Wednesday, July 25, 2007

Will the prehistoric boat make it?

This is the Abora III, a 41-foot boat made of reeds and wooden planks, on its way to Spain from NewYork. The ship's mission is to prove that early American and Mediterranean civilizations crossed the Atlantic long before Christopher Columbus did in 1492.

The reed ship was created by the Aymara Indians of Bolivia, a 2,000 year-old Andean culture that sails in boats similar to those used by ancient Egyptians.

The Captain of the boat, Dominque Gorlitz, believes trade between continents began as early as 14,000 years ago, so he's set sail across the North Atlantic to prove that trans-Atlantic voyages in both directions were possible long before the advanced civilizations in the Mediterranean Sea.

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