8,000 years ago, Zhejiang people were already rowing small boats

Reindeer are good at swimming, but water is not their natural habitat. Although humans, like reindeer, do not call water their home, we have a unique advantage, which is the technology of shipbuilding and navigation.

In the Neolithic Age, coastal settlements were mostly built on riverbanks or seaside terraces. The need for transportation, the desire for aquatic resources and the observation of wood floating on the water prompted people to invent the earliest water transportation tool - the canoe .

In 2002, a canoe wreckage was unearthed at the Kuahuqiao site in Xiaoshan, Zhejiang. The remaining length is 560 cm, the width is 52 cm, and it is 8,000-7,000 years old. The original object was a whole piece of Masson pine wood, which was first charred by fire and then processed with a stone adze. The canoe is relatively well preserved and is one of the earliest canoes in the world .

The method of making a canoe is to first remove the branches and leaves of the felled tree, leaving the main trunk. Then, wet mud is applied to the parts that need to be retained, and the parts that need to be dug out are burned with fire to turn them into relatively brittle carbon wood. Finally, a stone axe is used to chisel them. That is, " Kū wood is used to make a canoe, and Yǎn wood is used to make an oar ."

The oldest known depiction of a boat is a 6,000-year-old Bronze Age rock painting at Kvalsund in northern Norway, which shows two reindeer hunters and their prey in a small boat.

In 3100 BC , the ancient Egyptians began to put planks together to build hulls and use paddle boats to transport goods on the Nile River.

In 800 BC , in order to meet the needs of long-distance maritime trade, the Phoenicians invented bulky oarless sailing merchant ships and multi-layered oared warships with rams.

Around 700 AD , China invented the battened-girder square sail , chariot ship and watertight compartments , and gradually formed the three major ship types: Fu ship, Guang ship and Sha ship.

In 1782, Watt developed the reciprocating steam engine , which brought revolutionary changes to the shipbuilding industry due to its reliable operation, low coal consumption and greatly improved power. Ship development gradually entered the steam age .