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Carpow in Context: A Late Bronze Age Logboat from the Tay
The Late Bronze Age Carpow logboat is not only one of the oldest boats from Scotland, but also one of the best preserved prehistoric logboats from the British Isles. That it is one of only a handful of such vessels to be excavated and recovered using the latest techniques of archaeology and conservation secures its immense importance to logboat studies.
The challenging excavation and ingenious recovery of the Carpow logboat from the waters of the Firth of Tay required an innovative and multi-disciplinary approach with archaeologists, palaeo-environmentalists, convervationists and marine salvage divers working together. This volume presents a comprehensive account of the project, a detailed description and reconstruction of the boat itself, and a series of papers that consider the context of the vessel in terms of contemporary environment, settlement, ritual and trade. This fortuitous discovery has provided the impetus for the first detailed synthesis of Late Bronze Age evidence for the Tay Estuary area for almost forty years.
The challenging excavation and ingenious recovery of the Carpow logboat from the waters of the Firth of Tay required an innovative and multi-disciplinary approach with archaeologists, palaeo-environmentalists, convervationists and marine salvage divers working together. This volume presents a comprehensive account of the project, a detailed description and reconstruction of the boat itself, and a series of papers that consider the context of the vessel in terms of contemporary environment, settlement, ritual and trade. This fortuitous discovery has provided the impetus for the first detailed synthesis of Late Bronze Age evidence for the Tay Estuary area for almost forty years.
222 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2010
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February 3, 2016I first became aware of the Carpow logboat when it was on display in the Perth Museum not long after its excavation. This book details the amazing story of how it came to be excavated; a team of writers and scholars have put together the essays in this book giving a thorough overview of the boat's creation, use (mostly conjecture, but valid conjecture), and preservation, along with wonderful illustrations (by hand, by computer, and as photographs). There's also a look at the wider world of the Bronze Age Scotland, the people and culture that might have built this boat, and the changing landscape of the Tay estuary. Putting the boat "in context" is really exactly what this volume does.
So this is what I got out of it: IT'S A PUNT. It's actually a PUNT. You would have stood on the stern and punted it. I LOVE THIS.
I also love that in order to remove it from the Tay and take it away for study and preservation, part of the excavation team had to jump aboard and PADDLE. In other words, after 3000 years under a pile of peat, it made one final triumphant journey AS AN ACTUAL BOAT.
(However, "Of the implements used for water-borne propulsion: paddles, oars and poles, as archaeological artefacts, the former two are usually indistinguishable and the latter very difficult to recognise" [p. 115]. AYE, BECAUSE IT'S BROWN AND STICKY AND THEREFORE LOOKS LIKE A STICK.)
(You can see the scholar in me rising to the surface here... or not)
"We believe a strong case can be made for seeing these finds of Late Bronze Age metalwork from the river - at the very least, the swords - as the result of votive offerings rather than day-to-day activities or casual losses. And we should not forget that it may have been just such a craft as the Carpow logboat that was used as the floating vehicle or platform from which to cast votives in the river." (p. 162)
So this is what I got out of it: IT'S A PUNT. It's actually a PUNT. You would have stood on the stern and punted it. I LOVE THIS.
I also love that in order to remove it from the Tay and take it away for study and preservation, part of the excavation team had to jump aboard and PADDLE. In other words, after 3000 years under a pile of peat, it made one final triumphant journey AS AN ACTUAL BOAT.
(However, "Of the implements used for water-borne propulsion: paddles, oars and poles, as archaeological artefacts, the former two are usually indistinguishable and the latter very difficult to recognise" [p. 115]. AYE, BECAUSE IT'S BROWN AND STICKY AND THEREFORE LOOKS LIKE A STICK.)
(You can see the scholar in me rising to the surface here... or not)
"We believe a strong case can be made for seeing these finds of Late Bronze Age metalwork from the river - at the very least, the swords - as the result of votive offerings rather than day-to-day activities or casual losses. And we should not forget that it may have been just such a craft as the Carpow logboat that was used as the floating vehicle or platform from which to cast votives in the river." (p. 162)
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