Is Thor Heyerdahl theory correct?
Is Thor Heyerdahl theory correct?
Fifty years ago, Thor Heyerdahl and the Kon-Tiki expedition appeared to prove that ancient humans could have sailed west from South American to colonise the Pacific islands. But DNA evidence now shows that his theory was wrong. The Polynesians then followed, and colonised New Zealand, Hawaii and Easter Island itself.
What is Thor Heyerdahl famous for?
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.
Is Kon-Tiki a true story?
“Kon-Tiki” is based on a true story that follows the incredible story of Norwegian explorer Thor Heyerdahl, who crossed the Pacific ocean in a balsa wood raft in 1947, together with five men, to prove that South Americans – specifically, Peruvians – back in pre-Colombian times could have crossed the sea and settled on …
What happened to the crew of Kon-Tiki?
Heyerdahl and five companions sailed the raft for 101 days over 6,900 km (4,300 miles) across the Pacific Ocean before smashing into a reef at Raroia in the Tuamotus on August 7, 1947. The crew made successful landfall and all returned safely.
What did Thor Heyerdahl propose?
Heyerdahl proposed that Tiki’s neolithic people colonised the then uninhabited Polynesian islands as far north as Hawaii, as far south as New Zealand, as far east as Easter Island, and as far west as Samoa and Tonga around 500 AD.
Who did Thor Heyerdahl travel with?
Archaeological expedition to the Galápagos Islands In 1953 he traveled with two archeologists to the Galápagos Islands. Shards of prehistoric South American pottery and an Incan flute were among their findings, the evidence on which Heyerdahl and the two Norwegian archeologists, Arne Skjølsvold and Erik K.
Who went with Thor Heyerdahl?
At the University of Oslo, he specialized in zoology, as well as geography, but before graduating left on his first expedition to Polynesia, in 1937-38. He went with his bride, Liv Coucheron Torp Heyerdahl, ”to spend a year living as Adam and Eve,” as he wrote, on Fatu Hiva in the Marquesas Islands.
Where is Thor Heyerdahl buried?
Heyerdahl Family Estate, Colla Micheri
Thor Heyerdahl/Place of burial
What was Thor Heyerdahl trying to prove?
When Thor Heyerdahl boarded the Kon-Tiki balsa raft in 1947, he hoped to finally prove that the Pacific islands could have been settled by people from South America, as opposed to the prevailing theory, which was that settlers came from the west. And long before Europeans first saw the white beaches of the islands.
Did Polynesians go to South America?
The idea that Americans reached Polynesia before the Polynesians got to America is by no means universally accepted. As archaeologist Carl Lipo told National Geographic, “Polynesians are long-distance voyagers. And while South American DNA is found in Polynesia, no Polynesian DNA is found in South America.
What Kon-Tiki has to do with currents?
The Kon-Tiki raft crossed the Pacific in mid-year of 1947 and was deflected southward by mysterious currents described by Heyerdahl. out all over the sea. If the current was swift, there was usually more swell, and the temperature of the water usually fell one degree.
Are Polynesians from Africa?
Polynesians form an ethnolinguistic group of closely related people who are native to Polynesia (islands in the Polynesian Triangle), an expansive region of Oceania in the Pacific Ocean.