Cyclists spot wooden structure reemerging from river — and find 350-year-old boat

A group of cyclists riding along a river in Poland noticed a wooden structure emerging from the water. The worn-out planks turned out to be a 350-year-old boat.

The cyclists spotted the structure sticking out of the Vistula River near the village of Łomianki Dolne in July and alerted a local group of history enthusiasts, the Triglav Exploration and Search Group, the Mazovian Voivodeship Conservator of Monuments said in a Sept. 29 news release.

Fluctuating water levels made the exploration group’s follow-up searches difficult, but eventually they managed to get photos and GPS coordinates of the structure and sent these to archaeologists.

Robert Wyrostkiewicz, an archaeologist with Archaeological Emergency Service, identified the structure as a 350-year-old boat , he told Science in Poland in an Oct. 1 news release.

Photos show the 17th century wreck. The remnants include a part of the ship’s frame with planks extending from it at regular intervals.

Archaeologists also identified several large, traditionally forged nails sticking out of the ship, Archaeological Emergency Service said in a Facebook post. Close-up photos show these thick, mushroom-shaped nails.

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The exact age of the ship is unknown, but archaeologists dated it to before the Swedish Deluge, Science in Poland reported.

The Swedish Deluge began in 1655 when Sweden invaded Poland along a shared land border in modern-day Lithuania, according to an article from Poland’s Ministry of National Education. Swedish troops occupied and pillaged large swaths of Poland until local resistance forced them out in 1660.

Archaeologists suspect the historic boat may be a flat-bottomed barge used for transporting goods, Science in Poland reported.

Rising water levels have resubmerged the ship and prevented further analysis for the time being. Archaeologists hope to return to the site when water levels drop.

Łomianki Dolne is a riverside village on the northern outskirts of Warsaw.

Google Translate was used to translate the news release from Science in Poland, article from Poland’s Ministry of National Education and Facebook posts from the Mazovian Voivodeship Conservator of Monuments and Archaeological Emergency Service.

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