First kites

The earliest written account of kite flying comes from China, dating to c. 200 BCE. The passage describes a general of the Han Dynasty named Han Hsin flying a kite over the walls of a city that he was besieging in order to gauge how long a tunnel was needed to pass beneath the defences. Scholars have long thought that the first kites, made from bamboo and silk, were invented in China at some point in the 5th century BCE. “Flying birds” are attributed to the philosopher Mozi (c. 470–c. 391 BCE) and the engineer and carpenter Lu Ban (c.. 507–444 BCE), which then seem to have been adapted for military use (including measuring distances, signalling and distributing propaganda), before later being adopted for religious festivals and other celebratory events, and eventually purely for recreation.

However, there is another school of thought around the origin of kites, which could extend their history back significantly, championed by kite enthusiast and historian Wolfgang Bieck from Germany. In 1997, he visited the island of Muna, off Sulawesi in Indonesia, and was shown the Sugi Patani cave near the village of Liang Kabori by a local named La Hada; the year earlier, La Hada had identified what might be a depiction of a man flying a kite in rock art dating back perhaps to the Mesolithic, c. 9000–9500 BCE. This theoretically would be the oldest depiction of a kite. However these claims have been vehemently dismissed by some, citing doubt over the methodology behind dating the rock art and even whether the pictogram really does represent a kite.

For many centuries, kites have played an intrinsic part of the culture on Muna, Sulawesi and other nearby islands. On Muna, the kites are known as kaghati and are made from the large leaves of the kolope plant (Dioscorea hispida), a type of yam. In the past, they had great spiritual meaning, thought to serve as guides for the deceased to find their way to the gods in the sky. Kites also have long roots in a number of Pacific island communities. They historically have been used as fishing tools, dangling a lure into the water while floating above the surface, but also have been associated with folklore and religion. Traditionally many such kites were made from woven leaves (still made in Indonesia to this day) and so are very susceptible to decomposition, which would explain the dearth of archaeological remains of such kites.

The oldest surviving kite is thought to be an example of a "French pear-top" design dating back at least 250 years to 1773. It was discovered by a carpenter during renovations of a property in Leiden, Netherlands, in 1985 and is inscribed with the initials "RB and TB 1773". Extensive study by forensic coroner Thom Shanken of New York of the materials that the kite is made from (e.g., paper, wood, string, glue etc) indicates they all originate from the 18th century, and general wear/techniques to strengthen the structure also attest to its provenance. The kite is currently stored at the Lynn Woodworking Museum in Ashburton, Canterbury Region, New Zealand, and is due to be the star exhibit of the kite section of the upcoming Ashburton Aviation Museum.