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ANCIENT LOGBOATS IN LITHUANIA: NEW FINDS, WOOD TAXA AND CHRONOLOGY

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 July 2020

Gytis Piličiauskas*
Affiliation:
Lithuanian Institute of History, Kražių st. 5, Vilnius01108, Lithuania
Elena Pranckėnaitė
Affiliation:
The Institute of Baltic Region History and Archaeology, Klaipėda University, Herkaus Manto st. 84, 92294, Klaipėda, Lithuania
Kęstutis Peseckas
Affiliation:
Laboratory of Nuclear Geophysics and Radioecology, Nature Research Centre, Akademijos str. 2, 08412Vilnius, Lithuania
Jonas Mažeika
Affiliation:
Laboratory of Nuclear Geophysics and Radioecology, Nature Research Centre, Akademijos str. 2, 08412Vilnius, Lithuania
Simona Matuzevičiūtė
Affiliation:
National Museum of Lithuania, Arsenalo st. 1, 01143Vilnius, Lithuania
*
*Corresponding author. Email: [email protected].

Abstract

More than 70 logboats are known in Lithuania and about half of them date before 1800 cal AD. This paper reviews these more ancient logboats, which were discovered in the beds of former or still existing lakes and rivers and present new radiocarbon (14C) dates and wood taxa identifications. Special attention is paid to the logboat found at Šventoji 58, which is at present the oldest 14C-dated (2895–2640 cal BC) logboat found East of the Baltic Sea. Most logboats from the pre-1800s period were 14C dated to medieval and early modern periods and they were made out of pine and oak wood. From a very scarce dataset available it seems that oak wood was introduced into logboat building by Neolithic people, who also brought new technologies in stone tool production. We also noted that 14C dating does not confirm the logboat typology suggested in earlier studies.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
© 2020 by the Arizona Board of Regents on behalf of the University of Arizona

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