Dugout canoe at the Brick Store Museum in Kennebunk, Maine

[Benson Gray]

My ongoing search for old canoes led me to Brick Store Museum in Kennebunk, Maine today. Their site at the link below describes this is as "a 700-year-old dugout canoe buried in the intertidal mudflats Cape Porpoise, Maine" and "the oldest dugout canoe found in the far Northeast which includes Maine and the Canadian Maritimes." They feel that part of a paddle was also found with the canoe as shown in the pictures below. I would have a hard time distinguishing these from any other pieces of old wood but I'm not an archeologist.

Benson

Canoe Conservation: A Step-by-Step Process - The Brick Store Museum

Southern Maine Archaeology Resource Home About Learn & Explore Archaeology in Southern Maine Archaeology Art & Archaeology Canoe Conservation: A Step-by-Step Process Clay Pipe Stems Microclimatology of a Cape Porpoise Island Site Weirs in Southern Maine Local Projects Archaeology Exhibit...

brickstoremuseum.org

 

[Nick Dennis]

These were found in England recently. A canoe was found in 1979 on a different excavation I believe they found 9 in total being described as “ Bronze Age Runabouts“ Dating between 1300 & 700 BC
Link is below
Dugouts

 

[Benson Gray]

This is great. The human time line in Europe is much longer along with more places where the soil conditions can preserve wooden artifacts. The oldest known canoe was found in the Netherlands as described in the link below. Thanks,

Benson

Pesse canoe - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Nick Dennis]

I was intrigued in reading the article as the Must Farm canoes were deliberately scuppered having had their transoms removed so that they filled up and stayed down.

 

[Benson Gray]

had their transoms removed

Yes, I haven't seen that before. Dugouts are frequently found loaded with rocks to keep them on the bottom but a removable transom is very unusual. I wonder if this might have also made unloading easier.

Benson

 

[Nick Dennis]

Benson. I found this video where a team built some dugouts to plans of some found in Wales. They too put a transom board in. I suspect that dugouts were sunk to keep them wet and prevent splitting. A canoe with a removable transom would be far easier to lift out than one without. Food for thought.

Nick