On Aug. 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. Heyerdahl wanted to prove his theory that prehistoric South Americans could have colonized the Polynesian islands by drifting on ocean currents. Heyerdahl believed that Polynesia’s earliest inhabitants had come from South America, a theory that conflicted with popular scholarly opinion that the original settlers arrived from Asia.
Even after his successful voyage, anthropologists and historians continued to discredit Heyerdahl’s belief. Nonetheless, he continued to demonstrate his theories about how travel across the seas played a major role in the migration patterns of ancient cultures. In 1970, he sailed across the Atlantic from Morocco to Barbados in a reed boat named Ra II (after Ra, the Egyptian sun god) to prove that Egyptians could have connected with pre-Columbian Americans.
His book, Kon-Tiki, is exciting and was very popular. Despite his failure with experts, he continued to be a successful author and was voted “Norwegian of the Century” in his homeland.
Even after his successful voyage, anthropologists and historians continued to discredit Heyerdahl’s belief. Nonetheless, he continued to demonstrate his theories about how travel across the seas played a major role in the migration patterns of ancient cultures. In 1970, he sailed across the Atlantic from Morocco to Barbados in a reed boat named Ra II (after Ra, the Egyptian sun god) to prove that Egyptians could have connected with pre-Columbian Americans.
His book, Kon-Tiki, is exciting and was very popular. Despite his failure with experts, he continued to be a successful author and was voted “Norwegian of the Century” in his homeland.
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