An Ethno-archaeological Investigation on the Early Seagoing Boats of Indigenous Yue Peoples in Southern China

史前时代百越先民的航海舟船是世界船史的一大问题。由于“南岛语族“与百越历史、文化密切的源流关系,“南岛语族“的“边架艇“和双体帆船对探索已经“消亡“的华南土著的远洋海船具有重要的启发。“边架艇“和双体帆船既克服了单体独木舟在风浪中容易横向摇曳、甚至翻覆的不稳定性,又具备独木舟轻便、构造整体性的优点,成为太平洋上稳定的远洋海船。贵州台江施洞苗族的“子母船“与太平洋“南岛语族“的“双边架艇独木舟“有高度的共性,应就是太平洋“南岛语族“之“边架艇独木舟“的逻辑原型,很可能就是在华南海域消失了二三千年的史前土著远洋舟船的“活化石“。华南史前与早期历史考古发现的多处“独木舟“也不乏“边架艇“独木舟船的线索,如浙江萧山跨湖桥8000年前独木舟、福建连江浦口、广东化州、广西钦州的汉代独木舟等,它们很可能也是原始的“边架艇“独木舟,是数千年前华南土著驰骋浩瀚太平洋的最早的海船遗存。The boat-building technology of the Prehistoric Yue peoples,the indigenous ethnic groups that occupy today's southeastern China,is one of the major issues of the World maritime history.Due to the intimate relationship between the Yue peoples and the pacific Austronesians,the Austronesian sailing boat technologies such as outrigger canoe and double canoe with different kinds of triangle sail will enlighten the research on the prehistoric seagoing boats of indigenous ethnic groups of South China.Outrigger canoe and double-body canoe not only solved the problem of side-way swinging,or even overturning of the single-body canoe,but also retains the light and coherent structural advantages of the canoe.They have become the stable sea-going boats.There appeared to be great similarities between the "Mother-Son Boat" of the Hmong ethnic group of Shidong in Guizhou province and the outrigger double-body canoe of the Austronesians.The former should be the logical prototype of the latter.It is very likely that the former is the living fissile of the sea-going boat of the prehistoric indigenous ethnic groups who have disappeared two to three thousand years ago.Archaeological excavations of the prehistoric South China have discovered other sites with evidence of the outrigger canoes,such as the eight-thousand-year canoe from Kuahuqiao of Zhejiang Province,and Han Dynasty canoes from Lianjiang Pukou of Fujian,Huazhou of Guangdong and Qinzhou of Guangxi,etc.They could have been the prototypical outrigger canoes and the earliest seagoing boats of the indigenous peoples of South China thousands of years ago