A UNIQUE DISCOVERY OF EIGHT RARE BRONZE AGE LOG BOATS TO
UNDERGO SPECIALIST CONSERVATION AT FLAG FEN
Eight superbly preserved and very rare Bronze Age log boats, uniquely discovered
together in just one location, have been moved into a refrigerated unit to start a twoyear conservation process at Flag Fen, near Peterborough.
It is the first time so many log boats have been found together and they will be
conserved using the same techniques pioneered for the Mary Rose – which enables
them to be kept in one piece and sprayed with wax to stabilise their fragile ancient
timbers. Until now, log boats have been cut into pieces for conservation.
Remarkably intact, the eight boats, measuring up to 9m long, have just taken up
residence in their cold store where the carefully controlled temperature will help
protect them during their conservation at Flag Fen. Just two miles from the site of
their discovery in 2011, in a quarry at Must Farm, Whittlesey, Flag Fen is part of the
same 3,500 year-old prehistoric landscape.
The Must Farm quarry is owned by Hanson UK, and Bronze Age treasures, including
the boats, were revealed during extraction of the deep Oxford clay layers that are
used in the manufacture of bricks.
Archaeologists from Cambridge Archaeological Unit were appointed by Hanson UK
to excavate a section of the lost course of the River Nene and came across
remarkably preserved items, including preserved eel traps, weapons, pottery and
tools. These give an incredible window into what life was like during the Bronze Age
some 3,500 years ago.
Most astonishing of all was the discovery of the eight prehistoric log boats, most of
which are in an incredible state of preservation due to the wetland nature of the area.
Many are virtually intact and some have elaborate features including lifting handles,
grooves for transom boards and evidence of decoration.
These boats have now been brought to Flag Fen, where they are undergoing
conservation by a team of world-class experts to preserve them for future
generations.
“It is tremendously important that the Must Farm boats were brought to Flag Fen,
because they are part of the same story,” explains Mark Knight from Cambridge
Archaeological Unit, who worked on the excavation and is one of Britain’s leading
prehistoric and wetland field archaeologists.
Around 4,000 years ago there was a period when water levels started to rise,
effectively creating the fens. At first this drove people living in the area back onto
drier land, but by the middle Bronze Age people seemed to be adapting to the new
environment and trying to use it to its best advantage.
“The boats arrival at Flag Fen represents a kind of ‘coming home’ because both the
boats and the causeway discovered at Flag Fen in the 1980s and now on display to
the public, represent novel kinds of conveyances in a landscape fast disappearing
beneath rising waters”, explains Mark. “Both Flag Fen and Must Farm sit at the very
edge of a lost world.”
The boats represent compelling evidence of a mass colonisation of the recently
formed wetlands and reveal just how people learned to thrive in a submerged terrain.
They are an invaluable resource for people to learn about the past impacts of climate
change on human society.
The boats are an incredibly unique find and conserving them is vitally important. For
this purpose a large specialist cold storage facility, funded by a £100,000 grant from
English Heritage, was constructed to house the vessels at Flag Fen. The
waterlogged boats will now be refrigerated to prevent them drying out too quickly.
They will be treated over a two-year period with a specialist wax, polyethylene glycol,
which will stabilise the timbers. The same technique was used on the ancient
Seahenge timbers discovered in Norfolk, and on the Mary Rose.
It is hoped that the conservation process will reveal more about the Must Farm log
boats, including how the boats were used. Carbon-14 tests will give precise dates as
to when they were made. Questions like, why the boats were abandoned in the river.
- were they just washed up at that point in the river, or were they sunk deliberately as
part of some form of ritual or funeral ceremony – may also be answered.
During the treatment at Flag Fen, the boats can be viewed through glass by visitors
during regular guided tours and on special event days. For more information, visit
www.vivacity-peterborough.com
Vivacity is delighted to be working with a team of experts on this project, including
Hanson UK, English Heritage, Peterborough City Council, Cambridge Archaeological
Unit and York Archaeological Trust.
-EndsFor more information, images and interview requests contact:
Laura Fanthorpe, Sales, Marketing and Communications Officer, Vivacity on
laura.fanthorpe@vivacity-peterborough.com or 01733 864 158.
Notes to editors
About Vivacity
Vivacity is an independent, not-for-profit organisation with charitable status that
manages many of Peterborough’s most popular culture and leisure facilities on behalf
of Peterborough City Council. For more information visit www.vivacitypeterborough.com.
About Flag Fen
Flag Fen Archaeology Park, discovered by renowned archaeologist Francis Pryor, is
home to a wooden causeway some 3,500 years old that is so unique it is held by
experts all over the world in the same esteem as Stonehenge.
Excavations have revealed details of a wooden platform and post alignment of rows
of upright posts that stretch for nearly a kilometre across the fen. These were built up
between 1350 and 950BC. Because of the waterlogged nature of the fens, this
monument has been remarkably preserved. It is a unique monument of national and
international significance.
It is believed that the post alignment or ritual causeway consists of 60,000 vertical
timber and 250.000 other horizontal pieces of wood. Within the structure, many
hundreds of metal, stone and bone artefacts have been found. Some fixed in place
between the wood, these items have not been lost – they have been deliberately
placed.
Flag Fen is open daily from 10am-5pm (last entry at 4pm) from April to October. Flag
Fen Archaeology Park, The Droveway, Northey Road, Peterborough PE6 7QJ. Call
01733 323414, email flag.fen@vivacity-peterborough.com or visit the website at
www.vivacity-peterborough.com
Project Partners
Vivacity is delighted to be working with a team of experts on this project.
Hanson UK
Credit to the discovery of the archaeological finds at Must Farm must be shared with
Hanson UK, who are part funding the conservation works. The brick pits at Must
Farm exist because of Oxford Clay, which is reached by open cast extraction. It is
this extraction that first revealed the Bronze Age landscape we are now discovering.
English Heritage
English Heritage has been a keen supporter of the Must Farm boats project, and
provided a £100,000 grant for the construction of the cold storage facility at Flag Fen
and provided specialist scientific advice for the project.
Peterborough City Council
Peterborough City Council kindly agreed to underwrite the moving of the boats to
Flag Fen. The boats have enormous significance to Peterborough and Whittlesey;
they are part of our heritage and underline the sophistication of the civilisations living
in the area thousands of years ago.
Cambridge Archaeological Unit
The team, consisting of Mark Knight, Kerry Murrell and David Gibson, directed the
excavations at the Must Farm quarry and supervised the recovery of the log boats.
Widely acclaimed as some of Britain’s leading prehistoric and wetland field
archaeologists.
York Archaeological Trust
Ian Panter, from York Archaeological Trust, has been retained to design and
implement the construction of the cold store facility at Flag Fen, oversee the transfer
of the log boats into the new facility, and design their conservation strategy.
Francis Pryor
Archaeologist, writer and broadcaster specialising in the Bronze and Iron Ages.
Noted for his role in the discovery of Flag Fen.