28.07.2014 change 28.07.2014

The boat found Staniszcze Małe may be few hundred years old

It is almost 3.7 meters long and made from one tree trunk - so much is known for sure about the carved boat found in the river Mała Panew in Staniszcze Małe. Tests will determine its exact age, but the find may be even few hundred years old.

Archaeologists from the Regional Office for the Protection of Monuments in Opole and the Museum of Opole Silesia, who carried out the first documentation of the find, are also certain that the boat hull - technically called monoecious - had been made by a good boatbuilder. "It is carefully and precisely made, and the sides are very thin in some places - even only half a centimetre thick" - told PAP archaeologist from the Regional Office of the Protection of Monuments in Opole, Grzegorz Molenda. He also emphasised that the find is very well preserved and has only minor damage.

Boat, which probably could carry up to four people, was probably made from an oak trunk - which will also be confirmed by tests. It was probably used as a means of transportation, for fishing or transport of small quantities of goods. The boat was found in June by residents of the village Staniszcze Małe (Opole province) in the river Mała Panew flowing through the village, when they went fishing. Only a small part was sticking out of water and mud. They learned from a kayaker, and then from a local historian that it could be a valuable monument - even from late Middle Ages.

According to archaeologists and to Deputy Opole Province Conservator Krzysztof Spychała, who has only seen the pictures of the find, it is difficult to determine the age of the boat. "It could be one hundred or five hundred years old. I do not think that it is older - taking into account the state of preservation and method in which it had been made. But the chronology can be established only after testing wood samples" - reserved Spychała.

He added that dendrochronological tests and radioactive carbon C14 tests would be performed on samples taken from the boat wood. Archaeologists who documented the discovery have not taken such samples yet, because, as they explained, professionals who will perform tests should identify places from which cuttings should be taken on the basis of photographs. They only took a piece of tail that had broken off while pulling the boat out of the water in order to secure it. The rest of the find has been placed in the waters of Mała Panew, near the local kayak rental, to prevent it from drying out.

The wooden boat from Staniszcze Małe is less than 3.7 meters long, 82 centimetres wide at its widest point, and up to 40 centimetres high.

Spychała believes that the object is interesting also because it is preserved in its entirety and has been reported - which is not at all common. "If it indeed turns out to be late medieval, it will certainly be a curiosity" - he said.

He noted that in the Opole province since before the war there have been about ten finds of this kind - boats, canoes. "Before the war, there were already at least a few - those that were developed and described. After the war - in the 1990s, we also had at least two such finds near Lewin Brzeski. One of the boats is very long, measuring 12 meters. It is on display in the Museum of Opole Silesia" - said Spychała.

PAP - Science and Scholarship in Poland

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