Ancient maritime history

Maritime history dates back thousands of years. The first prehistoric boats are presumed to have been dugout canoes which were developed independently by various Stone Age populations around 10,000 years ago, with the oldest being the Pesse canoe. In ancient history, various vessels were used for coastal fishing and travel. Some evidence suggests that man may have crossed the sea as early as 700,000 years ago.

In ancient maritime history, evidence of maritime trade between civilizations dates back at least five millennia. Egyptians had trade routes through the Red Sea, importing spices from the "Land of Punt" and from Arabia, and the Sumerians traded with the Indus Valley civilization around the same time. By the time of Julius Caesar, several well-established combined land-sea trade routes depended upon water transport through the sea around the rough inland terrain features to its north. The search for the source of spices in these maritime trade routes later led to the Age of Exploration.