Archaeologists are currently raising and examining what is being called the oldest boat ever found in Denmark.
The ancient six to seven metre long vessel is estimated to be 6,500 years old – in comparison, the oldest Pyramid in Egypt is a mere 4,500 years old – and although it is damaged, archaeologists are finding it very interesting.
“It split 6,500 years ago and they tried to fix the crack by putting a bark strip over it and drilling holes both sides of it,” Jørgen Dencker, the head of marine archaeology at the Viking Ship Museum in Roskilde, told DR Nyheder. “That two-millimetre wide strip has been preserved.”
“The most exciting thing is that there is sealing mass in the holes. We have found sealing mass before – such as bits of resin that children have chewed on and made flexible.”
READ MORE: Shipworms threaten thousands of underwater archaeological finds
Underwater settlement
The historic find was made when the energy company SEAS-NVE was replacing sea cables by Askø Island in the Smålandsfarvandet Sea north of Lolland in the southern part of Zealand.
In connection with the boat find, archaeologists also found an entire submerged Stone Age settlement that they are checking for more archaeological gems.
The archaeologists hope to find more organic material – such as wood, bone or antlers – which could have been preserved under water.
Meanwhile, the underwater settlement can help map coastlines from thousands of years ago.
