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The Pesse canoe is the world's oldest-known boat. Carbon dating indicates that the boat was constructed during the early Mesolithic period between 8040 BC and 7510 BC. It is now in the Drents Museum in Assen, Netherlands.
It was a suitable vehicle for inhabitants who spent much of their time hunting and fishing in a watery landscape of marshes, creeks and lakes. This is confirmed by another discovery in the region of the great rivers Maas river, Rhine and Waal: graves, dating back to between 5500 and 5000 BC. Judging by the food remains near the grave, the group lived on the safe heights of river dunes while using their canoes to catch pike in the river, in addition to using flint arrows to shoot birds while gathering fruits, vegetables and nuts.James C. Kennedy (2017) A Concise History of the Netherlands Cambridge : Cambridge University Press
Some also theorized that the find could have been another object, like an animal feeder. Beuker noted that animals were not kept by the people from the boat's era (in fact, no domesticated farm or work animals were kept anywhere in Europe yet during the Mesolithic), so it could not have been a trough. The boat is also similar in construction to prehistoric canoes found in other countries.
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