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XX.—Notes on an Ancient Boat found at Brigg

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 January 2012

Alfred Atkinson
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Extract

In the month of April, 1886, during the excavation of a pit at the Brigg gas-works, a most interesting boat, of a very primitive type, was found. The upper edges of the sides were first bared; and, as these differed from the “car wood” or buried trees which are so often found in the neighbourhood, the workmen fortunately made a further examination, instead of chopping up the timber to remove it piecemeal. It was then seen to be a boat, in a very fair state of preservation.

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Type
Research Article
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Archaeologia , Volume 50 , Issue 2 , 1887, pp. 361 - 370
Copyright
Copyright © The Society of Antiquaries of London 1887

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References

page 365 note a The Rev. H. W. Lett, M.A., of Aghaderg Glebe, co. Down, has examined the moss, and he contributes the following note to the Scientific Enquirer for July 1886:—

“The moss which formed the caulking in the pre-historic ship recently brought to light at Brigg consists of portions of two species.

That which is most abundant in the specimen is Thuidium tamariscinum. It has a dull appearance, arising from the leaves being covered all over with minute papillae, or soft superficial glands, and the stem is densely clotted with paraphyllas, or downy rootlets; both these features are quite distinct and well preserved in the portions examined, which, instead of being green, are brownish. This is one of the most common and beautiful of our Hypnums, or cushion-mosses, and a bank covered with its green branches, which grow out in the manner of a miniature fern, is a lovely sight. It is still much used by the makers of artificial flowers for some purposes of their trade.

The other is Hypnum triquetrum, a stout, erect plant, of a bright shining green, that is permanent even when dry. The specimen retains its shining appearance, but the green has been changed to olive by the conditions under which it lay buried in the old craft. This is the moss commonly used for making moss baskets, for which purpose it is sold in the London markets.

The habitats of these mosses are banks in woods, where they may often be found growing together, as doubtless they did when the inhabitants of Lincolnshire plucked their handfuls in days of old to serve the purpose for which oakum is now used.”

page 267 note a 2nd Series, x. 110.

page 270 note a Trans. Glasgow Archaeol. Soc. Part II. vol. xi. p. 121Google Scholar