Con-Tici was an experimental project initiated by the Norwegian adventurer and ethnographer Thor Heyerdahl in the mid-1960s. This project was designed to test the theory that pre-Columbian South American civilizations could have had contact with Polynesia, a hypothesis Heyerdahl had previously explored with his famous Kon-Tiki expedition.
The Con-Tici project sought to replicate a Polynesian-style vessel using materials and techniques that would have been available to ancient South Americans. Unlike the Kon-Tiki, which used balsa wood, Con-Tici was to be constructed with reeds, inspired by the designs of ancient reed boats from Egypt and Mesopotamia. This choice was influenced by Heyerdahl's belief that such boats could have been used to cross the Pacific Ocean.
The construction of Con-Tici began in 1969 in Lake Titicaca, which spans the border between Peru and Bolivia. Here, Heyerdahl worked with local Aymara and Uru people, who had traditional knowledge of reed boat building. The vessel was named "Con-Tici" in reference to the Inca god Viracocha, also known as Kon-Tiki, who was believed to have come from the sea to teach humanity.
Unfortunately, the Con-Tici expedition never set sail across the Pacific as planned. The boat, built with reeds from Totora, proved too fragile to withstand the journey. Instead, it was used for short experiments on Lake Titicaca to study the navigability of such vessels. These experiments provided some insights into the potential of reed boats for long-distance sea travel but did not conclusively prove Heyerdahl's hypothesis.
While Con-Tici did not achieve its primary goal of transoceanic travel, it contributed to the understanding of ancient maritime technology and cultural exchange possibilities. The project highlighted the ingenuity of ancient boat-building techniques and sparked further research into pre-Columbian contacts across the Pacific.