How it began
The canoe was made between 8,500 and 8,000 years ago near what is now the village of Dufuna, in the Fune area of Yobe State in northeastern Nigeria, not far from the Komadugu Gana River. Its makers are unknown. It was cut from a single log. Peter Breunig, who led the excavation, said the skill of its construction showed a long development and that the canoe was not a new design.
How it works
The boat is a dugout 8.4 meters long, about 50 centimeters wide and 5 centimeters thick. The bow and stern were worked to points. Examination showed that the work was done with core-axe-like and pick-axe-like bifacial stone tools. It lay waterlogged on a sandy bed under layers of clay that kept oxygen out, which preserved the wood.
What lasted
The find links the site to a much larger Lake Chad: the area around Dufuna would once have been part of the lake's flood plain. Wikipedia describes the Dufuna canoe as the second-oldest known boat in the world. A paper on underwater cultural heritage in Nigeria states that the canoe, at over 8,000 years old, challenges assumptions about early African watercraft technology.
Where it stands today
A Fulani herdsman, Mallam Ya'u, struck the canoe at a depth of 4.5 meters while digging a well on May 4, 1987. The University of Maiduguri examined the site in 1989 and 1990, and a Nigerian and German team with fifty laborers excavated it over two weeks in 1994. The canoe is kept in Damaturu, the capital of Yobe State.
