It is the oldest boat ever discovered in China.

"The discovery of a boat this ancient is a rare event in the archaeological history of the world," said Jiang Leping, a researcher with the Zhejiang Institute of Cultural Relic Archaeology.

The United Kingdom discovered a wooden oar used 7,500 years ago, but archaeologists failed to find any remnants of a boat.

The dugout canoe, two meters long and 70 centimeters broad at its widest place with a 15-centimeter-deep hold, has two spiles, or wooden pegs, shaped like tree stumps on each side.

Mao Zhaoxi, a professor in the History Department of Zhejiang University, said the discovery of the canoe will assist research on the history of boat-building in the Neolithic Age.

According to Mao, a boat dating back about 5,000 years was excavated earlier this year in Suzhou, Jiangsu Province. The newly discovered canoe confirms that the country's boat-building history extends back an additional 2,500 years.

A four meter-wide ravine, once a silt-filled river, was also excavated near the site where the canoe was found.

The canoe excavation site, also known as the Kuahuqiao ruins, contains the most ancient neolithic cultural relics in Zhejiang. Over the past decade, numerous pieces of precious pottery, stoneware and jade articles dating back 7,000 to 8,000 years have been discovered there.

(eastday.com December 2, 2002)