UCC archaeology team recreates 2,400-year-old Iron Age logboat

UCC archaeology team recreates 2,400-year-old Iron Age logboat

The short film documents how an oak tree was felled and carved into a replica of an Iron Age logboat and launched on Lough Corrib beneath which the original ancient boat still lies.  Pictures: Brian Mac Domhnaill

The painstaking recreation of a 2,400-year-old Iron Age boat by a UCC archaeology team features in a new film which is now available to view online.

The team has reconstructed a replica of an ancient 7.5m long, 0.61m wide logboat, which was discovered at the bottom of Lough Corrib, Co Galway, some years ago.

The new short film documents “a tree’s journey from an oak trunk into a replica of the Iron Age vessel”. 

Filmed over the course of 20 months, A New Logboat for Lough Corrib: The Pallasboy Project shows the painstaking process of creating a replica of the boat, which was partially excavated and recorded by Karl Brady of the National Monuments Service's Underwater Archaeology Unit after it was discovered in the lough.

In another still from 'A New Logboat for Lough Corrib: The Pallasboy Project', the crew at Meitheal Mara community boatyard in Cork City manoeuvre the massive tree trunk into position for Mark Griffiths to carve. 
In another still from 'A New Logboat for Lough Corrib: The Pallasboy Project', the crew at Meitheal Mara community boatyard in Cork City manoeuvre the massive tree trunk into position for Mark Griffiths to carve. 

Photographer and former archaeologist Brian Mac Domhnaill’s film begins with the felling of an oak tree in the Vale of Clara, Glendalough, Co Wicklow, in November 2017 and ends with the boat’s maiden voyage at Knockferry, Lough Corrib, in July 2019.

The boat launch was organised in partnership with Moycullen and Oughterard Heritage.

Benjamin Gearey, from UCC's Department of Archaeology, said the film documents the painstaking process of converting around two tonnes of oak tree into a close replica of an ancient vessel, and describes the “joyous maiden voyage” on to the waters beneath which the original still lies.

“Experimental archaeological approaches offer one way of bringing past artefacts into our present in such a visceral, immediate way,” said Dr Gearey.

The replica was crafted by Mark Griffiths as part of the Pallasboy Project, an international collaborative study established at UCC, investigating the crafting of prehistoric wooden objects and involving archaeologists, woodworkers, and artists.

After a suitable log was felled and the trunk prepared, Mr Griffiths carved the replica over a period of 18 days at the Meitheal Mara community boatyard in Cork City, using a combination of replica prehistoric and modern tools.

The short film commences with the felling of this oak tree. Dr Benjamin Gearey, Department of Archaeology, UCC, said the painstaking process helps bring the past into our present in a visceral immediate way. 
The short film commences with the felling of this oak tree. Dr Benjamin Gearey, Department of Archaeology, UCC, said the painstaking process helps bring the past into our present in a visceral immediate way. 

The Pallasboy Project explores the creative process involved in the crafting of prehistoric wooden artefacts, starting with the Pallasboy Vessel, an Iron Age wooden artefact discovered 20 years ago at the Toar Bog in Co Westmeath and moving on to Bronze Age anthropomorphic figurines and prehistoric watercraft.

The project was funded by the World Wood Day Fund via the International Wood Culture Society. 

The replica logboat has since been gifted to Moycullen Heritage Society.

  • The film can be viewed online here

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