1886.] PROCEEDINGS OF UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 453 



" lu this boat, as in the oak boat, the plauking was tied to the ribs by 

 ropes passing through the holes in the clamps, and the principle of 

 construction was the same; the great peculiarity of the fir boat being 

 the terminal prolongations of the bottom plank, which probably have 

 carried iron points — a dangerous weapon of attack, equally lit for sink- 

 ing an enemy's vessel or holding it firai while being boarded. 



"As in the oak boat, the bottom was covered by a mat of wicker- 

 work. In several places the timber had cracked, and been repaired 

 by patclies of wood. On their inner surface there are vestiges of the 

 caulking material, consisting of woolen woven stuff, and a pitchy kind 

 of substance similar to that used for fixing the feathers on the arrows. 



"The boats here described I consider to have been merely rowing- 

 boats, not destined to carry sails, and in forming this opinion L rely 

 principally on the fact that neither masts nor any signs of rigging has 

 been discovered, nor any arrangement in the boats for fixing the neces- 

 sary ropes. It is true that in the middle of the bottom plank of the 

 oak boat, as well as of the fir boat, there is a hole of about IJ inches 

 diameter ; but these holes are too small to have carried masts, and maj^ 

 have served for letting out water when the boats were hauled on shore, 

 as was probably the case at the beginning of the winter. 



u * * * As I have stated before, the oak boat had been intention- 

 ally sunk by means of large holes cut in one of its sides below water- 

 mark ; at the same time it had been caused to lean over on that side 

 which was nearest the shore, that is, on the northeastern side. Besides 

 this, the stem-posts had in course of time detached themselves from the 

 bottom plank, leaving a large opening at each end. All these circum- 

 stances had necessarily caused a great part of the contents of the boat 

 to float or drift out of it. But a part remained, and showed, in several 

 respects, an intentional arrangement, objects of the same kind being 

 accumulated into heaps at particular places. 



a** * In JSTydam, Roman denarii were discovered, embracing 

 the period from 69 to 217 of our era, and of the following emperors and 

 empresses: Vitellius (1), Hadrian (1), Antoninus Pius (10), Faustina 

 the Ehler (4), Marcus Aurelius (7), Faustina the Younger (1), Lucius 

 Verus (2), Lucilla (2), Commodus (5), and Macrinus (1). The latest of 

 these coins was minted in A. D. 217.' 



"They give us an approximate date for the objects with which they 

 were found. Allowing some time for their transport from southern 

 countries, the deposit in our peat bogs cannot have taken place before 

 about the middle of the third century. 



"All the known coins from discoveries of this age — from mosses, graves, 

 and chance finds— are of the first three centuries of the Christian era; 



' 'Obs: Laureate head. Imx>r orator] C[^aiu8] M[arcn.s] Opel[ius] Se.-[erus] Macri- 

 nus Avg[u,stu8]. Rev: Pont[ifex] Max[imu8] Tr[ibunitia] P[otestate] Co[n]s[ul] 

 P[ater] P[atri8B]. Jupiter standing, a spear in his left hand, and the thunderbolt 

 in his right. 



