In the 4th century BC, an armada of boats attacked the island of Als off the coast of Denmark. Traveling in up to four boats, the unknown attackers were defeated, with the defenders sinking the weapons of their foes into the bog in one of the boats, most likely to give thanks for their victory.
“Where these sea raiders might have come from, and why they attacked the island of Als has long been a mystery,” says Mikael Fauvelle, archaeologist at 51ؿ.
The boat was discovered in the 1880s in the bog of Hjortspring Mose, excavated in the 1920s, and is now known as the Hjortspring boat. It is the only example of a prehistoric plank boat that has ever been found in Scandinavia. The finding is unique – since it was sunk in a bog as an offering, it was exceptionally well preserved. To this day, the Hjortspring boat has been on display at the National Museum of Denmark.
This means that the warriors who attacked the island of Als chose to launch a maritime raid over hundreds of kilometers of open sea
When the researchers unexpectedly located parts of the boat that had not been chemically preserved, they were able to study these using modern scientific methods.
“The boat was waterproofed with pine pitch, which was surprising. This suggests the boat was built somewhere with abundant pine forests,” says Mikael Fauvelle.
Several scholars had previously suggested that the boat and its crew came from the region around modern-day Hamburg in Germany. Instead, the researchers now believe they came from the Baltic Sea region.
“If the boat came from the pine forest-rich coastal regions of the Baltic Sea, it means that the warriors who attacked the island of Als chose to launch a maritime raid over hundreds of kilometers of open sea,” says Mikael Fauvelle.
So, exactly where did someone unknowingly leave their fingerprint in the tar, as a silent message to future generations? The best way to conclusively address the mystery of the boat’s origins would be through tree year ring counting which could match the planks on the boat to the area where the trees they came from were cut down.
“We are also hoping to be able to extract ancient DNA from the caulking tar on the boat, which could give us more detailed information on the ancient people who used this boat,” concludes Mikael Fauvelle.
