Find Spot record MDR12699 - Bronze Age logboat, Shardlow Quarry, Weston-upon-Trent

During a watching brief carried out during 2003 and 2004 at Shardlow Quarry, alluvial deposits were removed from part of a palaeochannel which follows the course of the former Aston Brook. In November 2003 a Bronze Age logboat was found bedded into the silt at the base of the palaeochannel. The logboat was revealed in plan and some sample excavation was undertaken. This exposed only the uppermost edges of the boat, which was approximately 8m in length and had a beam of approximately 1m, narrowing slightly at the centre to approximately 0.8m. The upper edges suggest that the boat is fully intact, with the exception of two breaks, one at the bow and another on the starboard side towards the stern. It is not known whether these occurred in antiquity or during machining prior to the discovery of the boat. A flat rectilinear piece of wood that was apparently lighter coloured did not appear to be attached to the hull and may have been part of an oar or paddle. The stern of the boat was formed by a transom which was slotted into a groove carved into the hull. A section excavated across the centre of the boat confirmed that it had been carved from a single trunk. Traces of tool marks were visible on the inner sides. Close to the boat were wood fragments, worked wood and worked bone, suggesting that the potential for deposits from the base of the palaeochannel to provide data from this period is far wider than simply the data from the logboat. Two radiocarbon dates were obtained, the first measuring 3225 +/- 35 BP, the second was 3215 +/- 35 BP. These calibrate to between 1530 and 1400 BC. Samples were also taken for dendrochronological analysis, a report on which will follow later. The decision was made to preserve the logboat in situ, re-burying it in similar deposits to those in which it was originally preserved. The local environment will then be monitored, with the monitoring process being subject to review in order to ensure that the burial conditions around the boat do not alter to such an extent as to threaten the long-term preservation of the boat. (1)