Tentsmuir

NO42NE 59 c. 48 28

In September 1977 a paddle was found below high water mark on the sandy beach at Tentsmuir. It is undergoing conservation at Dundee Museum and Art Gallery under accession number DMAG 77-1050; several breaks and scratches have been infilled but only the dorsal surface could be examined on account of the fragility of the object. The timber has a fine straight grain and the shaft gives the impression of having been smoothed and polished through wear, but the object is roughly-worked and has become warped through drying. The visible scratch-marks are probably of recent date.

The paddle measures 1.2m in length over all, the blade measuring 0.53m and the shaft and handle together 0.67m respectively. The blade is roughly rectangular and has a slight 'peak' roughly along the centreline; it is slightly curved in both the lateral and longitudinal planes. The extreme end of the blade is tapered on the dorsal surface and rounded ventrally. An oval hole measuring 25mm by 18mm pierces the upper central portion of the blade at a point where it is 18mm thick; it has been suggested that this may have served to secure the paddle against the side of the boat when not in use.

The shoulders of the blade are unequally concave and vary between 20mm and 40mm in thickness to form the transition into the shaft which measures about 40mm in diameter but varies considerably in section, being rounded near the blade, oval centrally and roughly square near the handle. At the end of the shaft there is a broadened handle which measures about 70mm across; this is rounded at the top and straight down the sides.

It has been radiocarbon-dated to 1420 +/- 60 ad (GU-1076); this determination may be calibrated to about 1411 cal AD.

S McGrail 1987; R J C Mowat 1996, visited August 1987.