The world’s oldest sea-going boat, the Dover Bronze Age Boat is to sail again 3500 years after it crossed the English Channel.
A new project, ‘Boat 1550 BC’ aims to rebuild the boat, which had lain hidden under the centre of Dover for 3,500 years until it was rediscovered in 1992 during the construction of an underpass.
The oak-built boat sailed across the Channel at a time when Stonehenge was still in use, and before Tutankhamun became ruler of Egypt.
The team will use Bronze Age tools and ship-building techniques to reconstruct the Dover Bronze Age Boat, a vessel thought to have crossed the Channel in 1500BC
The half-size replica will take two years to construct
The world’s oldest sea-going boat: it will take two and a half years to reconstruct in a half-size replica
The project aims to understand how people were able to cross the Channel in 1550 BC, using ancient boatbuilding techniques and Bronze Age tools to construct a half-size replica boat.
The boat will launch in the sea when it’s completed in two and a half years time, and will be part of a touring exhibition which visit France, Belgium and the UK to mark the 20th anniversary of the boat’s discovery.
The boat was located during the construction of an underpass and sparked several frantic days of rescue excavations to save it from destruction.
It was removed from the site in sections and rebuilt in the museum.
Canterbury Archaeological Trust Deputy Director, Peter Clark, said: ‘I have been working towards this moment for more than ten years. It’s very exciting. As the days and weeks go by we will learn so much about how our ancestors were able to build such a remarkable vessel.’
The Dover Bronze Age boat on display in a museum. Researchers aim to find out how people crossed the channel in 1550BC
The boat was located during the construction of an underpass and sparked several frantic days of rescue excavations to save it from destruction
The researchers will reconstruct the boat using ancient techniques and Bronze Age tools to understand how people crossed the channel in the time of Stonehenge
‘We can only speculate about how often people crossed the channel and how close were the ties, but one thing is certain, this project will bring the modern communities in Northern France, Belgium and England just that little bit closer together.’
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