BIGGEST - Archaeological Chiller Unit in the Country - Flag Fen Archaeology Park - Peterborough, Cambridgeshire
Posted by: 
SMacB
N 52° 34.468 W 000° 11.426
30U E 690380 N 5828642
"Must Farm and Flag Fen sit at the very edge of a lost world…now is the time to uncover their secrets!"
The Must Farm boats have now been brought to Flag Fen, where they are undergoing conservation by a team of world-class experts
Waymark Code: WMVKT4
Location: Eastern England, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 05/01/2017
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"The boats are an incredibly unique find and conserving them is vitally important.
For this purpose a large specialist cold storage facility was constructed to house the vessels at Flag Fen. The waterlogged boats will now be refrigerated to prevent them drying out too quickly. They will be treated over a two-year period with a specialist wax, polyethylene glycol, which will stabilise the timbers. The same technique was used on the ancient Seahenge timbers discovered in Norfolk, and on the Mary Rose.
During the conservation process, we hope to be able to answer many more questions about the Must Farm boats.
Further analysis may tell us more about how the boats were used. Carbon-14 tests will give us precise dating as to when they were made. Plus, why were the boats abandoned in the river? Were they just washed up at that point in the river, or were they sunk deliberately as part of some form of ritual or funeral ceremony?
Seeing the boats
By undertaking the treatment at Flag Fen, the boats will remain on view at set times and via special events.
Please be aware that the conservation process is currently taking place and you will be viewing the boats while they are being treated in a working environment.
The Bronze Age boats are available to view daily during Flag Fen’s normal opening hours.
Find out more about the boats and the Must Farm excavations in a new display alongside the conservation chiller unit.
Take a seat in a reconstructed log boat and listen to exclusive interviews with the Must Farm excavation specialists."
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There is a fee to enter the archaeology site. Check the website above for current entrance fees.