A brand new examine suggests that folks from the Pitted Ware Culture (PWC) in historic Scandinavia doubtless constructed boats from animal skins, probably seal hides, to fish, hunt, and commerce. The PWC was a Neolithic group of hunter-gatherers who lived between 3500 and 2300 BC in areas close to the Baltic and North Seas. Their survival closely relied on the seas, the place they relied on maritime actions, notably seal looking, as evidenced by the massive portions of seal bones found at their inhabited websites.
Seal Hides and Maritime Travel
Mikael Fauvelle, a researcher at Lund University in Sweden advised Live Science, seals weren’t solely hunted for meals but in addition performed a key position in making watercraft. Seal hides, together with oil extracted from their blubber, could have been used to assemble and keep boats.
Archaeologists have discovered traces of seal oil inside pottery, exhibiting that these individuals had vital portions of it. Boats created from such supplies have been sturdy sufficient for lengthy voyages, which was important given their reliance on sea journey, as per a examine printed within the Journal of Maritime Archaeology.
Long-Distance Trade and Seafaring Technology
The PWC’s boats needed to cowl giant distances between islands like Gotland and Åland, making seal-hide watercraft very best for these journeys. Primitive alternate options, comparable to canoes created from hollowed logs, wouldn’t have sufficed for such expansive travels. The boats could have been giant sufficient to move as much as a dozen individuals and animals, together with deer and bears.
Evidence from Rock Art and Fragments
Though bodily proof of those boats stays scarce, small fragments present in northern Sweden and rock artwork depicting boats provide clues. Some photos present vessels with harpoon rests resembling animal heads. These drawings, together with boat body fragments, recommend that the PWC have been superior of their seafaring strategies.
