6-meter-long, 60-centimeter-wide wooden canoe was covered by white cotton, lying in the centre of a 500-square-meter hall at the Xiaoshan Museum, situated by Xianghu Lake. A worker was spraying medicinal liquid onto the canoe, and the strong smell spread throughout the building.

Dating back at least 7,600 years and believed to be the oldest boat in the world, the canoe was excavated last October in the Kuahuqiao Ruins, in the Xiaoshan District of Hangzhou, capital city of east China's Zhejiang Province. The area is believed to be the location of the earliest-known prehistoric culture in the province.

"What worries me most now is the protection of the canoe," said Shi Jianong, curator of Xiaoshan Museum. "The high temperatures of this summer have had a relatively big impact on it," Shi said.

Originally slightly yellow when excavated half a year ago, the canoe has now turned totally black.

In January, a number of well-known artefact protection experts held a special seminar there. Many experts suggested to take out the canoe, remove water from it and then put it back. However, after they made an on-site inspection, their attitude changed. They decided that the canoe should not be moved and in fact be protected on the spot.

"All their previous protection schemes were cancelled," said Shi.

The protection work on the spot is tough, because it is closely related to the local environment, as well as the hydrological and environmental conditions in the area. So far, Xiaoshan officials have invited representatives from Hubei Museum, an authority on the protection of wooden artifacts, to work out a detailed protection plan.

To protect the canoe from the sunshine, rain and wind, a large building with a blue cover and white walls has just been completed over it. A thermometer was placed right besides the canoe to monitor any temperature changes in the hall. Also, the medicinal liquid sprayed by the worker is intended to prevent the wood from cracking or warping.

Shi believed that protecting the canoe on the spot would provide valuable chances for other experts and later generations to carry out further research.

"Now we only have a limited knowledge about it," he said.

In front of the canoe there were several stakes, believed to be hammered into the ground by ancient people and used to fix the canoes berthed at the lakeside.

Beside the canoe there were many short oars, also covered by white cotton soaked with medicinal liquid.

"It is not likely that there would be another canoe lying under the ground, because the site we have excavated is not the one buried intact, but one that is incomplete and partially destroyed," said Shi.

(China Daily September 30, 2003)