The history of the canoe① and kayak② has been traced③ back thousands of years to when natives used these craft to hunt， fish and travel. Canoes were used mainly by the native North and South American Indians along with the Polynesian islanders of the Pacific. They were propelled through the water by single. bladed paddles usually made from wood.
The earliest known archaeological④ evidence of a canoe was unearthed at the tomb⑤ of a Sumerian king near the Euphrates River. This relic is estimated to be around 6000 years old. The counterpart of the American Indian canoe is the kayak which was introduced by Eskimos many years ago. These people inhabited⑥ the land to the far north of the American continent and Greenland.
① canoen. 独木舟；皮划；划子
② kayakn. 爱斯基摩小船， 小艇
③ tracev. 追溯；查考
④ archaeologicaladj. 考古学的
⑤ tombn. 墓；墓碑
⑥ inhabitv. 居住于；栖息于；存在于；占据
皮划艇概述
划艇和皮艇的历史可以追溯到几千年以前，它们是古代的当地居民用来打猎、捕鱼和旅行的工具。划艇的前身为独木舟，其使用者主要是南美和北美洲的印第安人以及太平洋波利尼西亚岛上的居民，他们使用单面桨在水中划行，桨的材质通常为木质。
最早有关划艇的考古发现是在位于幼法拉底河附近的一个闪族国王的坟墓中被发掘的，该遗迹已有6000年左右的历史。而很久以前居住在美洲大陆和格林蓝岛最北部的爱斯基摩人所使用的兽皮船，也是与美洲印第安人的独木舟相类似的交通工具。