Thor Heyerdahl

Thor Heyerdahl NORWEGIAN ETHNOLOGIST WRITTEN BY: The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica Thor Heyerdahl, (born October 6, 1914, Larvik, Norway—died April 18, 2002, Colla Micheri, Italy), Norwegian ethnologist and adventurer who organized and led the famous Kon-Tiki (1947) and Ra (1969–70) transoceanic scientific expeditions. Both expeditions were intended to prove the possibility of ancient transoceanic contacts between distant civilizations and cultures. For the most part, Heyerdahl’s theories have not been accepted by anthropologists. Heyerdahl attended the University of Oslo, studying zoology and geography, but left before graduating to travel to Polynesia. It was while on Fatu Hiva in the Marquesas that he began to wonder how Pacific inhabitants had reached the islands. On April 28, 1947, Heyerdahl and a small crew sailed from Peru in the primitive raft Kon-Tiki. Their arrival in Polynesia three and a half months later demonstrated the possibility that the Polynesians may have originated in South America. The story of the voyage was related in Heyerdahl’s book Kon-Tiki (1950) and in a documentary motion picture of the same name. Kon-Tiki crossing the Pacific Ocean, 1947. National Library of Norway (blds_05860) In 1969 Heyerdahl and a small crew crossed the Atlantic Ocean from Morocco to within 600 miles (965 km) of Central America in a facsimile of an ancient Egyptian reed boat, the Ra, thus confirming the possibility that the pre-Columbian cultures of the Western Hemisphere might have been influenced by Egyptian civilization. Again, the voyage was described by Heyerdahl in The Ra Expeditions (1971) and was the subject of a documentary film. Late in 1977 Heyerdahl and an international crew embarked upon the Tigris expedition, a four-month, 4,000-mile (6,400-km) voyage in a craft made of reeds. The expedition began on the Tigris River in Iraq, traveling down the Persian Gulf, across the Arabian Sea to Pakistan, and ending in the Red Sea. The goal of the Tigris expedition was to establish the possibility that the ancient Sumerians might have used similar means to spread their culture through southwest Asia and the Arabian Peninsula. The voyage was recorded in Heyerdahl’s book The Tigris Expedition (1979) and in a documentary film. He subsequently led research expeditions to the Maldive Islands, to Easter Island, and to an archaeological site in Peru. The tallest standing Easter Island stone statue (about 37 feet [12 metres] high) after being excavated by Thor Heyerdahl (top right, leaning against statue); it was subsequently partially buried again. The tallest standing Easter Island stone statue (about 37 feet [12 metres] high) after being excavated by Thor Heyerdahl (top right, leaning against statue); it was subsequently partially buried again. Courtesy of Thor Heyerdahl; photograph, Walter Leonardi Get unlimited access to all of Britannica’s trusted content. Start Your Free Trial Today Heyerdahl’s other books include Aku-Aku: The Secret of Easter Island (1958); Fatu-Hiva: Back to Nature (1974); and Early Man and the Ocean: A Search for the Beginnings of Navigation and Seaborne Civilizations (1979), in which he synthesized the findings of earlier expeditions and provided additional evidence for his theory of cultural diffusion. The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica This article was most recently revised and updated by Amy Tikkanen, Corrections Manager. LEARN MORE in these related Britannica articles: raft …dramatically demonstrated by Norwegian scientist Thor Heyerdahl in 1947; to test his theory that the Pacific islands might have been settled by people from South America, he sailed a large balsa raft, the Kon-Tiki, from Peru to islands near Tahiti in a voyage of three and a half months. The… Ra …with which the Norwegian scientist-explorer Thor Heyerdahl crossed the Atlantic in 1969–70 to demonstrate the possibility of cultural contact between early peoples of Africa and Central and South America. The first was built in Egypt by boatbuilders Heyerdahl hired from Lake Chad, where reed boats are commonplace. Manned by seven… Kon-Tiki …in which the Norwegian scientist Thor Heyerdahl and five companions sailed in 1947 from the western coast of South America to the islands east of Tahiti. Heyerdahl was interested in demonstrating the possibility that ancient people from the Americas could have colonized Polynesia; to do so, he constructed Kon-Tiki (named… newsletter icon BORN October 6, 1914 Larvik, Norway DIED April 18, 2002 (aged 87) Colla Michari, Italy Ra SHIP Ra, either of two papyrus boats with which the Norwegian scientist-explorer Thor Heyerdahl crossed the Atlantic in 1969–70 to demonstrate the possibility of cultural contact between early peoples of Africa and Central and South America. The first was built in Egypt by boatbuilders Heyerdahl hired from Lake Chad, where reed boats are commonplace. Manned by seven men chosen from seven nations, “Ra” sailed from Safi, Mor., May 25, 1969, but defects in design and cargo loading, the result of inexperience, caused it slowly to founder in July after sailing 3,000 miles. With nearly the same crew, but with a boat (“Ra II”) built by Aymaro Indians of Lake Titicaca, Heyerdahl repeated his adventure in 1970, completing the crossing of the Atlantic from Safi to Barbados, West Indies, in 57 days (May 17 to July 12).