Stiof MacAmhalghaidh wrote:
> Stuart,
>
> <SNIP>
>
> Was this oak from the bog? If so it was probably like cutting iron. I've
> re-ordered the book from the library so I should have hold of it again
> before
> the end of April. In the meantime, can you say how it was cut - in
> terms of the
> angle of the cuts. I'm assuming it was used for a bog trackway, so
> there was no
> need to trim the log ends and it should reveal a lot about how the
> tree was
> felled. If it was an oak, it should have been about 50-60 years old
> when felled,
> going by the diameter, so it was still relatively young. Were there
> any logs
> larger than this? I can't see that larger logs would have been of much use
> unless used for a dugout or for a pretty huge piece of construction,
> and I don't
> remember either being mentioned in the report.
>
> Stiof

Stiof,

It was actually lying beside a trackway, not an integral part of it.
There was a hollowed out log utilised as a /Fulacht fiadh /trough. It
had been heavily truncated by a Bord na Mona drain-cutter to the extent
that the hollowed-out bit was not as evident as it might have been, and
when we got someone who knows about these things to look at it, he said
it was not likely to be a canoe because he felt it did not have adequate
capacity for buoyancy. But guess what? We got two or three days of heavy
rain in October, and the darn thing was floating about in the cutting.
The water was too deep to attempt to get in and paddle about, and it may
have sunk with a persons weight, but for a couple of days it tantalised
us with its canoe-like ability. I have a photo of it if you're
interested? Not floating though, sadly.

Back to the big log, yes it was bog oak (or at least it had become bog
oak) and it was like slicing Iron! If I recall, the reason for slicing
the end off was to recover the tool marks for later analysis, and also
to get an age and date from it. I don't recall the angle of the cuts,
but then I think it may have been trimmed once felled.

I'll email the Director I worked for at the time and see if he has any
better memory than I do, which I'm sure he does as I have Alzheimer's I
think. Or do I? I forget. Never mind.

Stuart

====================
Stuart D. Elder, MIAI
Licensed Archaeologist
====================