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Prehistoric trade between Ecuador and West Mexico: a computer simulation of coastal voyages

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2015

Richard T. Callaghan
Richard T. Callaghan*
Affiliation:
Department of Archaeology, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta Canada T2N 1N4
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Extract

The author studies prehistoric sea travel along the coast between West Mexico and Ecuador using a computer simulation incorporating the performance characteristics of sailing rafts. The model predicts that while northward voyages may have taken as little as two months, southward voyages would have entailed at least five months and may have required a strategy that took the rafts offshore for as long as a month.

Keywords

West MexicoEcuadortradesailing raftsnavigation
Type
Method
Information
Antiquity , Volume 77 , Issue 298 , December 2003 , pp. 796 - 804
Copyright
Copyright © Antiquity Publications Ltd. 2003

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