In the Dufuna Canoe, History is Being Made

Kazeem Adeleke

Originally published in thisdayonline.com

Since the Dufuna canoe was discovered by a local Fulani herdsman in
1987 archaeologists have been in a frenzy about the discovery.

The canoe which was excavated by a combined team of Nigerian and German
archeologists in 1994 at Dufuna,  has continued to
amaze them,  for the simple reason that it has changed the course of
history. Dufuna is a village along the Komodugu Gana
river in Fune local government area of Yobe State.

The boat  was dug out from a depth of five meters beneath the earth’s surface and
measured 8.4 meters in length, 0.5 meters wide and about 5 cm thick
varying at certain parts of the surface. The age of the boat has been
put at about 8000 years old (6000 BC), thus, becoming the oldest boat
in Africa and third oldest on earth.

The canoe belongs to the Late Stone Age period (Neolithic Age), when
humans ceased to roam the face of the earth hunting to become herdsmen
and cultivators and in the process becoming modifiers of their
environment, with complex social structures, in response to new problems
and ways of dealing with situations.

“The discovery of this boat is an important landmark in the history of
Nigeria in particular and Africa in general” said the late Dr. Omotoso Eluyemi

then the Director of the National Commission for for Museums and

Monuments. Besides proving that the Nigerian society was at par(if not earlier)
than that of Egypt, Mesopotamia, and Phoenicia, the discovery
also provides  early concrete evidence that Africans  have been

exploring technology to modify their environment and suit their needs.

But more importantly, “the canoe has shown that people in the Niger
area had a history of advanced technology and that they had mastered
the three major items of neolithic culture which included the
fashioning, standardization and utilization of tools according to set traditions.
“It gives concrete evidence of transportation by
seas as well as providing evidence of some form of long distance
commercial activities indicative of existing political and economic
structures.”

One great benefit of the discovery is that it has helped
archaeologists draw a relationship between what was happening in
Nigeria and else where in the world during that period. Indications
are that while Nigerians were making boats in Dufuna village in 6000
BC, the people of Catol Huyuk in Turkey were making pottery, textiles
etc,  and the Chinese were making painted pottery in the
Yang Shao region. But particularly of interest to archaeologists is
the proof that some form of advanced civilization existed in the Lake
Chad Basin around 6000 BC.”

Documentation has showed that based on the minimal available
technology during this period, the making of the Dufuna canoe must
have been a ponderous task which called for mastery, specialization
and ingenuity. A lot of work, man hours and skill must also have been
put into the production since no iron tools were in existence at the
time. It can be assumed that the canoe must have been made near a river to
eliminate the difficulty of transporting it over long distances.