In the territory nowadays known as Brazil, it was found several indigenous groups which used dugout canoes or simply dugout – boats made from a hollowed tree. Other names for this type of boat are logboat and monoxylon. They were used to transport people and small cargo, besides fishing in calm waters of rivers and lagoons.

The region of the Extremoz Lagoon, located around 15km from Natal was occupied by the Tupi , an indigenous people subdivided into several ethnicities, including the Potiguares. In 1997 and 2003, the fishermen Pedro Luiz da Silva found two dugout canoes in the bottom of the lagoon. They originated in the Potiguar culture and were then donated to the Câmara Cascudo Museum. 

The Carbon 14 dating has demonstrated that one of these canoes – parted lengthwise – is the oldest nautical artifact ever to have been recorded in Brazil, and was probably crafted between the end of the 13th century and the beginning of the 14th century. It is, therefore, a fundamental piece to know the nautical technology of the “first Brazilians”. 

The other canoe dates from the 17th century and reveals changes in this very technology (see drawings): the bow now has a more elaborate, hydrodynamic design, which facilitates moving in the water; the stern has a sculpted rising seat, which indicates that the oarsman used to work sitting, no longer standing up as before; the hull is reinforced by carved ribs which increase the loading capacity of the vessel. Such changes came probably from the contact with the nautical knowledge of European colonizers.