County: Down Site name: GREYABBEY BAY
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: AE/02/85
Author: Wes Forsythe, Centre for Maritime Archaeology, University of Ulster
Site type: Excavation - miscellaneous
Period/Dating: Neolithic (4000BC-2501 BC)
ITM: E 757317m, N 866897m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 54.526008, -5.569569
On the foreshore of Greyabbey Bay, this logboat was originally discovered in winter 2000 in a partially exposed state. It was subsequently revisited, cleaned and examined as part of the Strangford Lough survey (McErlean et al. 2002). A sample of the wood taken for species identification and radiocarbon dating showed that the vessel was of oak and dated to the Neolithic period (3499–3032 cal. BC; GrN-25435).
This short excavation aimed to expose and record the vessel before reburial and preservation in situ. The vessel is oriented north-west/south-east and is 9.1m long and 0.89m wide (maximum). The south-east end of the vessel has come to rest slightly higher than the north-west end: this has resulted in the south-east end being more eroded than the north-west end, which, being buried in sand, managed to preserve some features and the height of the gunwales. The exterior and interior of the hull are generally smooth and featureless, with the exception of the north-west end. A rounded internal bevel at this end provides a flat tip to the boat, 0.35m wide. Below this (0.9m from the north-west end) is a low, transverse ridge, c. 50mm high but badly eroded in the centre of the floor. This low ridge probably provided purchase for the occupant propelling the craft. A small trench was opened toward the north-west end of the vessel in order to record a section; this showed that the vessel was lying on pockets of a sticky, loose, grey/brown deposit, discoloured (brown) by the boat, and compacted grey sand. These deposits contained fragments of worked rods that are likely to be the remains of wattle material washed downstream from eroding wooden fishtraps. The wooden traps date to the early historic period (McErlean et al. 2002), and this implies that the vessel was partially exposed for part of this period. No flint, pottery or any other material that could be attributed to the Neolithic period was found in association with the vessel.
The vessel is one of a small number of Irish logboats from an explicitly marine context, and its survival was due to a low-energy environment with fine sediments. It would have been well able to negotiate the calm waters of the lough, where it could have been employed for a variety of functions, from fishing to transporting people, their possessions and animals. Megalithic tombs on the shores of the lough, as well as a number of finds of pottery, axes and arrowheads, attest to a Neolithic community in the area, most notably on the western and southern shores. In this context the Greyabbey logboat stands as one of the few Neolithic finds on the Ards side of the lough.
Reference
McErlean, T.C., McConkey, R.A. and Forsythe, W. 2002 Strangford Lough: an archaeological survey of a maritime landscape. Belfast.
Coleraine BT52
