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A balsa is a boat or ship built by various pre-Columbian South American civilizations constructed from woven reeds of the totora bulrush. They varied in size from small canoe sized personal fishing boats to large ships up to 30 metres long. They are still used on Lake Titicaca in Peru and Bolivia.

This term is also used by California archaeologists and anthropologists to refer to the woven and tied tule reed canoes used by the Native Californians in both pre-Columbian and historical eras.

See also

• Abora
• Kantuta Expeditions
• Kon-Tiki
• Reed boat
• Schoenoplectus acutus - common name tule

External links

• Tule Boat Photo Gallery
• Tule reed canoe Archived 2016-01-09 at the Wayback Machine, Ohlone, launched on Lake Merced, San Francisco
• Tule reed canoe, Modoc

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Balsas (reed boats).

Further reading

Swall, Corinne; Nuyens III, Louis (2003). Tule reed boat workbook : a voyage of adventure. Kentfield, CA: Mother Lode Musical Theatre, Watershed Preservation Network. Archived from the original on 2011-07-27. Retrieved 2010-03-19.

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