MHG9089 - Dug-out Canoe (logboat) - River Conon, Dingwall
Summary
No summary available.
Type and Period (1)
- WRECK (Medieval - 1058 AD to 1559 AD) + Sci.Date
Protected Status
- None recorded
Full Description
NH55NE 3 c. 55 57.
A dug-out canoe, 16 feet long, 2-3 feet wide and 2 feet deep, revealed by accidental change of course of River Conon opposite Dingwall, (1874) was presented to Society of Antiquaries of Scotland on 12th December 1881 by William Bruce, M.D., Dingwall, through Sir Robert Christison.
PSAS 1882.
No further info was found regarding this canoe or its find-spot during field investigation.
Visited by OS (W D J) 17 April 1963.
(Location cited in either Dingwall or Urquhart and Logie Wester parishes). In 1874 erosion revealed a logboat in bank of River Conon 'opposite Dingwall' and at a point which was possibly near upper limit of tidal flow. It lay in silt at a depth of c2.5m below the surface of a gravel bank.
The boat was of 'oak' and measured 16' 3" (5m) in length over all, 2' (0.6m) in beam 'at the bow' and 2' (0.6m) in 'depth of the side'. The figure of 3' (0.9m) that is cited for the beam at the 'stem' probably refers to the stern. On basis of recorded measurements and assuming full height of the sides to have been found, the slenderness coefficient of this boat was 5.4 and beam/draught coefficient was 1.5. The displacement under standard conditions was about 1.6 cubic metres. These figures indicate that this was a medium-sized boat of non-specialist type worked from a whole-sectioned log.
The boat was subsequently donated to museum of Society of Antiquaries of Scotland (later incorporated into collections of Royal Museum of Scotland). It cannot now be identified in the collections.
R J C Mowat 1996.
A radiocarbon date was obtained and published in 2013, when closer inspection of three timbers in storage found they were the lost River Conon log boat. The resulting date of AD 1224-1269 (calibrated to 1 sigma) places it in the 13th Century, and within the wider picture of Britain and Ireland, in which the majority of logboats date to the medieval period. <1>
Within NMS collections (Acc. No.: 2012.5). <2>
Sources/Archives (4)
- --- SHG2548 Text/Publication/Volume: Mowat, R J C. 1996. The logboats of Scotland, with notes on related artefact types. 22, 24, 110, 120, 132, no. 28; tab. 1.
- --- SHG605 Text/Publication/Article: PSAS. 1882. 'Donations to and purchases for the Museum and Library, and exhibits', Proc Soc Antiq Scot Vol. 16 1881-2, p.9-15, 37-40, 58-61, 144-56,176-80,236-41,401-18. Proc Soc Antiq Scot. 9-15, 37-40, 58-61, 144-5. 11.
- <1> SHG27889 Text/Publication/Article: Sheridan. A, et al. 2013. Radiocarbon Dates Associated with the Scottish History and Archaeology Department, National Museums Scotland, 2012/13. Discovery and Excavation in Scotland. 209-211. Paper (Copy). pp. 210-211.
- <2> SHG28278 Dataset/Database File: National Museums Scotland. 2019. Highland Finds from the NMS Catalogue. National Museums Scotland. Digital. 2012.5.
Map
Location
| Grid reference | Centred NH 5499 5700 (20m by 20m) (2 map features) |
|---|---|
| Map sheet | NH55NW |
| Geographical Area | ROSS AND CROMARTY |
| Civil Parish | URQUHART AND LOGIE WESTER |
Finds (1)
- LOGBOAT (Medieval - 1058 AD to 1559 AD) + Sci.Date
Related Monuments/Buildings (0)
Related Investigations/Events (0)
External Links (1)
- https://canmore.org.uk/site/12773 (View RCAHMS Canmore entry for this site)
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