What voyage did Thor Heyerdahl make 1947?

Norwegian explorer completes 4,300-mile ocean voyage in wooden raft. On August 7, 1947, Kon-Tiki, a balsa wood raft captained by Norwegian anthropologist Thor Heyerdahl, completes a 4,300-mile, 101-day journey from Peru to Raroia in the Tuamotu Archipelago, near Tahiti.

What did Thor Heyerdahl’s expedition prove?

In The Voyage of the `Kon-Tiki’, the Norwegian archaeologist Thor Heyerdahl famously proved that early humans could have used the trade winds to sail from Peru to Easter Island – and thus be its first settlers.

Who did Thor Heyerdahl travel with?

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.

What was Kon-Tiki expedition?

The Kon-Tiki expedition was a 1947 journey by raft across the Pacific Ocean from South America to the Polynesian islands, led by Norwegian explorer and writer Thor Heyerdahl. The raft was named Kon-Tiki after the Inca god Viracocha, for whom “Kon-Tiki” was said to be an old name.

Who went on the Kon-Tiki expedition?

The crew of the Kon-Tiki raft, from left: Knut Haugland, Bengt Danielsson, Thor Heyerdahl, Erik Hesselberg, Torstein Raaby and Herman Watzinger. Thor’s criteria in choosing crew members were that they all possess unwavering courage as well as one unique qualification, indispensable for the expedition.

Why was the Kon-Tiki expedition important?

After 101 days at sea the Kon-Tiki ran aground on a coral reef by the Raroia atoll in Polynesia. The expedition had been an unconditional success, and Thor Heyerdahl and his crew had demonstrated that South American peoples could in fact have journeyed to the islands of the South Pacific by balsa raft.

What was the result of Thor Heyerdahl’s first theory?

He proposes that Polynesians travelled with the wind along the North Pacific current. These migrants then arrived in British Columbia. Heyerdahl called contemporary tribes of British Columbia, such as the Tlingit and Haida, descendants of these migrants.

Where did Thor Heyerdahl sail?

The story of this voyage is recorded in the book The Ra Expeditions (1971) and in a documentary film. In 1977, Heyerdahl led the Tigris expedition, in which he navigated a craft made of reeds down the Tigris River in Iraq to the Persian Gulf, across the Arabian Sea to Pakistan, and finally to the Red Sea.

Why is Thor Heyerdahl important?

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.

What happened to the crew of the Kon-Tiki?

The crew made successful landfall and all returned safely. Thor Heyerdahl’s book about his experience became a bestseller. It was published in Norwegian in 1948 as The Kon-Tiki Expedition: By Raft Across the South Seas, later reprinted as Kon-Tiki: Across the Pacific in a Raft.

How much of Kon-Tiki is true?

“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 was Thor Heyerdahl’s boat called?

Kon-Tiki
Christened Kon-Tiki, after the Inca god, Heyerdahl and a small crew left Callao, Peru, in April 1947, traversed some 5,000 miles of ocean, and arrived in Polynesia after 101 days.

Which 20th century explorer sailed in a raft called the Kon-Tiki from Peru to Polynesia 1947?

writer Thor Heyerdahl
The Kon-Tiki expedition was a 1947 journey by raft across the Pacific Ocean from South America to the Polynesian islands, led by Norwegian explorer and writer Thor Heyerdahl. The raft was named Kon-Tiki after the Inca god Viracocha, for whom “Kon-Tiki” was said to be an old name.

Who was the captain of the Kon Tiki?

Thor Heyerdahl
Thor Heyerdahl / 1914-2002 / Kon-Tiki captain sailed raft from Peru to history / Norwegian thought ancients made transpacific trip.

Are any of the Kon-Tiki crew still alive?

A museum official says Knut Magne Haugland, the last of six crew members who crossed the Pacific Ocean on board the balsa wood raft Kon-Tiki, has died. He was 92.

What happened to the Kon-Tiki raft?