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Recent research, by Dr. Michael Fauvel and colleagues, published in the Journal of Maritime Archeology , suggests that representatives of the Neolithic Pitted Ware Culture (PWC) could use leather boats for travel, trade, hunting, and fishing.
The PWC culture existed on the territory of modern Scandinavia in the period from 3500 to 2300 BC.
This culture was unusual among other European hunter-gatherers in that they continued to rely on fishing and sealing despite the spread of agriculture in Europe. Unlike other peoples, the PWC took their time to introduce agriculture and remained faithful to their traditional occupations.
One of the features of the PWC culture was its long sea voyages across the Baltic Sea and the Kattegat and Skagerrak Straits. Archaeological finds, such as stone tools and pottery, indicate an active exchange with the territories of modern Sweden, Denmark and Finland. However, for such movements, they needed reliable vessels, evidence of the existence of which is extremely rare.
In many parts of the world during this period, canoes hollowed out of tree trunks were used to travel on water. Some such boats were also found at PWC parking lots. However, their small size, which did not exceed a few meters, made them unsuitable for the open sea.
Dr. Fauvel and his colleagues suggest that skin boats were more suitable for long-distance sea crossings than hollowed-out canoes. They believe that boats like this could have been the primary means of transport for PWCs, especially in open sea conditions. According to Fauvel, this technology may have contributed to the intensification of maritime trade and raids characteristic of the Neolithic period.
Although skin boats are poorly preserved in archaeological layers, scientists rely on circumstantial evidence such as boat bone frames, petroglyphs, and finds of seal blubber and tools. Possible frameworks for such boats made from deer antlers have been found in northern Germany and Sweden, also indicating the practice of making leather boats.
In addition, in the rock art of Northern Scandinavia, you can find images of boats that resemble leather vessels. Some of these petroglyphs were created during the PWC's existence and depict scenes of whaling and sealing, as well as fishing, activities that were important to this culture. These images are strikingly similar to the umiak boats used by the Inuit peoples.
Another indirect evidence of the use of leather boats can be found in the PWC parking areas. A large number of seal remains, as well as tools such as leather scrapers and awls too large for sewing clothes, indicate that this culture may have used sealskins to make boats. Their manufacture also required a large amount of seal blubber, which was used for water-repellent treatment.
Researchers suggest that leather boats played a key role in the lives of the people of the PWC culture, assisting them in hunting seals and fish, and in sea voyages.
