Building the Boat

The work carried out during the study of the Dover Boat looked at how the boat would have originally been built.

The boat consisted of two flat-bottom planks, four side-planks and two end-planks, all carved from three very large and old oak trees.  The pieces were held together with wedges and stitches, and the joints waterproofed with moss.

The Process

• A tall wide oak tree would have to be found and felled.
• The tree was split into 2 halves using wooden wedges and mauls (large mallets).   Then it was cut to the right length.
• Then each log was gradually carved out and sculpted.

• The partly-worked trunks were then probably moved to a site near the sea, so the finished boat was close to where it would be launched.

• The two flat-bottom planks were held together with big wooden bars and wedges, and side planks added using stitching

Illustrations by Caroline Caldwell

The experiment in reconstructing a section of boat to the same design gave us some interesting information about the original Bronze Age boat.  If ten woodworkers were involved, it would have taken them a month to shape all the timbers and assemble the boat.   This does not include all the time needed to gather and prepare the moss, yew withies and tool handles that would have been used.

The Tools

By studying toolmarks left in the wood, we know that at least 5 different types of tool were used on the boat :

• 2 types of axe
• adzes
• chisels
• gouges