Inventions & Discoveries · Transport and navigation

Dugout canoe

8040–7510 BCE · Also known as logboat, monoxylon, Einbaum

A dugout canoe, or logboat, is a boat made from a hollowed-out tree, and the oldest boat type archaeologists have found. Before metal tools the log was hollowed with controlled fires and the burnt wood removed with an adze. The Pesse canoe from the Netherlands, carbon dated to between 8040 and 7510 BCE, is believed to be the world's oldest boat; the Dufuna canoe of Nigeria and a dugout from Kuahuqiao in Zhejiang, China, are both about 8,000 years old. Dugouts could be fitted with outriggers for rougher water, and they are still paddled and punted on lakes and rivers in Africa and Asia.

Dugout canoe
Image: Rumuli · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

On the inventions tree

First known
8040–7510 BCE
Where
Pesse, Netherlands

Also arose independentlyDufuna, Nigeria (c. 8,000 years ago); Kuahuqiao, Zhejiang, China (c. 8,000 years ago)

NoteDugouts may be the oldest boats found only because their massive wood survives better than lighter craft such as bark canoes.

Built onStone tools3.3 million years agoControl of firec. 1 million years ago

See it on the inventions tree →

Mentioned in 7 profiles

BarotselandMilitaryPowhatan ConfederacySocioeconomyDong Son cultureSociety, SummaryMapucheArtsTaínoArts, SummaryAboriginal AustraliansExchangeKalinagoSociety, Summary

See also

Cite this entry
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Dugout canoe. In The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/dugout-canoe
MLA
“Dugout canoe.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/dugout-canoe. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Dugout canoe.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/dugout-canoe.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Dugout canoe’, The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/dugout-canoe (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random entry ↻