Robinson Crusoe, found at last

Three hundred years after Alexander Selkirk, the castaway who was the inspiration for the fictional Robinson Crusoe, was marooned on an island off the coast of Chile, archaeologists believe that they have unearthed evidence of his campsite.

Daniel Defoe's Crusoe spent years on a tropical island, surviving by hunting and foraging, scouring the azure horizon for any sign of a ship to rescue him.

Selkirk, a sailor born in Fife in 1676, was stranded in 1704 on the island of Más a Tierra -- now renamed Robinson Crusoe Island -- part of the Juan Fernández group 470 miles off Chile, after an argument with the master over the seaworthiness of the ship Cinque Ports.

Posted by David on November 1, 2008 11:08 PM