When Genoese & Portuguese navigators discovered Cape Verde in AD 1456, it was uninhabited. They settled in 1462 and brought enslaved West Africans to the islands, making them a unique location to examine early slave-trade based colonialism. 🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy... 🏺 #Archaeology

Hy-Brasil: The mythical island that confounded mapmakers for centuries. theageofexploration.com/hy-brasil-th...

John Franklin's expedition to complete the exploration of the North-West Passage ended in disaster. All hands were lost, and the two ships, the Erebus and the Terror, disappeared in the ice. It would take 170 years to find again. theageofexploration.com/franklins-lo...

John Cabot: The Italian explorer who claimed North America for England theageofexploration.com/john-cabot-t...

The surprising link between Age of Discovery maritime routes and modern microplastics. theageofexploration.com/microplastic...

The Magellan-Elcano circumnavigation: the greatest and the most disastrous voyage in history. On 20 September 1519, around 260 men set out in 5 ships from the southern Spanish port of Sanlúcar de Barrameda. Only 18 men and 1 ship and would return. theageofexploration.com/magellan-and...

How did the people of Easter Island transport the moai statues? An interview with Professor Carl Lipo, who found the answer. theageofexploration.com/easter-islan...

What a ship!

Why is Rio de Janeiro named after a river when it's located in a bay? theageofexploration.com/on-new-years...

Talk about a bad Christmas... theageofexploration.com/on-christmas...

The Waldseemüller Map: How America got its name theageofexploration.com/1507-the-yea...

Not strictly 101, but you can use your imagination... theageofexploration.com/101-grisly-w...

Pringle Stokes, the first captain of Darwin's famous ship the Beagle, was both a hero and a tragic figure. theageofexploration.com/pringle-stok...

A useful view of the Pavel Pavel method for “walking” a moai. There are 2 ropes pulling at an angle on the base. The moai swivels from side to side, grinding on its base. Movement was slow as the pullers had to overcome friction to do this. This moai has eyes: an ahu moai carved to stand upright.

Did you know that as a young sailor, Christopher Columbus got caught in a naval battle just off Portugal between a Genoese trading mission and French pirates? Columbus grabbed a piece of wood and started swimming to the nearby coast. theageofexploration.com/when-columbu...

Dugout canoes in Great Lakes reveal signs of ancient bioengineering Analysis suggests the indigenous people that built these canoes may have deliberately 'wounded' trees in order to induce tyloses, balloon-like structures that block the movement of water and make the wood waterproof.

Definitely worth a visit to Greenwich. theageofexploration.com/london-natio...

Could this be the finest Age of Exploration film ever made? #Magellan #LavDiaz #GaelGarciaBernal theageofexploration.com/magellan-the...

Monument from the mountain Cerro Patlachique, south of Teotihuacan. It likely depicts a fire priest #FolkloreThursday Fire priests were religious and political authorities, indicating the sacred mountain was controlled by the Mesoamerican city-state. 🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy... 🏺 #Archaeology

Captain Flinders and Ann Chappelle: The man who named Australia built a secret cabin for his wife but then left her alone in England for nine years. She waited it out and they eventually had a baby daughter together.

Why is the East India Company a bit like Google with an army? Giles Milton has the answer. theageofexploration.com/giles-milton...

Before the Spanish came to the Americas, there was Pachacuti, the greatest Inca leader of all time. theageofexploration.com/pachacuti-th...

What do you do when you get your ship stuck on the Great Barrier Reef? A good bit of fothering, obviously. theageofexploration.com/shipwrecked-...

One of the most momentous days in global exploration. Bet it was a bit cold though.

This painting by George Stubbs is based on a kangaroo shot by the crew on Captain Cook's first voyage to Australia. It was the first time Europeans had ever seen this strange leaping animal. The name is actually the Aboriginal word for a specific type of black kangaroo.

25 years ago, there was not a single piano on Rapa Nui (Easter Island). To change this, the pianist Mahani Teamai and a group of friends set up a music school. Today, hundreds of local children learn a variety of musical instruments at the school, including the piano, the violin and the ukulele.

Why did Francis Drake hate the Spanish so much, exactly? Here is his origin story, featuring slavery, treachery and the Battle of San Juan de Ulúa. theageofexploration.com/francis-drak...

Ever wondered how the Rapa Nui people moved the moai statues? Archeologist Carl Lipo explains all in this exclusive interview. theageofexploration.com/easter-islan...