ROME, ITALY.- Dr. Thor Heyerdahl, anthropologist and adventurer, died in Italy at the age of 87. He was born in 1914, in Larvik, Norway. From his earliest days, he was an enthusiatic nature lover, and he was inspired by his mother (who was head of the local museum) to take an interest in zoology and nature. While still in primary school, he ran a one-room zoological museum from his home. Mr. Heyerdahl later enrolled at the University of Oslo, where he specialized in zoology and geography until leaving on his first expedition to Polynesia in 1937-1938
Arriving in Polynesia, the young student Heyerdahl and his bride Liv were adopted by the supreme Polynesian Chief of Tahiti, Teriieroo in 1937. After training in the Polynesian way of life and customs, the Heyerdahls settled for one year on the isolated island of Fatuhiva in the Marquesas Group. While doing research on the transoceanic origins of the island’s animal life, the naturalist lived an otherwise traditional Polynesian life. During this time, he began to contemplate the existing theories of how the South Pacific inhabitants reached the islands. Stuggling with the eternal easterly winds and currents whenever he and his Polynesian friends ventured into the sea to fish, he lost faith in textbook claims that these islands had been discovered and settled by as yet unidentified stone-age voyagers from Southeast Asia who had sailed and paddled against the currents for ten thousand miles. Instead Heyerdahl became convinced that human settlers had come with the ocean currents from the west just as the flora and fauna had done.
After the war, Heyerdahl continued his research, only to meet a wall of resistance to his theories amongst comtemporary scholars. To add weight to his arguments, Heyerdahl decided to build a replica of the aboriginal balsa raft (named the ’Kon-Tiki’) to test his theories. In 1947, Heyerdahl and five companions left Callio, Peru and crossed 8000 km (4300 miles) in 101 days to reach Polynesia (Raroia atoll, Tuamotu Archipelago). Despite skepticisim, the seaworthiness of the aboriginal raft was thus proven and showed that the ancient Peruvians could have reached Polynesia in this manner.
Thor Heyerdahl is the recipient of numerous medals, awards and honours. In 1999, he received the norvegian Peer Gynt Prize He has been a regular member of various scientific congresses, notably the International Congress of Americanists, the Pacific Science Congress, and the International Congress of Anthropology and Ethnology.
