Canoe

Dated: pre-1866

Culture: Amazon style

Origin: Napo River, Ecuador (South America)

Medium: Wood

Technique: Carved, Hollowed

Dimensions: Height = 35 cm; Length = 842 cm; Max. width = 57 cm

Inventory no.: MAM 16373

Dugout canoe made from the hollowed-out trunk of a tree. It has a flat bottom, slightly flared sides and a narrow, pointed bow and stern.

The Augustinian naturalist Agustín Jesús Barreiro, in his 1926 book "Historia de la Comisión Científica del Pacífico 1862-1866" (History of the Pacific Scientific Commission, 1862-1866), wrote: "By mid-July 1865, preparations were complete for the navigation of the Napo and Amazon rivers. They consisted .... of a curious squadron composed of two rafts, four large canoes and two small ones...The canoes were made of Cedrela brasiliensis and covered from near the stern to the centre by a circular, waterproof cloth made of palm leaves and called by the Indians pamacari".

This boat is one of the pieces collected by the Pacific Scientific Expedition that took place between 1862 and 1865.