Saxon Logboat Recovered from Langstone Harbour - DI Andy Horton country- just got to put this in a future crime novel

A 1500-year-old Saxon logboat excavated from Langstone Harbour, close to where I live and where my DI Andy Horton crime novels, Deadly Waters, Dead Man's Wharf and  Footsteps on the Shore are partially set, has gone on display at Portsmouth City Museum.  It was found buried in the mudflats in 2002 by John Cross and Arthur Thomas Mack who were searching for prehistoric flint tools in the intertidal zone of the harbour. The boat is only the second to be discovered in the Solent region and is currently the oldest watercraft remains from the area.


The hollowed out oak tree formed a wooden canoe and radiocarbon dating suggests the canoe dates to somewhere between 400 and 640 AD, a period spanning late Roman times to early Saxon. Isn't that amazing! And of course, I am tucking this little snippet of information away in my mind for a possible background, idea or sub plot for a future DI Horton novel.
 

Researchers believe the area where the boat was found was used by the local population for marsh grazing fowling or fishing. Here is what Langstone Harbour looks like now.

The boat will be on display in a new gallery at the museum which will also showcase a range of artefacts from the Portsmouth area including Saxon jewellery and weaponry prehistoric flint tools and a Bronze Age torc (neck ornament).
Chris Cockburn, RSPB warden, said: 'While we manage Langstone Harbour primarily to protect the sensitive habitats and the birds that depend on them we also value the archaeological importance of the site.'



Langstone Harbour used in Footsteps on the Shore

Looking across Langstone Harbour to the Mulberry used in Deadly Waters


The entrance to Langstone Harbour with Portsmouth in the background where DI Horton lives on his boat

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