Canoe, Castle Loch, Lochmaben

Discovered in 1909, this canoe was found at Castle Loch in Lochmaben and measures almost 4 metres in length!   The earliest log boats can be dated to the Stone Age period when people lived by hunting and gathering. The boats were used for wildfowling and fishing along river banks and may have been steered and propelled by poles. Most boats were made of oak which splits along its grain easily, the remaining shaping being carried out with polished stone axes and flints. The log boat from Catherinefield is the earliest securely dated log boat in Scotland, it has survived from the early Bronze Age, over 4,000 years ago. The others were probably made over 2,000 years ago when many local people lived in crannogs or lake dwellings.