MIT demonstrates ancient use of rafts

Cambridge, Mass. -- U.S. scientists have discovered oceangoing sailing rafts plied the waters of the equatorial Pacific long before Europeans arrived in the Americas.

The details of how the ancient trading system worked more than 1,000 years ago were reconstructed largely through the efforts of former Massachusetts Institute of Technology undergraduate student Leslie Dewan, working with Professor Dorothy Hosler.

While Hosler's earlier work had shown a strong likelihood of contact between the Andean and Mexican civilizations, the new study confirmed maritime trade between the two regions could have taken place using balsa rafts.

"We showed from an engineering standpoint that this trip was feasible," Dewan said. Her analysis showed the ancient rafts likely had a cargo capacity of 10 tons to 30 tons -- about the same capacity as the barges on the Erie Canal.

Hosler said the analysis is the first paper of its kind to use modern engineering analysis to determine design parameters and constraints of an ancient watercraft and thus prove the feasibility of a particular kind of ancient trade in the New World.

The findings are to be reported in the Journal of Anthropological Research.

Copyright 2008 by United Press International.