DOVER'S Bronze Age boat will be the focus of a £1.7 million international project being launched in Lille on Tuesday.
The boat, unearthed in September 1992 by the Canterbury Archaeological Trust working alongside contractors on the widening of Townwall Street, is the subject of a three-year exhibition spanning England, France and Belgium called Boat 1550 BC.
The European-funded scheme will include a Bronze Age exhibition that will tour France, Belgium and England, an educational programme with schools and universities on both sides of the Channel, and the building of a half-scale reproduction of the boat, which will undergo sea trials from Dover harbour.
The theme of the project is connections across the Channel, past and present, and how Bronze Age cultures on both sides of the water were alike, making the sea a highway rather than a barrier between countries.
The boat construction, led by Canterbury Archaeological Trust deputy director Peter Clark with members of the team who worked on putting together a section of the vessel in 1996, will take place between February and May in the Roman lawns at the back of the Dover Discovery Centre.
Mr Clark said: "I first started talking about a replica boat in 2004, but distributed the first proper proposal in 2005. There followed several years planning and negotiating with colleagues in France, Belgium, the Netherlands and the UK. We submitted a funding bid to the European Union in July last year which was finally approved at the beginning of 2011.
"We thought we could create a project to get people involved on both sides of the Channel."
Author: Kathy Bailes | Source: This is Kent [September 23, 2011]
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| Excavation of the Bronze Age boat in 1992 [Credit: This is Kent] |
The European-funded scheme will include a Bronze Age exhibition that will tour France, Belgium and England, an educational programme with schools and universities on both sides of the Channel, and the building of a half-scale reproduction of the boat, which will undergo sea trials from Dover harbour.
The theme of the project is connections across the Channel, past and present, and how Bronze Age cultures on both sides of the water were alike, making the sea a highway rather than a barrier between countries.
 |
| Centrepiece: Peter Clark with a section of the Bronze Age boat [Credit: This is Kent] |
Mr Clark said: "I first started talking about a replica boat in 2004, but distributed the first proper proposal in 2005. There followed several years planning and negotiating with colleagues in France, Belgium, the Netherlands and the UK. We submitted a funding bid to the European Union in July last year which was finally approved at the beginning of 2011.
"We thought we could create a project to get people involved on both sides of the Channel."
Author: Kathy Bailes | Source: This is Kent [September 23, 2011]