. Av andre eksempler har vi sett at det kan være spesialbygde farkoster laget for å mestre topografiske hindre og store avstander i små vassdrag. Uansett er det åpenbart at stokkebåter fortjener å bli studert på bredere basis enn utfra ”Ursprungs”-teorier.

Vårt synsfelt tilbake tilbake til forhistorien, tolket gjennom arkeologiske kilder, er bare så bredt som summen av de sporene vi har tilgang til. Arkeologer har ikke lett mye etter stokkebåter der de vanligvis ble brukt, og det er ganske naturlig. Mange av dem ligger jo under vann og undervannsarkeologi er, faghistorisk sett, en ny metodisk del av arkeologien. Mye taler for at en opptrapping av arkeologiske registreringer i ferskvann kan bli et viktig bidrag til arbeidet med å lage kunnskap om hittil lite utforskede deler av forhistorien.

Ovennevnte betraktning burde, etter vårt syn, lede til følgende konklusjon: historiene om forhistorien skrives i første rekke på bakgrunn av kilder som er tilgjengelige på land. Menneskers nære bindinger til – og bruk av – vann er både tydelige og erkjent i arkeologien, eksempelvs innen tema som bosetningsmønster, ressursutnyttelse, ferdsel, bergkunst eller annen symbolikk. Når arkeologiske historier om disse tema hovedsakelig skrives på bakgrunn av kilder som er deponert på land kan historiene lett bli ufullstendige. Hvordan hadde bildet vi har av forhistorien sett ut om kartlegging av kulturminner i vann og vassdrag hadde vært like omfatttende som registreringer på land ?

Gjennom stokkebåtprosjektet har vi klart erkjent det uforløste potensiale som ligger i en bredest mulig arkeologisk tilnærming til forhistorien. Herunder kommer bruk av nytt kildemateriale tolket gjennom metoder som også omfatter eksperimentell arkeologi. Vår overbevisning om betydningen av at land- og vannarkeologer har mye å vinne på et tettere samarbeid er ytterligere styrket.

Sometimes the ambition of researchers remains empty-handed although all the circumstances suggest that a positive outcome would have happened. This kind of situation took place just a few kilometres away from the 7,500-year-old Hotiza logboat in the Mura River. The first information from the road and riverbank reconstruction was that a carved log 7m below the surface was being explored.
However, during the excavation process, the situation got much more complicated when the first preliminary radiocarbon dating showed us that this log with a trace of carving was about 8000 years old. It was exciting when the around 3m long logboat-like trunk was re-examined from the beginning of the excavation. However, at the end of the excavation, the root system of that same trunk was discovered. After a consortium of wood specialist, dendrochronologists, forest researchers and archaeologist examined it, they decided that environmental circumstances had naturally formed a tree trunk into a logboat-like outline.
However, this information was not provided to the academics due to an 8000-year-old tree trunk, but we would like to discuss this artefact in the frame of special natural environmental processing that often gave humankind an easy way to craft and made vessels for travelling. Moreover, our ambition is also to refresh the knowledge of the excavated logboat older than 6000 years. We can find out that all around the world, a similar demand for vessels has been discovered in the specific environments where the genotype of the forest was suitable for use in logboats.

The water transport was inherent to all Prehistoric societies, not depending on the climate conditions and the mode of life. The archaeological finds of the forest belt of East European Plain and Trans-Urals contain the indirect evidences of carcass boats, most probably the birch bark canoes, since the Mesolithic. The most ancient logboat in Eastern Europe, dated the Final Stone Age, comes from Lithuania.
The most ancient logboat in Russia found in 1954 near the Schuchye village, Voronezh region, was believed to be the Neolithic, according to some paleopedological observations. Nevertheless, after the AMS-radiocarbon dating recently made in two different laboratories, it was firmly established that the Schuchye 1 logboat belongs to the Late Bronze Age, 18-17 cc. cal BC. According to the morphological characteristics it was a cargo vessel 7,5 m long, available for minimum 1000 kg load. Being made of oak, it was slightly unfinished and left at the shore or was accidentally rafted down the river, stuck and then drowned and deeply buried under the alluvial sediments.
The lifestyle of the Srubnaya (Timber-Grave) archaeological culture communities was based on the mobile cattle herding. The existence of a rich cluster of the Srubnaya settlements and burial mounds at the area of Shuchye, generally contemporaneous to the logboat, allows to reconstruct the active interconnections between both banks of the Don River, the constant ties between relatives, and the effective use of multiple local pastures. The logboat was supposed to be a multifunctional vessel, fitted to transport equally the cargo, the people and the cattle.
The use of boats for the livestock transportation between pastures is confirmed by the ethnographical sources describing the Kalmuck people of South Russian steppes. Thus, logboats were essential for the Prehistoric mobile pastoralists, no less than for the hunting or farming societies.

The Marmotta site (Bracciano lake), Rome) yelds very interesting evidenc about daily life in a neolithic settlement of the sixth millennium b.C.
The village was flooded by lake waters after it had been abandoned. Well preserved wooden structural elements (poles, small beams, floor boards) have been found there, as well as tools and various wooden items, carbonised food remains, cultivated cereal and fruit collected in the woods surrounding the village, obsidian and flint industries, grinders and grinding stones for processing cereal, baked clay vessels still unbroken, with cardial decorations, painted and incised, of the Sasso-Sarteano type. A series of baked clay boat models and  wooden pirogues have been found.
Thanks to this situation of excellent preservation, today we can give a full picture of this human group’s economic activities and of the wide range of vegetable and animal resources skilfully exploited. Tanks to the dendrochronology we can also obtain accurate information about various phases of village life and about the shape of houses.

New data about cultural influences and overseas trade relations are presented from the site “La Marmotta“, on the shores of  Lake Bracciano (Central Italy, Tyrrhenian region ).
Available evidence show that, for the first time in the first half of the 6th millennium BC a prosperous and rich farmer community daily used all the main techniques already developed and experienced during the early phase of the Neolithic period.
The village’s founders mastered knowledge probably stemming from faraway cultural areas.
The large quantity of pottery show technical knowledge, such as painting, ascribable to outside cultural influences. The village could have been the meeting point for influences from the south as well as from the north of the Italian peninsula.
The  great amount of data coming from vegetal remains found in the submerged village are the key to give new light on the first phases of Italian agricultural development, particularly on the presence of new vegetal taxa already domesticated.

Cette monographie présente les résultats enrichis de trois années de recherche menée par l’auteur dans le cadre de sa thèse de doctorat, y compris les résultats jusqu’à ce jour inédits de son projet collaboratif pour la datation d’un site de pirogues monoxyles à Nottinghamshire, au Royaume-Uni. L’objectif de ce livre est de repérer les concepts et interprétations forts et originaux de l’auteur, qui deviendront sans aucun doute des « points de référence » pour des études futures sur des sites de bateaux monoxyles dans les zones humides. L’auteur présente des études de cas préhistoriques en Europe du Nord et Centrale afin de définir la continuité ou le changement du traitement de post-utilisation de ce type d'embarcation dans la longue durée.

The Autors present some experiences on the restoration of organic remains (wood, bones, horns, seeds, cloth etc.) found in the submerged archaeological site of "La Marmotta" (Anguillara Sabazia, Rome, Italy).
All remains, immersed in water for a long period or time are subject to decomposing processes of chemical, physical and biological nature responsible for structural changes, often profound.
Following removal from the water, it is necessary to immediately effect certain types of treatment as a first course of action, and then specific steps of disinfection, restoration and conservation above all on samples of an organic nature.
Furthermore, since 1992 the Soprintendenza Speciale al Museo Nazionale Preistorico Etnografico "L. Pigorini" and his Restoration Laboratory have been involved in the restoration and consolidation of small and medium size wooden objects, woven artifacts made of vegetable fibres, bone tools, fragments of cloths and of a large dugout canoe made entirely from a single trunk of oak, discovered at depth of about 8 m. in an area of the village used as a naval dock.

Sometimes the ambition of researchers remains empty-handed although all the circumstances suggest that a positive outcome would have happened. This kind of situation took place just a few kilometres away from the 7,500-year-old Hotiza logboat in the Mura River. The first information from the road and riverbank reconstruction was that a carved log 7m below the surface was being explored. However, during the excavation process, the situation got much more complicated when the first preliminary radiocarbon dating showed us that this log with a trace of carving was about 8000 years old. It was exciting when the around 3m long logboat-like trunk was re-examined from the beginning of the excavation. However, at the end of the excavation, the root system of that same trunk was discovered. After a consortium of wood specialist, dendrochronologists, forest researchers and archaeologist examined it, they decided that environmental circumstances had naturally formed a tree trunk into a logboat-like outline. However, this information was not provided to the academics due to an 8000-year-old tree trunk, but we would like to discuss this artefact in the frame of special natural environmental processing that often gave humankind an easy way to craft and made vessels for travelling. Moreover, our ambition is also to refresh the knowledge of the excavated logboat older than 6000 years. We can find out that all around the world, a similar demand for vessels has been discovered in the specific environments where the genotype of the forest was suitable for use in logboats.

Abstract – Logboats are present on many continents.
Despite being made of a tree-trunk, they cannot be
simplified to only one building tradition. In Italy, the
main studies usually list the findings, but we lack
knowledge about the timber and the vessel construction.
In our study, 16 logboats, for a total of 69 samples, were
analyzed to identify the tree species used in the
different parts of the boats. Different tree species were
identified, including oak (Quercus sp.), chestnut
(Castanea sativa), and elm (Ulmus sp.). We found
dogwood (Cornus mas) and willow (Salix sp.) in
treenails, and in some cases, we detected the use of
pieces of bark and phloem. Long believed to have been
dug out from a single tree, our results demonstrate that
these logboats also contain components made from
woods different from the main hull. Thus, the
traditionally accepted nomenclature seems
inappropriate and likely to confuse research efforts.

"Original: POTOPLJENA PRETEKLOST, Arheologija vodnih okolij in raziskovanje podvodne kulturne dediščine v Sloveniji . Zbornik ob 128-letnici Dežmanovih raziskav Ljubljanice na Vrhniki (1884–2012)

Urednika / Editors: Andrej Gaspari, Miran Erič
Oblikovanje / Design: Luka Seme
Fotografija na naslovnici / Cover photograph by Milan Tomažin
Angleški prevodi / English translate: Andreja Maver
Lektoriranje / Proof-reading: Katja Paladin,
Multilingual Pro d.o.o.

© Didakta d.o.o., Radovljica, 2012
Za založbo Rudi Zaman
E-pošta založba@didakta.si
Spletna stran založbe www.didakta.si
Tisk / Printed by Grafika Soča, d.o.o.
Naklada / Printrun: 400

CIP - Kataložni zapis o publikaciji
Narodna in univerzitetna knjižnica, Ljubljana
902(497.4)(082) 903/904(497.472)(082)
POTOPLJENA preteklost: arheologija vodnih okolij in raziskovanje podvodne kulturne dediščine v Sloveniji: zbornik ob 128-letnici Dežmanovih raziskav Ljubljanice na Vrhniki (1884-2012) / uredila Andrej Gaspari in Miran Erič ; [angleški prevodi Andreja Maver]. - Radovljica : Didakta, 2012 ISBN 978-961-261-251-1

1. Gaspari, Andrej
262228224

Naslovnica: Ena redkih evidentiranih arheoloških najdb iz Bohinjskega jezera je nedatiran čoln deblak, ki so ga odkrili potapljači Specialne enote Generalne policijske uprave junija 2001 blizu južne obale na globini 32 m (foto: M. Tomažin)

Cover: One of the rare registered archaeological finds from lake Bohinj is an undated logboat, found by divers of the General Police Directorate’s Special Unit in June, 2001, near the southern shore at the depth of 32 m (photo: M. Tomažin)
Publisher: Didakta
Publication Date: 2012"

The Institute for the Protection of Cultural Heritage of Slovenia (IPCHS) has a long tradition in conserving works of art. It has preserved many archaeological objects, but relatively few waterlogged wooden objects, in the last three decades.
Experimental studies of waterlogged wood conservation using the PEG and sucrose methods started in the 1980s at the IPCHS. The centre continued this waterlogged wood conservation and in 2012–2013 established a workshop dedicated to the preservation of organic materials from archaeological sites. In recent years, new methods, e.g. freeze-drying and the melamine resin method, were tested. The first large-scale conservation project involved a Roman logboat, excavated in July 2015 from the Ljubljanica River at Vrhnika, south-west of Ljubljana. The vessel is one of the five Roman logboats discovered so far in the Ljubljana Marshes. It is approximately 15m long and 1.40m wide and was found in several pieces with the biggest one about 7m long. The logboat was in use for a long time and has evidence of repair. In some cases, textile material soaked in tree resin was used to fill cracks in the wood. For conservation, melamine resin is being used as a relatively fast, inexpensive and—to present knowledge—a relatively long-lasting method.

A detailed technical report on the archaeological investigations carried out within the waterlogged deposits of the Flag Fen landscape in Cambridgeshire, UK, over a ten-year period (1997-2007). Particular emphasis is placed upon four trenches opened in 2005 over one of Europe's largest late Bronze Age-early Iron Age waterlogged timber sites that has invariably been interpreted as a dwelling, a causeway and a ritual centre. This clarified the character and alignment of the timbers, their condition and alaytical potential, and identified an earlier land surface containing prehistoric lithic evidence.

Caudill, J., Grieve, S., and A. Kennedy, 2014, Evaluating the Effect of Linseed Oil Treatments Applied to Waterlogged Archaeological Wood. In: Proceedings of the 11th ICOM Group on Wet Organic
Archaeological Materials Conference, North Carolina, 2013.

Sachsen-Anhalt is a federal state with few inland waters. In the past underwater findings were an absolute exception and mostly originated from the Elbe River water-meadows, whereas the lakes of the state were insignificant. This changed with the discovery of a logboat in Lake Arendsee (Altmarkkreis Salzwedel), in December of 2003.

"Original: POTOPLJENA PRETEKLOST, Arheologija vodnih okolij in raziskovanje podvodne kulturne dediščine v Sloveniji . Zbornik ob 128-letnici Dežmanovih raziskav Ljubljanice na Vrhniki (1884–2012)

Urednika / Editors: Andrej Gaspari, Miran Erič
Oblikovanje / Design: Luka Seme
Fotografija na naslovnici / Cover photograph by Milan Tomažin
Angleški prevodi / English translate: Andreja Maver
Lektoriranje / Proof-reading: Katja Paladin,
Multilingual Pro d.o.o.

© Didakta d.o.o., Radovljica, 2012
Za založbo Rudi Zaman
E-pošta založba@didakta.si
Spletna stran založbe www.didakta.si
Tisk / Printed by Grafika Soča, d.o.o.
Naklada / Printrun: 400

CIP - Kataložni zapis o publikaciji
Narodna in univerzitetna knjižnica, Ljubljana
902(497.4)(082) 903/904(497.472)(082)
POTOPLJENA preteklost: arheologija vodnih okolij in raziskovanje podvodne kulturne dediščine v Sloveniji: zbornik ob 128-letnici Dežmanovih raziskav Ljubljanice na Vrhniki (1884-2012) / uredila Andrej Gaspari in Miran Erič ; [angleški prevodi Andreja Maver]. - Radovljica : Didakta, 2012 ISBN 978-961-261-251-1

1. Gaspari, Andrej
262228224

Naslovnica: Ena redkih evidentiranih arheoloških najdb iz Bohinjskega jezera je nedatiran čoln deblak, ki so ga odkrili potapljači Specialne enote Generalne policijske uprave junija 2001 blizu južne obale na globini 32 m (foto: M. Tomažin)

Cover: One of the rare registered archaeological finds from lake Bohinj is an undated logboat, found by divers of the General Police Directorate’s Special Unit in June, 2001, near the southern shore at the depth of 32 m (photo: M. Tomažin)
Publisher: Didakta
Publication Date: 2012"

Virtual reconstruction VUCEDOL II. of 3500 year old prehistoric logboat located in Vukovar, Croatia. Logboat was reconstructed by original logboats:
Stare gmajne II,  SI-75, Ljubljansko barje, Slovenija; 3500-3000 BC; dated by dendrochronology (K. Čufar, BTF University of Ljubljana); 1.5 mx 0.77 m
Øgårde 3 1943/DK, Seeland, Danemark; 3640-2920 BC; K-1165; 7.7 m x 0.7 m
Bourg-Charente, 1979/F, Charente, France; 3620-2910 BC; Gif 5156; 5.56 m, x 0.4-0.6 m
Paris-Bercy 3, 1991/F, Ville de Paris, France; 2890-2590 BC; Gif 9226; 5.35 m x 0.8 m