# Balsa (ship)

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A **balsa** is a [boat](/source/Boat) or [ship](/source/Ship) built by various [pre-Columbian](/source/Pre-Columbian) [South American](/source/South_American) civilizations constructed from woven reeds of the [totora](/source/Totora_(plant)) 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](/source/Lake_Titicaca) in [Peru](/source/Peru) and [Bolivia](/source/Bolivia).

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

## See also

- [Abora](/source/Abora)
- [Kantuta Expeditions](/source/Kantuta_Expeditions)
- [Kon-Tiki](/source/Kon-Tiki)
- [Reed boat](/source/Reed_boat)
- *[Schoenoplectus acutus](/source/Schoenoplectus_acutus)* - common name *tule*

## External links

- [Tule Boat Photo Gallery](http://www.wpn.org/wpn/photogallery_tuleboat.htm)
- [Tule reed canoe](http://nativecc.com/Ohlonecanoe.html) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20160109163704/http://www.nativecc.com/Ohlonecanoe.html) 2016-01-09 at the Wayback Machine, [Ohlone](/source/Ohlone), launched on Lake Merced, San Francisco
- [Tule reed canoe](https://www.nps.gov/labe/historyculture/modochomeland.htm), [Modoc](/source/Modoc_people)

## Further reading

Swall, Corinne & Nuyens III, Louis (2003). [*Tule reed boat workbook : a voyage of adventure*](https://web.archive.org/web/20110727093238/http://www.motherlodemusical.org/tule.html). Kentfield, CA: Mother Lode Musical Theatre, Watershed Preservation Network. Archived from [the original](http://www.motherlodemusical.org/tule.html) on 2011-07-27. Retrieved 2010-03-19.

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Balsa (ship)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balsa_(ship)) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balsa_(ship)?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.