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From grasping usurping natural floating objects (such as people straddling a tree trunk or holding a gourd as a means of crossing a body of water) to waist-floats (perhaps several gourds tied together with ropes to increase the buoyancy of the mid-riff) to rafts (flat and wide buoyant objects tied together to increase the buoyancy – enough to bear the weight of a person whilst floating across the water). The emergence of rafts was a clear sign of a great technological leap forward for humanity which removed a traveller getting wet and actively creating proper water vehicles. Later, with the help of stone axes and fire (according to Friedrich Engels), a “boat” (as a “Canoe”) was made from a whole piece of wood. An example of this is pictured above which stems from the 7,000-year-old (c. 5000 BCE) Neolithic ruins discovered at Hemudu, Yuyao, situated in Zhejiang.