Ancient peoples around the world independently develop the dugout canoe
Dugout canoes appeared independently across the ancient world, with the oldest known example—the Dufuna canoe, unearthed in Nigeria—dating to around 8500 B.C.E. A pine-log vessel from the Netherlands traces to nearly the same era, and similar traditions arose among Indigenous peoples from the Amazon to Australia. Separated by oceans, humans kept arriving at the same quiet breakthrough.