Recently, Latvian archaeologists sent a fragment of a small sacred wooden boat found in the preserving peat of Brendiku swamp. Dug up in the late 19th Century, until now it was considered to be a late Iron Age artifact. But the result of the dating analysis shows a different, much older date than previously assumed, says Jānis Ciglis, an archaeological researcher with the museum.
     "The ash wood timber boat, about 50 centimeters long, was considered a boat of the 10th Century, but I thought it might be older - perhaps around the start of the Christian era. But it turned out to be even older, dating back to 7,000 BCE. It is a unique antique throughout Eastern and Northern Europe. One of the best preserved ancient wooden containers in Europe. So it's a very unique item because we don't have such good Mesolithic items," Ciglis said.

Edited from LSM.lv (18 November 2019)