Indigenous Boats

In response to our recent post on the Mesopotamian quffa , Harvey Golden sent us these scans of old stereoscope photos in his possession. (...

" Coracle fishing boats at Mui Ne Bay , Vietnam " by  Ray Zhoul (Click any image to enlarge.) Vietnam is the only land where ...

Round boats are a fascination, and the quffa, a basket-built boat from Iraq, is among the most fascinating because of its well-documented...

"Coracle" from the Indian state of Kerala. Image by Joe Niemczura. (Click to enlarge.) We received this photo over a year a...

It's often said that the great diversity of small craft is a result of the extremely various uses required of boats and the extremely v...

The Donegal paddling curragh -- also known as the  Owey Island, and Rosses paddling curragh --  is one of the odder indigenous boat survi...

The Boyne Currach: From beneath the shadows of Newgrange , by Claidhgh (I understand it's pronounced "Clive") O' Gibn...

Reliable reader Wade Tarzia has added a useful comment to an earlier post about coracles , with a review of the 2012 book, The Boyne Curra...

It's quite possible that the coracle was the first true boat -- certainly, it was among the earliest, for it is among the quickest and e...