Memory of the World; 2012 - unesdoc - Unesco

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Thor Heyerdahl archives
Inscribed 2011
What is it
The archive of Norwegian ethnographer, explorer,
adventurer and writer Thor Heyerdahl (1914–2002),
comprising letters, photographs, manuscripts and films.
Why was it inscribed
Thor Heyerdahl’s maritime expeditions and
archaeological projects were characterized by a unique,
practical approach that gained worldwide interest. His
theme was the inter-connectedness of people, cultures
and civilizations and his findings threw new light on the
possibilities, technologies and societies of pre-history
and those outside the bounds of modern culture.
Where is it
Kon-Tiki Museum, Oslo, Norway
Thor Heyerdahl was born in Norway in 1914. Originally
trained as a zoologist, Heyerdahl became interested in
cultural history while studying wildlife in the Marquesas
Islands in the southern Pacific Ocean. His newfound
interest would lead to a life of exploration, adventuring
and active ethnographic study.
An expedition to Polynesia in the late 1930s caused
Heyerdahl to question accepted theories that the islands
had been populated from west to east by settlers coming
from Asia. Instead, he connected the islands’ flora and
fauna, and their cultural monuments, as having an origin
in South America.
These ideas were rejected by his peers and in 1947
Heyerdahl undertook his famous Kon-Tiki expedition
to prove that it was possible to sail from South America
to Polynesia using ancient seafaring technology. With
his crew, he sailed in the balsa wood raft Kon-Tiki from
Peru over 8000 km of the Pacific to arrive in Raroia
Atoll 101 days later. The book of the expedition has sold
over 100 million copies, while the film Kon-Tiki won the
Oscar for Best Documentary in 1950.
This empirical approach to accepted academic theories
characterized much of Heyerdahl’s work. Subsequent
A line of moais or statues restored by Thor Heyerdahl after
the Kon-Tiki expedition to Easter Island or Rapa Nui. �
Thor Heyerdahl archives 461