New finds of Mesolithic logboats in Denmark

Andersen surveys the recent finds of Danish Mesolithic logboats, with 12–14 reliably dated boats or boat fragments known, and concentrates on the Lystrup boats, set against the better preserved Tybrind 1. He argues that many boats survive only as narrow, flattened fragments in the waste areas of settlements, and can be recognised from their context and characteristic features. Andersen presents the Lystrup finds as evidence for the woodworking skill and long use of Danish Late Mesolithic logboats.

Lystrup 1, found in at least four fragments along the prehistoric shore, was made of aspen. Andersen describes its dimensions, adze marks, truncated stern, recesses, hearths and repairs to lengthwise splits, and compares each feature with Tybrind 1. A second boat, Lystrup 2, was found nearby in 1992 (pp. 3–8). He dates Lystrup 1 to the Older Ertebølle Culture at 5190–5060 BC and gives 4110 BC and 4280 BC for Tybrind 1 and 2, all as calibrated 14C dates.

Andersen suggests that the fireplaces may have supported fishing and that the long, slender boats suited sheltered water, with a preliminary capacity of six to eight people and their equipment for Tybrind 1. At Agernæs on Funen, an area of wooden chips and splinters in settlement waste is read as evidence of logboat manufacture, and he compares the chips with those produced in modern experiments (pp. 8–10).