Archaeologists believe they may have found evidence of a prehistoric settlement in Drogheda, Co Louth. Last week engineers working on a £43 million sewage project found a wooden boat which could date from the 6th century. It is the latest in a series of significant finds made since work began on the scheme last summer.
"We have the boat in a tank of water to preserve it. It is probably oak and we cannot date it yet, but believe it is medieval. It was found on the Marsh road, 140 metres in from the existing river line at what was the old shore line. It was moored near a tree trunk and an old stone jetty," said Ms Deirdre Murphy of Archaeological Consultancy Services. She and her brother, Donald, run the consultancy and have been examining possible archaeological finds made during construction work. The engineers were excavating an area close to a planned pumping station when they saw part of the boat protruding from a cliff face and contacted the archaeologists. A number of post-holes which would have held timber posts hundreds of years ago were found underneath the boat as well as a large number of flint flakes and deer, sheep and fish bones.
"There is a lot of animal bone, far too much to have been a cargo on a boat. It looks like it was a settlement." A number of small wooden arrow heads most likely used for staking fish were also recovered.
The boat was buried in sand from the estuary and was approximately 3 m below the current water level. The sand preserved it and a leather pouch containing hazelnuts and acorns found with the boat. Radio-carbon dating on the nuts is expected to yield an approximate age for the boat.
It is 6.1 m long and 0.85 m wide with a flat back and pointed front. It would have held up to seven passengers and a notch in the wood suggests that the flat back piece may have been detachable, thereby preventing it from being stolen. Mr Murphy said such boats were used 7,000 years ago by people travelling from England, Portugal and Spain. The first settlers came in approximately 7000 BC after the land bridge between Ireland and Britain collapsed when the ice caps melted.
It was another 4,000 years before Neolithic settlers came with cattle, sheep and goats, he added.
The Murphys believe the boat could be a very significant find if it indicates there was an earlier prehistoric settlement near Drogheda. They are waiting for the National Museum in Dublin to take possession of it and conserve it.
In March archaeological excavations unearthed pottery dating from the 13th and 14th centuries, revealing that the medieval town had by then established trade links with Britain and France.