Pesse canoe

The Pesse canoe is believed to be the world's oldest known boat. Carbon dating indicates that the boat was constructed during the early mesolithic period between 8040 BCE and 7510 BCE.^[1] It is currently housed in the Drents Museum in Assen, Netherlands.

Description

The boat is a dugout style canoe measuring 298 centimetres (117 in) long and 44 centimetres (17 in) wide.^[2] It was formed from a single scotch pine log.^[3] Marks are present in the cavity, likely formed from flint or antler tools.^[3]

History

The boat was discovered in 1955 during the construction of the Dutch A28 motorway. The route passes south of the village of Pesse in Hoogeveen through what was a peat bog. To construct the roadbed, the peat needed to be removed, and during excavation, a crane operator came across what he believed to be a tree trunk 2 metres (6 ft 7 in) below the surface. Local farmer Hendrik Wanders noticed the log and took it for further inspection. He gave the boat to the University of Groningen, where it was examined and freeze dried for preservation. It was later transferred to the Drents Museum, located near the discovery site.^[4]

Controversy

There have been doubts that the artifact was used as or was intended to be a boat. Some Danish experts questioned whether such a small boat would be seaworthy. In 2011, a replica canoe was constructed by archaeologist Jaap Beuker and successfully paddled by a canoeist.^[1] Others theorized that the find could be another object, especially an animal feeder.^[5] Beuker noted that animals were not kept by the people from the era the boat was made, so it could not have been a trough. The boat is also similar in construction to prehistoric canoes found in other countries.^[2]

References

1 2 "Oudste bootje ter wereld kon werkelijk varen". Leeuwarder Courant (in Dutch). ANP. 12 April 2001. Retrieved December 4, 2011.
1 2 Wierenga, Jan (12 April 2001). "Kano Van Pesse Kon Echt Varen". Nieuwsblad van het Noorden (in Dutch). Retrieved December 4, 2011.
1 2 Beuker, J.R. and M.J.L.Th. Niekus (1997). "De Kano Van Pesse - De Bijl Erin". De Nieuwe Drentse Volksalmanak (in Dutch). Retrieved December 4, 2011.
↑ Wanders, Rene. "Boot van Pesse" (in Dutch). Retrieved December 4, 2011.
↑ Niekus, Marcel J.Th. (4 April 1998). "Letter to the Editor". Nieuwsblad van het Noorden (in Dutch). Retrieved December 4, 2011.

External links

Link to image of the Pesse canoe

Prehistoric technology

Tools

Farming

Food processing

Hunting

Arrow Boomerang throwing stick Bow and arrow history Nets Spear Spear-thrower baton harpoon woomera Schöningen Spears

Projectile points	Arrowhead Bare Island Cascade Clovis Cresswell Cumberland Eden Folsom Lamoka Manis Site Plano Transverse arrowhead

Toolmaking

Other tools

Architecture

Ceremonial	Göbekli Tepe Kiva Standing stones megalith row Stonehenge Pyramid

Dwellings	Neolithic architecture British megalith architecture Nordic megalith architecture Burdei Cave Cliff dwelling Dugout Hut Quiggly hole Jacal Longhouse Mud brick Mehrgarh Neolithic long house Pit-house Pueblitos Pueblo Rock shelter Blombos Cave Abri de la Madeleine Sibudu Cave Stone roof Roundhouse Stilt house Alp pile dwellings Wattle and daub

Water management	Check dam Cistern Flush toilet Reservoir Water well

Other architecture	Archaeological features Broch Burnt mound fulacht fiadh Causewayed enclosure Tor enclosure Circular enclosure Goseck Cursus Henge Thornborough Oldest buildings Megalithic architectural elements Midden Timber circle Timber trackway Sweet Track

Arts and culture

Material goods	Baskets Beadwork Beds Chalcolithic Clothing/textiles timeline Cosmetics Glue Hides shoes Ötzi Jewelry amber use Mirrors Pottery Cardium Grooved ware Linear Jōmon Unstan ware Sewing needle Weaving Wine Winery wine press

Prehistoric art	Art of the Upper Paleolithic Art of the Middle Paleolithic Blombos Cave List of Stone Age art Bird stone Bradshaw rock paintings Cairn Carved Stone Balls Cave paintings painting pigment Cup and ring mark Geoglyph Golden hats Guardian stones Megalithic art Petroform Petroglyph Petrosomatoglyph Pictogram Rock art Stone carving Sculpture Statue menhir Stone circle list British Isles and Brittany Venus figurines

Burial	Burial mounds Bowl barrow Round barrow Mound Builders culture U.S. sites Chamber tomb Severn-Cotswold Cist Dartmoor kistvaens Clava cairn Court tomb Cremation Dolmen Great dolmen Funeral pyre Gallery grave transepted wedge-shaped Grave goods Jar burial Long barrow unchambered Grønsalen Megalithic tomb Mummy Passage grave Rectangular dolmen Ring cairn Simple dolmen Stone box grave Tor cairn Tumulus Unchambered long cairn

Other cultural	Astronomy sites lunar calendar Behavioral modernity Origin of language Prehistoric medicine trepanning Evolutionary musicology music archaeology Prehistoric music Alligator drum flutes Divje Babe flute gudi Prehistoric numerals Origin of religion Paleolithic religion Prehistoric religion Spiritual drug use Prehistoric warfare Symbols symbolism

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