MINSK, 1 November (BelTA) – The unique ancient boat, which was raised from the bottom of the Neman River near the village of Nikolayevo, Ivye District, Grodno Oblast, is 500 years old, BelTA learned from the press service of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus (NASB).
According to scientists, the boat was made in approximately 1500-1510. Historians already call this find an archaeological sensation, the press service noted. It was also established that the oak, from which the ancient boat was made, was about 300 years old at the time the tree was cut. It means that the tree began to grow in the early 13th century.
These facts were established during dendrochronological analysis of the boat in the NASB. Special studies were carried out under the supervision of Maksim Yermokhin, the Candidate of Biological Sciences, leading research fellow of the laboratory for productivity and stability of plant communities at the NASB Institute of Experimental Botany.
Currently the boat is kept in the NASB Institute of History for conservation works. After that the boat will go on display.
As it was reported, an underwater archeology team of the NASB Institute of History, divers of the Morskoy Pegas diving center and members of the Jeep 4x4 forum held a joint expedition to raise the ancient boat from the bottom of the Neman River. The boat was discovered by the locals. Such boats were widely used in old times. They were the main type of water transport used by ancient inhabitants on the territory of the present Belarus starting from the Stone Age period.
