Papers by Boel K Bengtsson
IBERIAN COPPER PRODUCTION AND ITS IMPACT ON THE BRONZE AGE WORLD SYSTEM, 2026
New studies of West Iberian boat iconography have revealed striking similarities with Scandinavia... more New studies of West Iberian boat iconography have revealed striking similarities with Scandinavian material dating to between c. 1300/1200 BC and c. 500 BC. In both regions we find nautical rock art at strategic locations overlooking coastal and riverine thoroughfares where boats would have been used. When compared to Scandinavian boat iconography in particular four Iberian rock art sites stand out, potentially indicating direct contact between the two regions. In addition, this iconographic boat material suggest the existence of what was likely plank-built vessels in both regions, oars as a method of propulsion as well as widespread use of sail along the European Atlantic façade.
Up to 40 % of all copper imported into Scandinavia between 1700-1400 appear to have been sourced from the Great Orme mine on the British Isles. When this source dried up around 1400 BC, might this have lead to a search for convenient copper sources from further afield? Could the similarities in nautical iconography between Scandinavia and West Iberia signify that previously established sea routes between Scandinavia and the British Isles had now extended to Iberia? The provisional date of when the Scandinavian type iconography first appear within the West Iberian rock art would fit such as scenario.
Using a new ocean voyage tool which combines boat performance data of a Scandinavian Bronze Age type boat with agent based simulations within decades worth of modern environmental data, we here present results that provide an insight into seasonality, likely routes and duration of any such direct voyages. The application also makes it possible and evaluate the difference sail would have made to such voyages.
Up to 40 % of all copper imported into Scandinavia between 1700-1400 appear to have been sourced from the Great Orme mine on the British Isles. When this source dried up around 1400 BC, might this have lead to a search for convenient copper sources from further afield? Could the similarities in nautical iconography between Scandinavia and West Iberia signify that previously established sea routes between Scandinavia and the British Isles had now extended to Iberia? The provisional date of when the Scandinavian type iconography first appear within the West Iberian rock art would fit such as scenario.
Using a new ocean voyage tool which combines boat performance data of a Scandinavian Bronze Age type boat with agent based simulations within decades worth of modern environmental data, we here present results that provide an insight into seasonality, likely routes and duration of any such direct voyages. The application also makes it possible and evaluate the difference sail would have made to such voyages.
PLOS One, 2025
The Hjortspring boat is the only intact example of a prehistoric sewn plank boat ever found in Sc... more The Hjortspring boat is the only intact example of a prehistoric sewn plank boat ever found in Scandinavia. Built from lime wood planks lashed together with cordage, the boat represents the maritime technology used by some of Northern Europe's earliest seafarers. This article reports new analysis of the cordage and caulking material used in the construction of the Hjortspring boat. We provide the first ever direct date for the
PLOS ONE, 2025
The Hjortspring boat is the only intact example of a prehistoric sewn plank boat ever found in Sc... more The Hjortspring boat is the only intact example of a prehistoric sewn plank boat ever found in Scandinavia. Built from lime wood planks lashed together with cordage, the boat represents the maritime technology used by some of Northern Europe's earliest seafarers. This article reports new analysis of the cordage and caulking material used in the construction of the Hjortspring boat. We provide the first ever direct date for the
When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding ins... more When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given e.g. AUTHOR (year of submission) "Full thesis title",
Praehistorische Zeitschrift , 2024
The boat stands out as a prominent symbol of
the Nordic Bronze Age, depicted at thousands of roc... more The boat stands out as a prominent symbol of
the Nordic Bronze Age, depicted at thousands of rock art
sites and on several metal objects throughout Scandinavia.
Paradoxically, direct evidence of these boats is scarce, and
the locations where boats were constructed remain largely
elusive. In this paper, we put forth the proposition that
many ostensibly mislabelled cooking pits along the coast
might actually be remnants of steaming pits employed in
boat building. By drawing on analogous parallels from ethnography and examining three Bronze Age cases from the
western coast of Sweden and Eastern Norway, we hypothesize that sizable pits near the sea, characterized by firecracked stones and charcoal, are indicative of prehistoric boat building sites. Additionally, these results align with a broader objective of our paper, aiming to challenge the
prevailing terrestrial narrative in archaeology, which has
impeded the interpretive potential for comprehending maritime societies throughout prehistory.
the Nordic Bronze Age, depicted at thousands of rock art
sites and on several metal objects throughout Scandinavia.
Paradoxically, direct evidence of these boats is scarce, and
the locations where boats were constructed remain largely
elusive. In this paper, we put forth the proposition that
many ostensibly mislabelled cooking pits along the coast
might actually be remnants of steaming pits employed in
boat building. By drawing on analogous parallels from ethnography and examining three Bronze Age cases from the
western coast of Sweden and Eastern Norway, we hypothesize that sizable pits near the sea, characterized by firecracked stones and charcoal, are indicative of prehistoric boat building sites. Additionally, these results align with a broader objective of our paper, aiming to challenge the
prevailing terrestrial narrative in archaeology, which has
impeded the interpretive potential for comprehending maritime societies throughout prehistory.
Norwegian Archaeological Review, 2024
This paper argues that the Nordic boatbuilding tradition and the use of sail in Scandinavia can b... more This paper argues that the Nordic boatbuilding tradition and the use of sail in Scandinavia can be traced back to the Early Bronze Age when it developed in response to emerging chiefdoms and an associated need for long-distance trade in bronze metals. The southern Scandinavian boat imagery dated to the Bronze Age (BA) depicts different types of boats and means of propulsion, including large vessels and the use of sail. This paper focuses on crewlines on such imagery as indicative of boat length in relation to both the 350 BC Hjortspring boat, a BA type boat and the width-to-length ratio of BA ship-settings. This comparison suggests the BA boat imagery and ship-settings depict the same type of plank-built vessels and that the BA ship-settings are likely to represent 'real' vessels. Centrally positioned post holes in four of these ship-settings are therefore likely to represent masts, providing a direct link with mast-like features also present in the rock art boat imagery. Available BA boatbuilding technologies, based on analysis of the Hjortspring boat, and other indirect evidence of BA boatbuilding technologies, suggests that large, sailed vessels most likely existed, propelled in combination with mainly paddling.
Praehistorische Zeitschrift, 2024
The boat stands out as a prominent symbol of the Nordic Bronze Age, depicted at thousands of rock... more The boat stands out as a prominent symbol of the Nordic Bronze Age, depicted at thousands of rock art sites and on several metal objects throughout Scandinavia. Paradoxically, direct evidence of these boats is scarce, and the locations where boats were constructed remain largely elusive. In this paper, we put forth the proposition that many ostensibly mislabelled cooking pits along the coast might actually be remnants of steaming pits employed in boat building. By drawing on analogous parallels from ethnography and examining three Bronze Age cases from the western coast of Sweden and Eastern Norway, we hypothesize that sizable pits near the sea, characterized by fire-cracked stones and charcoal, are indicative of prehistoric boat building sites. Additionally, these results align with a broader objective of our paper, aiming to challenge the prevailing terrestrial narrative in archaeology, which has impeded the interpretive potential for comprehending maritime societies throughout prehistory.
Master's Dissertation, Faculty of Arts, Department of Archaeology, University of Southampton, 2003
Master's dissertation exploring a maritime approach to the Bronze Age rock-carvings in southern S... more Master's dissertation exploring a maritime approach to the Bronze Age rock-carvings in southern Scandinavia. Rock art panels featuring a combination of boats and tools such as axes have been studied in relation to their location in the paleogeographic location in three different areas including Tanum in Bohuslän, Simrishamn in Scanina and along the coast of eastern Blekinge. The study suggests a relationship between these types of image combinations in the rock art and the use and perhaps even building of boats in Bronze Age Scandinavia. It also suggests some sort of rigging devices existed for the use of sail, perhaps first experimented along the sheltered waterways of Bohuslän.
C- Uppsats, Göteborgs Universitet, Arkeologiska Institutionen, 1997
There are about 3000 stone-enclosures along the Swedish coasts, situated on remote islands within... more There are about 3000 stone-enclosures along the Swedish coasts, situated on remote islands within the archipelagos where they are connected to marine activities such as fishing and hunting for seal or birds. The c. 2000 stone-enclosures found on the Swedish west coast are generally connected with the herring fishing periods of the 16th, 18th and 19th centuries. This dissertation focuses on trying to find ways to identify the 16th c. stone-enclosure using morphological features and location including height over the sea level. Information from the Swedish Sites and Monuments register is compared to historical records of settlements, fishing laws, customs stations, and herring fishing practices. Unpublished C-uppsats
Books by Boel K Bengtsson
Presenting Counterpoints to the Dominant Terrestrial Narrative of European Prehistory, 2025
This paper asks questions of what types of boats were used in prehistory along the Atlantic Europ... more This paper asks questions of what types of boats were used in prehistory along the Atlantic European façade and explores ways by which gaps in our current state of knowledge of these vessels can be filled. Regular seafaring in open water and along coasts where safe harbours are few and far in-between, place certain demands on boats, their maintenance and the skills of their crew. Recent research into trade and the migrations of peoples and ideas now indicate that such regular seafaring goes back much further in time than the current record of prehistoric boats within the region would suggest. Therefore, the existing fragmented evidence for vessels and their means of propulsion requires a new approach, whereby we examine what basic knowledge they convey of what would have been needed to make boats more suitable for long distance seafaring, while contemplating the possibility that certain forms of boat technology and maritime expertise might have endured over a long time or lost and regained. In this process, indirect evidence for boats, boatbuilding technologies and seafaring needs to be considered. Scandinavian rock art, for example, corroborates local boatbuilding technology, the use of paddles and steering oars found within the archaeological material, but also suggests the use of not yet archaeologically verified means of propulsion such as sail. Finally, this paper proposes a more hands-on approach in building reconstructions for the development of consistent categorisation of different types of vessels for use in different environments.
Conference Presentations by Boel K Bengtsson
BERIAN COPPER PRODUCTION AND ITS IMPACT ON THE BRONZE AGE WORLD SYSTEM, 2026
New studies of West Iberian boat iconography have revealed striking similarities with Scandinavia... more New studies of West Iberian boat iconography have revealed striking similarities with Scandinavian material dating to between c. 1300/1200 BC and c. 500 BC. In both regions we find nautical rock art at strategic locations overlooking coastal and riverine thoroughfares where boats would have been used. When compared to Scandinavian boat iconography in particular four Iberian rock art sites stand out, potentially indicating direct contact between the two regions. In addition, this iconographic boat material suggests the existence of what was likely plank-built vessels in both regions, oars as a method of propulsion as well as widespread use of sail along the European Atlantic façade.
Up to 40 % of all copper imported into Scandinavia between 1700-1400 appear to have been sourced from the Great Orme mine on the British Isles. When this source dried up around 1400 BC, might this have lead to a search for convenient copper sources from further afield? Could the similarities in nautical iconography between Scandinavia and West Iberia signify that previously established sea routes between Scandinavia and the British Isles had now extended to Iberia? The provisional date of when the Scandinavian type iconography first appear within the West Iberian rock art would fit such as scenario.
Using a new ocean voyage tool which combines boat performance data of a Scandinavian Bronze Age type boat with agent-based simulations within decades worth of modern environmental data, we here present results that provide an insight into seasonality, likely routes and duration of any such direct voyages. The application also makes it possible and evaluate the difference sail would have made to such voyages.
Up to 40 % of all copper imported into Scandinavia between 1700-1400 appear to have been sourced from the Great Orme mine on the British Isles. When this source dried up around 1400 BC, might this have lead to a search for convenient copper sources from further afield? Could the similarities in nautical iconography between Scandinavia and West Iberia signify that previously established sea routes between Scandinavia and the British Isles had now extended to Iberia? The provisional date of when the Scandinavian type iconography first appear within the West Iberian rock art would fit such as scenario.
Using a new ocean voyage tool which combines boat performance data of a Scandinavian Bronze Age type boat with agent-based simulations within decades worth of modern environmental data, we here present results that provide an insight into seasonality, likely routes and duration of any such direct voyages. The application also makes it possible and evaluate the difference sail would have made to such voyages.