Genesis 9:20-28 - Canaan is Cursed — timeline jives with history
 20 Noah, a man of the soil, proceeded to plant a vineyard. 21 When he drank some of its wine, he became drunk and lay uncovered inside his tent. 22 Ham, the father of Canaan, saw his father naked and told his two brothers outside. 23 But Shem and Japheth took a garment and laid it across their shoulders; then they walked in backward and covered their father’s naked body. Their faces were turned the other way so that they would not see their father naked.
 24 When Noah awoke from his wine and found out what his youngest son had done to him, 25 he said,
   “Cursed be Canaan!
   The lowest of slaves
   will he be to his brothers.â€Â 26 He also said,
   “Praise be to the LORD, the God of Shem!
   May Canaan be the slave of Shem.
27 May God extend Japheth’s territory;
   may Japheth live in the tents of Shem,
   and may Canaan be the slave of Japheth.â€Â 28 After the flood Noah lived 350 years. 29 Noah lived a total of 950 years, and then he died.
Based only on the text, it seems that Ham looked upon his father’s indignity and then went out to gossip about it. In Judaism, gossip is one of the worst sins (I have a Jewish background). Shem and Japheth on the other hand, never even set their eyes upon their father’s indignity; they covered it. Ham shouldn’t have even gone inside without his father inviting him in; Shem and Japheth however protected their father against any further indignities. Noah would easily figure out what happened.
Ham is the father Canaan.
If Wikipedia is accurate in its Canaan article, then it would seem that Canaan’s culture dates back to at least 6,200 BC, fully 3,400 years before the flood.
Although the residents of ancient Ugarit (modern Ras Shamra in Syria) do not seem to have considered themselves Canaanite, and did not speak a Canaanite language (but one that was closely related, the Ugaritic language), archaeologists have considered the site, which was rediscovered in 1928, as quintessentially Canaanite. Much of the modern knowledge about the Canaanites stems from excavation in this area. Canaanite culture apparently developed in situ from the Circum-Arabian Nomadic Pastoral Complex, which in turn developed from a fusion of Harifian hunter gatherers with Pre-Pottery Neolithic B (PPNB) farming cultures, practicing animal domestication, during the 6,200 BC climatic crisis.
Interestingly, their identity as Canaanites had not yet developed, nor had their language… what they spoke was merely related. It was not until around 2 century BC when the Semitic Languages — which Canaan primarily spoke — developed. This may coincide well with my timeline… though I have not yet dated Babylon, the matching myths in Egypt and Sumer confirm it happened “shortly” after the flood (whatever “shortly” means), and then the people scattered over the lands. Civilizations are then known to have flourished in that region of the world (from Egypt to India) around 2,600 BC. It would seem therefore that Ham’s people were to eventually migrate to Canaan. They would adopt the people’s culture there, but supplant their language and identity. They would now be known as descendants of Canaan, who was Ham’s son. Once again, history’s timeline (a la carbon dating of pottery) works out with the Bible’s.
My guess is that Canaan was Ham’s first born, given Noah’s focus on him. Perhaps Canaan is actually the person who found Noah first and told his father, who then perpetuated the sin and told his brothers. Then, just as God held Adam accountable for Eve slipping him up, Noah held Ham accountable for being slipped up by Canaan… if Canaan did not know better, Ham should have.
Later in Genesis 10, Canaan is listed last in Ham’s list of sons, probably a sign of dishonor, as opposed to one of order. Perhaps Ham’s other sons were born later.