15 July 2025 The Future is the Product of the Past

Czech experimental archaeologists successfully completed their 1-month voyage in the Aegean Sea using a replica of a prehistoric vessel

Radomír Tichý, an archeology professor at the University of Hradec Králové who is also the director of the Všestary Archeopark, and his team of experimental archaeologists using a replica prehistoric vessel, successfully completed its voyage across the Aegean Sea.

Hradec archeologists organized several maritime expeditions in wooden boats, starting in 1995. The third expedition, completed this summer, is called Monoxylon IV.

Their name comes from the Greek word “monoxylon,” (short version monoxyl), which means a simple vessel chiseled out from a single tree trunk. Monoxyles have been shown to be one of the oldest documented types of boats. Their use has been confirmed by archaeological findings since the Stone Age, and some natural ethnic groups still use them today.

The Monoxylon expeditions are maritime expeditions of Radomír Tichý and his team, which closely combine science in the form of experimental archaeology and the adventure of maritime navigation

Expedition organizer Radomír Tichý said the team aimed to shed light on the nature of agricultural colonization in the Mediterranean 9,000 years ago.

The team of 20 paddlers and a helmsman braved the open waters to complete a 500-kilometer route divided into 17 sections. Starting from the Greek island of Samos, located off the coast of Turkey, they navigated through various islands before reaching the Peloponnese peninsula in Greece. The crew made overnight stays on some of the islands.

The boat, an accurate replica of an 8,000-year-old Neolithic boat discovered in Lake Bracciano near Rome in 1994, weighs nearly three tons, is 11.5 meters in length, and is up to 1.2 meters in width.

The vessel was made last year from a single trunk of an uprooted oak tree that grew for about 300 years in a local forest in East Bohemia and is larger than the wooden boats used in earlier expeditions.

The expedition presented numerous challenges to its participants, including dealing with extreme heat. The most difficult leg of the journey was an 11-hour upwind crossing to the island of Amorgos, battling sweltering temperatures and scarce winds between Melos and the Peloponnese.

Over 100 hours of paddling, the team conquered the entire 500-kilometer route at an average speed of 5 kilometers per hour, showcasing their determination and endurance.

According to its organizers, the aim of the expeditions “is a practical verification of the abilities of simple wooden vessels – monoxyls, in the spreading of early agricultural populations through the Mediterranean.”

Related Articles

Largest Anglo-Saxon cemetery discovered in Britain illuminates ‘Dark Ages’

16 June 2022

16 June 2022

Archaeologists working on HS2 (the purpose-built high-speed railway line) have discovered a rich Anglo-Saxon cemetery in Wendover, Buckinghamshire, where almost...

Archaeologists opened an untouched Etruscan tomb

31 October 2023

31 October 2023

In Vulci Archaeological Park, central Italy, a 2,600-year-old intact double-chambered Etruscan tomb that was discovered in April and had remained...

Remains of a 5-year-old girl found under Real Alcázar in Spain

9 May 2021

9 May 2021

The body of a five-year-old fair-haired girl who lived in the late Middle Ages and was most likely of noble...

Archaeologists discovered on Tunisian coast three shipwrecks, one of which 2,000 years old

8 June 2023

8 June 2023

A team of archaeologists from eight countries—Algeria, Croatia, Egypt, France, Italy, Morocco, Spain, and Tunisia bordering the Mediterranean Sea has...

4,000-year-old cylinder seal found in Blaundos excavations

29 September 2022

29 September 2022

A 4,000-year-old cylinder seal was found during the excavations of the ancient city of Blaundus (or Blaundos, as it is...

New research reveals that Baltic amber was transported to the most westerly region of the continent more than 5,000 years ago

21 October 2023

21 October 2023

A team of scientists has identified the oldest pieces of Baltic amber ever found on the Iberian Peninsula, revealing that...

2,000 Bronze Statue Fragments Found in Ancient Scrap Yard

20 January 2025

20 January 2025

Archaeologists in Izmir, Turkey have made an extraordinary discovery in the ancient city of Metropolis: Approximately 2,000 bronze statue fragments...

The biblical narrative of Sodom may have been inspired by a cosmic meteorite that devastated an ancient city

21 September 2021

21 September 2021

The Bible account of Sodom’s destruction lies at the heart of classic “fire and brimstone” judgment day prophesies. But what...

1.5 tons of bronze coins found in east China

19 December 2022

19 December 2022

An ancient coin hoard containing 1.5 tonnes of coins from the Tang (618-907) and Song (960-1279) dynasties has been discovered...

Unique Two-Faced Gold Ring Unearthed in Poland

10 February 2024

10 February 2024

A gold ring with an unusual two-faced design, likely to be from the 11th or 12th century, has been discovered...

Ancient Chinese porcelain worth 1 million euros was stolen from the German museum, sparking anger

15 September 2023

15 September 2023

Nine pieces of historic Chinese porcelain worth around €1 million were stolen from the Museum for East Asian Art (Cologne)...

INAH Archaeologists recover the coyote-man of Tacámbaro

26 January 2022

26 January 2022

Archaeologists win the coyote-man trial that lasted 30 years in Mexico. The litigation regarding the coyote-man of Tacámbaro, an important...

Poseidon Temple in Greece Larger than Previously Assumed

27 January 2024

27 January 2024

New excavations at Kleidi-Samikon in Greece’s Western Peloponnese show that the temple, discovered in 2022, is more monumental than previously...

New Study Finds, 4,000-Year-Old Toolkit Unearthed Near Stonehenge Was Used to Work Gold

16 December 2022

16 December 2022

Archaeologists from the Universities of Leicester and Southampton in the United Kingdom recently published a study claiming that enigmatic artifacts...

Human remains found at prison sewer site are 4,500 years old in East Yorkshire

26 March 2024

26 March 2024

Archaeologists investigating the site of a new sewer to serve a jail being built at Full Sutton in East Yorkshire,...