Kanhavekanalen, Protected ancient canal in Samsø Municipality, Denmark.
Kanhavekanalen is an ancient canal on the Danish island of Samsø, connecting two bays with a length of about 1,640 feet (500 m) and a width of around 36 feet (11 m). The canal walls were lined with oak planks held in place by wooden stakes driven into the ground.
The canal was built around 726, making it one of the oldest structures in Denmark for which a construction date is known. It was dug during a period when communities in Scandinavia were expanding their use of waterways for trade and movement.
The canal shows how people in the Viking Age used the natural shape of the island to move boats from one side to the other without going around by sea. Visitors can still see the remains of the wooden reinforcements that lined the canal walls.
The site is on Samsø island and can be reached on foot along public paths that run beside the canal. Parking is available nearby, and the paths are generally easy to walk in most seasons.
The construction date of 726 was determined by reading the growth rings of the oak wood used in the canal, a method known as dendrochronology. This technique can date a piece of wood to a single year, which is why the figure is so precise.
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