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A new study suggests that people from the Pitted Ware Culture (PWC) of ancient Scandinavia likely built boats from animal skins, possibly seal skins, for fishing, hunting and trading. The PWC were a Neolithic hunter-gatherer group who lived in areas near the Baltic and North Seas between 3500 and 2300 BC. Their survival was highly dependent on the sea, where they relied on maritime activities, particularly seal hunting, as evidenced by the large quantities of seal bones discovered at their inhabited sites.
Sealskins and maritime travel
Mikael Fauvelle, researcher at Lund University in Sweden told Live Science, seals were not only hunted for food, but also played an important role in craft construction. Seal skins, along with oil extracted from their blubber, may have been used to build and maintain boats.
Archaeologists have found traces of seal oil in pottery, indicating that these people had significant quantities of it. Boats made of such materials were sturdy enough for long voyages, which was essential given their reliance on sea travel, according to a study published in the Journal of Maritime Archaeology.
Long-distance trade and maritime technology
The PWC boats had to travel great distances between islands such as Gotland and Åland, making sealskin watercraft ideal for these journeys. Primitive alternatives, such as dugout canoes, would not have sufficed for such extended voyages. The boats may have been large enough to carry up to a dozen people and animals, including deer and bears.
Evidence from rock art and fragments
Although physical evidence of these boats remains scarce, small fragments found in northern Sweden and petroglyphs depicting boats provide clues. Some depictions show vessels with harpoon supports that resemble animal heads. These drawings, together with fragments of the boat’s frame, suggest that the PWC were advanced in their seafaring techniques.
