A feat of Bronze Age engineering
On September 28, 1992, workers building a new road in Dover, England, uncovered the remains of a prehistoric boat. It was found six meters below modern street level, preserved in the oxygen-free silt. Radiocarbon dating confirmed the vessel was constructed around 1550 BC, making it one of the oldest known seafaring boats in the world. The discovery site was just yards from the modern Dover Museum, where the boat is now housed in a dedicated gallery.
The surviving section of the boat measures 9.5 meters long and over 2 meters wide. Its full original length is unknown, as part of it remains buried where excavation was deemed too hazardous to nearby buildings. The craft was built from thick oak (Quercus sp.) planks hewn from massive logs. Instead of nails, the planks were joined using a sewing technique. Builders used twisted withies—flexible branches—of yew (Taxus baccata) to stitch the planks together through carefully carved holes. To make the vessel watertight, pads of moss were packed into the seams and held in place by thin oak laths under the yew stitches. A waterproof stopping, likely made of beeswax and animal fat, was then pressed into the stitch-holes.