Before getting to our series of news posts we would be remiss without recognizing that last week was the 63rd anniversary of the Kon-Tiki setting off from the Peruvian coast.
While most scientists at the time believed that Polynesia had been originally settled by migrants from Asia, Thor Heyerdal and his mostly Norwegian crew tried to prove that the first Polynesians came from South America. They traveled on a balsa wood raft akin to those used by pre-Columbian natives and they sailed over 4300 miles on the Pacific Ocean. Despite the length of the trip and enduring difficult conditions the Kon-Tiki crew arrived in Tahiti 101 days after departing from Peru.
Below is the award-winning documentary on the 1947 Kon-Tiki voyage including how Heyerdal's knowledge of artifacts helped him create the hypothesis he would successfully prove:
Online Sources - YouTube, Wikipedia
No comments:
Post a Comment