This is a very rare logboat, dug from the Tay estuary. It’s made from a hollowed out tree trunk. Incredibly, this important archeological artifact was created over 1,500 years ago. Logboats like this were used to transport people and materials. You might think of it like an early ferry. This boat could carry up to twelve people. It was used alongside other types of boats – like coracles, and other light craft – that were used for fishing and hunting. This logboat was discovered embedded in a sandbank in July 1895. At first it was thought to be a tree trunk, interfering with salmon nets. Once it was identified as a boat and an important early artifact, it was moved as carefully as possible. Radio carbon dating suggests that the boat was created in 485. Because it was carved from a single oak tree, the log boat gives us an idea of what the landscape would have looked like, with large trees growing close to the river. At the time the boat was discovered, tool marks were visible, and it was noted that the prow, was carved in the shape of an animal head. The large photographic landscape behind the log boat gives you an idea of how the area looked, at the time the boat was discovered in the 19th century. It’s quite different to the wooded landscape that existed when the boat was abandoned, many years earlier. Now, please turn around and look at the case with the model round house and Dundee Law behind you.