The Beginnings

Early Boats

Primitive peoples around the world first went down into the water not on boats but on whatever they could find and that can float too. Then, people started building craft which would carry them on water and at the same time keep them sheltered to some degree. The first boats were born.

Non-wood Boats

Wood would be for thousands of years the most popular material for shipbuilding. However, some early civilizations were not lucky enough to have it. In Mesopotamia, the first boats were built out of inflated skin. Several of these inflated skins were put together to make larger rafts, which were put to good use. Sometimes, clay pots were used. These coracles, as they are called, were extremely versatile. Due to their lightness, they could be carried while on land. Their modern descendants use other materials instead of skin, but the basic design remains the same.

Skin was also stretched over the boat as planking. This practice was very popular in the ancient world. Ancient inhabitants of Ireland even made ocean-going hide-covered ships called curraghs. Eskimos made hide-covered ships for whaling.

Reeds was another popular material for building boats. The Egyptians tied together bundles of reeds to make reed rafts that navigated the Nile. The reed boats had short lives, but were cheap, and are still used in some places. Some boats are large and can transport tons of cargo.

Wooden Boats

Wherever trees grew, people turned to wooden boats early. Logs were tied together to make wood rafts. This simple raft was improved and perfected by many peoples to include masts and sails and other sophisticated parts. Some of the Polynesians' rafts travelled to far away places across oceans.

Another type of wooden craft was the canoe. Some canoes were just random pieces of wood which happened to be in the right shape and were sealed by clay. Later, the canoes were shaped and structural supports added inside.

Dugout-boats were simply hollowed-out tree trunks which were covered by clay at the ends. Then, they were shaped to be better and sometimes outriggers, structures extending from the sides of boats to steady them.