Photo: Monoxylon III
A team of experts from the Centre of Experimental Archaeology in North Bohemia is constructing a copy of a real Neolithic boat. The vessel will then be used to test out a hypothetical sea trading route from that era between Greece and modern day Turkey. The team says that not just the journey, but the construction process itself, makes it possible to gain a greater understanding of Europe’s Neolithic ancestors.
Monoxylon IV, as the expedition is called, will cover a 470 to 500 kilometre route stretching from Samos, off the Turkish coast, past the Aegean island of Milos, all the way to the Peloponnese.
The leader of the project is Dr Radomír Tichý from the Department of Archaeology at the University of Hradec Kralové.
“Archaeologists have found settlements there that were richly supplied with obsidian, so it seems clear that a sea route did exist there.
“Our expedition will test the hypothetical route that has been proposed – namely from Asia Minor to the island of Milos. It will then continue from Milos to the Greek mainland.”
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