The Norwegian explorer and writer Thor Heyerdahl The April 28, 1947 He prepared an audience expedition with 5 adventurous companions, a parrot and a truly singular boat, a large and primitive Zattera of Balsa called Kon-Tiki For the ancient God of the rain and the Inca wind. He wanted to sail to the seas of the seasOcean Pacific southern to demonstrate a revolutionary theory on the colonization of the Polynesia by Precolombian peoples. The famous Zattera who transported the 6 men is now preserved in Kon-Tiki museumin the bygdøy peninsula, in Oslo.
Who was Thor Heyerdahl, the explorer of the Kon Tiki
It cannot be said that Heyerdahl (1914-2002) did not have a curious and extremely multifaceted personality: biologist, archaeologist, explorer, but also a writer and director, Thor specialized in Anthropology of the Pacific peoples At the University of Oslo by developing its own theory on the population of the Polynesian archipelagos at the pre -Columbian age. In particular, the Norwegian anthropologist thought that The islands of Polynesia had been colonized by some indigenous populations of South America before arrival on the continent of the Europeans. The idea found no little resistance in the academic world of the early twentieth century: most of the scholars of the time thought in fact that the modern Polynesian populations descended by migrants from Southeast Asia and from Eastern coasts of Africagiven the cultural and linguistic traits and common archaeological evidence.
In fact, a few decades later, the progress of archeology studies and new investigation techniques, such as theAnalysis of mitochondrial DNA, The theories of Heyerdahl denied largely. This does not mean, however, that the studies of the Norwegian explorer have brought a significant contributed to the understanding of migratory phenomena, and its “experimental archeology“, Carried out outside the workshops of the academic sphere, has brought the general public closer to unhappy themes, especially in the early years of the last century.
The Kon Tiki, the raft that crossed the Pacific Ocean
To test his theories, Thor Heyerdahl wanted to reproduce, as much as possible, similar travel conditions to those who would meet an ancient explorer in pre-colombian era. The first move was therefore to design a boat using only “primitive” techniques and materials. Based on the sources collected by colonizers Spanish of the fifteenth and fourteenth centuries, and with the help of artisans experts in “ancient” processes, Heyerdahl thus realized his own Kon-Tiki: a big raft in balsa woodwith 9 trunks, more than 10 meters long, as a base and fixed to other trunks traverses with hemp ropes 3 centimeters thick.
Fusti di Mangrovia Instead, they were united to form the tree, almost 9 meters high. The tree was fixed large square sail (of 4.6 x 5.5 meters) representing the face of an ancient god of the rain and the Inca wind: Kon. The choice was obviously not accidental. The god Kon was in antiquity called Kon-Tikiand the term tikiused to refer to the divinity, it was widespread both among the Polynesian peoples and among those of South America, in particular of Peru. For Heyerdahl, this was a further proof of the close relationship between the two different geographical areas.
Shipping
After making the raft and prepared the supplies (almost a ton of fresh water, dozens of coconut walnuts and K rations of the American army), Thor Heyerdahl he called to collect five specialistsmore a parrotto put his crew together. In addition to the head of the expedition, on the raft they would also have climbed Erik Hesselbergthe artist who painted the face of God Inca on the sail of the kon-Tiki, Bengt Danielssonanthropologist and writer, Knut Haugland And Torstein Raabyformer radio technicians of the Norwegian army and communications experts, and Herman Watzingerengineer.
On April 28, 1947, the Kon-Tiki sailed from the port of Callaotoday part of the metropolitan area of Lima, to head west using the Humboldt currentwhich flows from south to north along the western coasts of South America and then folded in the heart of the Pacific. After being drew from the Peruvian Navy to the cold ocean current, the six explorers faced the open sea in a long crossing of 101 daysuntil, the August 7th of the same year, they wrecked against the barriers coral near an islet of the Atoll of Rarein the archipelago of TUAMOUTU (French Polynesia).
The Kon-Tiki remained seriously damaged in the impact with the cliffs and his crew had to wait a few days before being rescued by some indigenous fishermen who realized the remains of the boat pushed at the drift by the motions of the sea.
Despite the almost destruction of his means of transport, the Shipping for Heyerdahl proved to be successful: It was in fact able to demonstrate that the populations of South America could have reached Polynesia even in ancient times and without the use of modern instruments and technologies. In 101 days of navigation, the Kon-Tiki and his crew traveled about 3 770 marine milesapproximately 6 890 kilometers.
In 1948, the Norwegian explorer published the book The Kon-Tiki Expedition: by Raft Across the South Seas in which he tells his experience on board the Kon-Tiki. The book had an immediate success in Norway, but in the following decades it was translated into beyond 70 languages coming to sell more than 50 million copies. Heyerdahl himself made a documentary On his businesses, a documentary that even earned him an Oscar winner, and in 2013 the adventure was narrated once again in a film by the Norwegian directors Joachim Rønning and Espen Sandberg.
The famous raft is now preserved in the Kon-Tiki museum, in the bygdøy peninsula, in Oslo. In addition to the raft, the finds of the numerous shipments of Heyerdahl around the globe are preserved in the museum.
