Atlantic voyage seeks to prove ancient trade

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A reed ship set sail for Spain on Wednesday with scientists seeking to prove that American and Mediterranean civilizations crossed the Atlantic long before the famous voyage by Christopher Columbus in 1492.

The twin-hull Abora III was made by Bolivian Aymara Indians, who still sail in reed boats made in the same style as vessels that carried ancient Egyptians.

Despite the historical design of the boat, the team is using global positioning equipment and other modern technology to navigate. Still, the scientists have forgone some luxuries, including a toilet.

Dominique Gorlitz, the German biologist leading the expedition, theorizes that trading between the continents was possible as long as 14,000 years ago.

"We are trying to sail as a first across the North Atlantic on a prehistoric raft in order to prove that trans-Atlantic voyages in both directions were possible long before the advanced civilizations in the Mediterranean Sea," Gorlitz said just before the ship left New York City.

Sailing from Africa or Europe to the Americas is relatively easy because ships are helped by the winds, but traveling east is significantly more challenging.

Gorlitz bases his theory on scientific findings from 15 years ago that revealed traces of cocaine and nicotine in the mummy of Egyptian pharaoh Ramses II.

The drugs were native to the Americas and show that trade occurred between the continents long before currently believed, Gorlitz said.

"This is a little bit of a time machine to demonstrate that our ancestors were not as primitive as we are suggesting today," he said.

The Abora III is expected to land in Tenerife, one of Spain's Canary Islands off the northwest coast of Africa, in October.