March 28, 2024

Underwater Discovery: A canoe cache from Lake Constance

Underwater Discovery: A canoe cache from Lake Constance

Wreckage from the early days

Two and a half years ago, a fan of water sports discovered a boat at the bottom of the Sirhin River: a cache boat more than eight meters long, which was used by archaeologists to date between 2400 and 2200 BC. To go on a date. The boat from Lake Constance is not only the oldest known discovery of its kind to date, but it is also surprisingly well preserved. At the beginning of April 2021, the rescue operation began in order to preserve the boat hidden on the ground and be able to examine it in detail, as stated in a press release issued by the State Office for the Preservation of Monuments in Baden-Württemberg.

The canoe hidden was cut from the trunk of a linden tree. It is 8.5 meters long and just over 80 cm wide. The bow is lost, an oak plank is inserted into the stern. Archaeologists have not yet been able to explain exactly why the craft sank to Earth at this point. Seerhein is the tributary between the lower and upper lakes of Lake Constance. However, what is certain is that researchers cannot lift the boat in one piece for the reason. Wood is too brittle for that.

The discovery proves that people sailed on Lake Constance more than 4,200 years ago. However, there are no known settlement remains from that time in the vicinity of the site. Archaeologists define this stage as the transition from the Younger Stone Age to the early Bronze Age. We have reached over a dozen so-called concrete dwelling sites from earlier and later eras.

These sites in and around Lake Constance have been a UNESCO World Heritage Site for ten years. In the Neolithic period, after 4000 BC. BC, the first farmers settled on Lake Constance. People lived intermittently until the early Iron Age, 7th century BC. BC, there are in stilt homes. Due to the wet floor environment, the wooden parts of the homes have been well preserved. Not only were there buildings, but there were walkways secured by beams and various objects of daily use: food, textiles, and tools. (CAS / DPA)