Where is Thor Heyerdahl from?

Where is Thor Heyerdahl from?

Larvik, Norway
Thor Heyerdahl/Place of birth
Heyerdahl, born in Larvik, Norway, in 1914, originally studied zoology and geography at the University of Oslo. In 1936, he traveled with his wife to the Marquesas Islands to study the flora and fauna of the remote Pacific archipelago. He became fascinated with the question of how Polynesia was populated.

Was Thor Heyerdahl 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.

Who is Thor Heyerdahl and what was his theory with respect to Polynesian migration?

In 1947, Thor Heyerdahl drifted on a raft made of balsa wood logs from Peru to the Tuamotu Islands on the eastern edge of Polynesia to prove that these craft, once used by South American Indians, could have carried migrants to Polynesia.

What was the name of the current Thor Heyerdahl was searching for to reach Polynesia?

the Kon-Tiki
On 28 April 1947 Thor and five other men left Callao in Peru on a balsawood raft called the Kon-Tiki, destined for Polynesia.

Did Heyerdahl stay married?

After the Occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany, he served with the Free Norwegian Forces from 1944, in the far north province of Finnmark. In 1949, Heyerdahl married Yvonne Dedekam-Simonsen (1924–2006). They had three daughters: Annette, Marian and Helene Elisabeth. They were divorced in 1969.

What does a Norwegian named Thor Heyerdahl have to do with either Polynesians and Native Americans?

Heyerdahl further argued in his book American Indians in the Pacific that the current inhabitants of Polynesia migrated from an Asian source, but via an alternative route. He proposes that Polynesians travelled with the wind along the North Pacific current. These migrants then arrived in British Columbia.

What happened to the crew of Kon-Tiki?

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.

Did Thor Heyerdahl know how do you swim?

Despite his taste for adventure, he remained terrified of water after twice almost drowning as a boy, and did not learn to swim until he was 22. At the University of Oslo, Heyerdahl read Zoology and Geography, but he had already become fascinated by Polynesia.

Who is Thor Heyerdahl and what did he do?

Thor Heyerdahl. Written By: 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 did Thor Heyerdahl’s Kon-Tiki and Ra prove?

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. Both expeditions were intended to prove the possibility of ancient transoceanic contacts…

Where did Heyerdahl cross the Atlantic?

On May 17, 1970 Heyerdahl set sail from Morocco on the papyrus boat Ra II to successfully cross the Atlantic Ocean to Central America. Yuri Senkevich, who was the expedition physician, later became a popular TV host in USSR and Russia.

What did Thor Heyerdahl discover about Polynesian history?

…in which the Norwegian scientist Thor Heyerdahl and five companions sailed in 1947 from the western coast of South America to the islands east of Tahiti. Heyerdahl was interested in demonstrating the possibility that ancient people from the Americas could have colonized Polynesia; to do so, he constructed Kon-Tiki (named…