10 IRON IN NORTHERN EUROPE. 



of it, as it had been taken to pieces, and the boards, etc., 



were covered over with straw and peat, that they might dry 



slowly. In this manner, M. Engelhardt hoped that they 



would perhaps, at least in part, retain their original shape. 



The freight of the boat consisted of iron axes, including a 



socketed celt with its handle, swords, lances, knives, brooches, 



whetstones, wooden vessels, and, oddly enough, two birch 



brooms, with many smaller articles. Only those, however, 



have yet been found which remained actually in the boat; 



and, as in sinking it turned partly over on its side, no 



doubt many more articles will reward further explorations. 



It is evident that this ancient boat was sunk on purpose, 



because there is a square hole about six inches in diameter 



hewn out of the bottom : and it is possible that these objects 



were sunk as offerings to the Lake, but, on the whole, it 



seems more probable that in some time of panic or danger 



the objects contained in it were thus hidden by their owner, 



who was never able to recover them. Even in recent times 



of disturbance, as, for instance, in the beginning of this 



century, and in 1848, many arms, ornaments, household 



utensils, etc., were so effectually hidden in the lakes and 



peat mosses, that they could never be found again. Much 



interest is added to this vessel and its contents, by the fact 



that we can fix almost their exact date. The boat lies, as I 



have already mentioned, within a few yards of the spot 



where the previous discoveries at Nydam were made, and as 



all the arms and ornaments exactly correspond, there can be 



little doubt that they belong to the same period. Now the 



previous collection included nearly fifty Eoman coins, ranging 



in date from A.D. 67 to A.D. 217, and we cannot therefore be 



far wrong in referring these remains to the third century. 



A very similar discovery has been made at Thorsbjerg 

 in the same neighbourhood, but in this case, owing to some 

 chemical difference in the peat, the iron has been almost 



