A discovery of an ancient canoe (though 1400 doesn't seem ancient for some reason) in New Zealand surprised archeologists with its sophistication. When New Zealand was first visited by Europeans a few centuries later the indigenous peoples used canoes that were hallowed out of single trees. But this canoe was large, some 20 feet, showed signs of continual repair, but far more interesting it had ribs and was assembled from several parts.
That means of course that the islanders could build boats, not just cut a tree down and hollow it out (and just think for a moment how insanely hard that would be to do with stone tools), but actually build a boat out of many parts.
This proves once again that our ancestors were smarter than we give them credit for, the problem solved, just like we do.
Check out the turtle on the hull...
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