Seafaring Peoples Who Connected the Ancient World
Long before the Age of Exploration, ancient peoples mastered ocean travel. The Phoenicians established trade networks across the Mediterranean and may have circumnavigated Africa. Polynesians navigated thousands of miles across the Pacific using only stars, currents, and bird patterns. The Minoans built the first major maritime civilization in Europe. These seafarers connected distant cultures, spreading ideas, goods, and genes across vast distances.