Replica Bronze Age boat created

A replica Bronze Age boat built using contemporary techniques is nearing completion as a seven-month project comes to a close.

The sewn-plank boat, which weighs around 5,000kg, has been constructed as part of a collaboration between the National Maritime Museum Cornwall and the University of Exeter in association with Southampton University and Oxford Brookes University.

A team of volunteers, led by the former lead shipwright on the project to create a reproduction of John Cabot’s Matthew, used replicas of ancient tools to create the craft – as well as firing clay cups to use in toasting its launch.

BBC History Magazine talked to project leader Robert Van De Noort about work to recreate the craft, and what it can tell us about Bronze Age culture. Click here to find out more.