Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!americast.com!americast.com!americast-post Newsgroups: americast.twt.life From: americast-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: americast-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: Excavation of prehistoric ferry halted by cash drain Date: Sat, 14 Nov 92 16:22:11 EST Message-ID: \SE B;LIFE \SS (WS) \HD Excavation of prehistoric ferry halted by cash drain \BY Martin Bailey \CR LONDON OBSERVER SERVICE \DT LONDON LONDON - The world's oldest seagoing vessel, a Bronze Age boat, has been discovered at Dover. However, half of the craft's remains will be left in the ground to rot because there's no cash to carry out a proper excavation. The Dover boat was discovered six weeks ago when archaeologists were excavating the site of a pedestrian subway. Since then, they have dated the remains of the boat - which they believe was a prehistoric cross-channel ferry - to 1340 B.C. Half the boat was excavated last month, but the rest has been abandoned underground and may be lost forever. English Heritage, which has revealed that it would have cost more than $450,000 to recover the whole boat, has reluctantly dropped plans for the dig. "It was one of the most difficult decisions I have taken. My instinct was to go ahead, but when I heard about the costs, I just gritted my teeth and decided against," says Geoffrey Wainwright, chief archaeologist at English Heritage. The dramatic discovery was made when archaeologists dug down 25 feet and found oak timbers, which turned out to be planks of a seagoing vessel. A 30-foot section of the boat was excavated last month and is being conserved to preserve the wood from decay. The boat appears to have been about 10 feet wide and 5 feet high, made with oak timbers tied together with yew binding. "The workmanship was superb," says Paul Bennett, director of the Canterbury Archaeological Trust. The boat is likely to extend a further 20 feet, but this section lies close to a Victorian building, and excavation would be difficult and expensive. Demolition of the building, the simplest option, was ruled out because of its architectural importance. English Heritage's engineers warned that the Victorian building would need underpinning and a coffer dam would have to be built to hold back the water table. Substantial payments also would have to have been paid to the road contractor for delays. This article is copyright 1992 The Washington Times. Redistribution to other sites is not permitted except by arrangement with American Cybercasting Corporation. For more information, send-email to usa@AmeriCast.COM