A Stone Age boat building site with technological developments not thought to have been developed for thousands more years has been discovered off the U.K. coast. The site, which is submerged 36 feet underwater, was discovered by archeologists in 2005. However, until now, experts did not know what the structure had been used for.
     Researchers with the Maritime Archaeological Trust, a charity involved in the underwater excavation of sites across Britain, initially found the submerged wooden structure was made up of contains trimmed timbers that scientists believed could have been walkways, platforms or merely collapsed structures.
     However, after returning to the site, the team was able to create a 3D model of the landscape. They then excavated the new platform, finding it was made up of several layers of timber that had been placed on wooden foundations laid horizontally. The new structure, which dates back 8,000 years, is part of the oldest boat building site in the world, researchers believe. It sits off the coast of the Isle of Wight - an island off the south coast of England.
     "The site contains a wealth of evidence for technological skills that were not thought to have been developed for a further couple of thousand years, such as advanced woodworking," Garry Momber, director of Maritime Archaeological Trust, said in a statement.
     As well as the advanced woodworking skills, researchers also found crafted tools that indicate a more advanced European influence. At that time, the North Sea was yet to fully form, so the Isle of Wight would still have been connected to mainland Europe.
     The wooden artifacts from the boat building site are now being stored by the National Oceanography Centre. "This new discovery is particularly important as the wooden platform is part of a site that doubles the amount of worked wood found in the UK from a period that lasted 5,500 years," Momber said.
     
Edited from Newsweek (21 August 2019)