People in Scandinavia may have used boats made of animal skins to hunt and

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Rock art illustrating 2 deer being transferred by boat.
(Image credit: Martin Kristoffer Hykkerud and the Verdensarvsenter for Bergkunst– Alta Museum)

Ancient Scandinavians might have utilized boats built of animal skins to fish, hunt and trade, a brand-new research study recommends.

Called the Pitted Ware Culture (PWC), this waterfaring Neolithic group of hunter-gatherers resided in Scandinavia in between 3500 and 2300 B.C., according to the research study, released Aug. 26 in the Journal of Maritime Archaeology

The group is maybe best understood for its pottery, which includes flat-bottomed vessels stylized with horizontal lines slashed into the clay before shooting. They were likewise proficient maritime hunters, especially when it concerned searching seals.

Archaeologists believe the PWC might have utilized the hides of these web-footed water mammals to develop boat, in addition to oil from the seals’ blubber to assist preserve the boats.

“We know that these people were hunting lots of seals, as evidenced by the massive amounts of seal bones we’re finding at sites that they inhabited,” lead research study author Mikael Fauvellea scientist in the Department of Archaeology and Ancient History at Lund University in Sweden, informed Live Science. “Seals were also one of the best animals for making boats, as we know that the Inuit [an Indigenous group living in Canada, Greenland and Alaska] were applying oil from seals as a critical step in waterproofing their boats. We know that the PWC had large quantities of seal oil, which can be found in their pottery [at archaeological sites].”

Related: 2,700-year-old petroglyphs portraying individuals, ships and animals found in Sweden

Scientist examined the interiors of numerous pots and discovered traces of lipid residue from seal oil, Fauvelle included.

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Access to boats would have been essential to the PWC’s survival; the culture was dependent on fishing due to residing in a location bounded by a number of enormous bodies of water, consisting of the Baltic and North seas.

“They were moving across the environment and were trading quite often with other groups, often traveling from Gotland [an island in what’s now Sweden] to Åland [an archipelago to the south] that is far away,” Fauvelle stated. “They would have been out in the ocean, traveling across big expanses of water.”

Scientist believe more primitive boats, such as canoes made from hollowed-out logs, would have mishandled in taking a trip numerous miles throughout open water.

“These people had to paddle far and wide to hunt, fish and trade,” Fauvelle stated, including that boats made from seal conceal would have been tough enough for the task.

The boats– depending on their size– might have been big enough to carry up to about a lots individuals at a time, as well as animals, consisting of deer, bears and livestock, according to the research study.

The scientists confess that they’ve discovered little physical proof of the boats themselves, other than a couple of little pieces found over the years at websites throughout northern Sweden that “may represent direct evidence of Neolithic skin boat use,” the authors composed in the research study.

Maybe the “strongest piece of evidence” is rock art portraying individuals taking a trip by boat. A few of the illustrations consist of information of vessels geared up with harpoon rests that look like animal heads, Fauvelle stated.

“We’ve found drawings that are comparable to ethnographic skin boats made today and depictions of rectangular boats that are translucent and reveal the ribs or framework of the watercraft,” he stated.

The illustrations, paired with the possible pieces of boat frames, provide proof that the PWC individuals were achieved boat contractors who comprehended “seafaring technologies” and would have utilized “advanced craft” to take a trip in between various islands.

“If PWC people did use skin boats, the question remains as to why the technology may not have survived into the period of recorded history,” the authors composed.

Jennifer Nalewicki is a Salt Lake City-based reporter whose work has actually been included in The New York Times, Smithsonian Magazine, Scientific American, Popular Mechanics and more. She covers numerous science subjects from world Earth to paleontology and archaeology to health and culture. Prior to freelancing, Jennifer held an Editor function sometimes Inc. Jennifer has a bachelor’s degree in Journalism from The University of Texas at Austin.