The Outstanding Achievement of Thor Heyerdahl and How it Changed the World – Part II

Continued from the previous post regarding the drift voyage of Kon-Tiki from Peru to Polynesia, and how survivability of food and water was achieved by the design and movement of the raft itself.
    When Heyerdahl first planned his drift voyage, he considered numerous methods to trap water and supplement their larder of food along the way. Modern science is just now beginning to prove both his methods and beliefs, which he used and reported being of great value to he and his crew on their Kon-Tiki voyage.

The Marquesas Islands where Fatu Hiva is the southernmost island of the archipelago which was formed by two volcanic craters

It is also of interest to know that when Heyerdahl first married, he and his wife spent their honeymoon and first year of marriage during 1937-1938 in the South Pacific, mainly on Fatu Hiva of the Marquesas in French Polynesia, supported by the Faculty of Zoology at the University of Oslo. While he and his wife, Liv, were disappointed on the paradise they expected to find on Fatu Hiva, their stay on this Pacific island was decisive for Thor’s future work.
    At the time of Heyerdahl reached Fatu Hiva, it was commonly believed that the islanders had originally arrived from Asia on a west to east movement across the islands (a belief still held by mainstream scientists). However, Heyerdahl discovered that the east to west ocean currents made it possible for people to have arrived from South America. This was also the story the elders on the island told the young couple nearly ten years before the Kon-Tiki voyage was undertaken.
    In addition, while fishing off the islands Heyerdahl noticed the distinct movement of the waves and currents, and from this began his interest in ocean currents. He learned from the natives that these currents moved between the islands and all basically moved from the east toward the west, which began his interest in the western ocean off the coast of South America.

On Ua Huka, near Hane—the oldest known human settlement in the Marquesas Islands—at one time considered to have been inhabited around 250 AD—are the large stone statues and remnants of me’ae and pae pae

Also, while on the island, Heyerdahl developed an interest in Pacific prehistory and the large Marquesan stone statues captured his imagination, as did stories told by Chief Tei-Tetua of his ancestors coming from a hot dry land in the East, led by Con-Tiki, the Creator God known also as Viracocha, the founder of civilization.
    He was later to find in Peru, confirmation of the legend of Con-Tiki Viracocha, the Supreme God and Creator of the Earth. As these legends conflicted with commonly held scientific notions that Polynesians island hopped from southeast Asia, Heyerdahl’s conclusions were unacceptable to and highly criticized by mainstream scientists. This led Heyerdahl on a quest for the truth about origins of the Polynesians, which lasted a lifetime.
    In his 1952 book American Indians in the Pacific, Heyerdahl came to the conclusion that Polynesians entered the Pacific from Peru. The pathway from Peru particularly interested him, because of evidence from preserved mummies, paintings and legends, it appeared that these people were red haired Native American Caucasians—a relic population of a forgotten past.
    Most other scientists would have no part in the notion that the Pacific was populated from America or that Caucasians were once a significant population of America. Instead, they came to the dubious conclusion that ancient pottery pieces, called Lapita held the key to Polynesian origins, as a trail of this unusual pottery seemed to lead from the west towards Polynesia, albeit stopping a little short. At the same time, and disappointingly for these mainstream scientists, Lapita ended 800 years before Polynesians even entered the Pacific, making a relationship between the two highly unlikely.

To get around this and many other discrepancies in their theory, Heyerdahl decided to put his life on the line to prove sailing from Peru to Polynesia could be done. After scrounging up from various sources a little over $22,000 for the journey, he then went searching for a few people to accompany him, placing an ad stating: “Am going to cross the Pacific on a wooden raft to support a theory that the South Sea islands were peopled from Peru. Will you come? Reply at once.”
    Once setting sail, they spent the next three months battling the dangerous weather and ocean swells, taunting sharks that swam close to their craft, and supplementing their provisions with various fish, which were reportedly, along with the sharks, the explorers’ near constant companions around the boat during the entire journey. They sent regular radio reports back to the mainland on their progress and Heyerdahl filmed sections of their voyage on his camera.

It is 4371 miles from Callao, Peru, to the Raroia Atoll; 4246 miles from Callao to Fatu Hiva in the Marquesas; it is 461 miles from the Raroia Atoll to Fatu Hiva

On August 7, 1947, the Kon-Tiki had traveled nearly 4,300 miles when it finally hit a reef and forced the crew to land on an uninhabited island off of Raroia Atoll, in French Polynesia. They spotted shore about a week and 260 miles earlier at Angatau atoll, but were unable to steer into the Island to land safely.  Nevertheless, one hundred and one days after setting out from Peru, Heyerdahl proved that the nautical technology available to pre-Columbian Peruvians could have successfully brought them to Polynesia
    Heyerdahl claimed that in Incan legend there was a sun god named Con-Tiki Viracocha who was the supreme head of the mythical white people in Peru. The original name for Virakocha was Kon-Tiki or Illa-Tiki, which means Sun-Tiki or Fire-Tiki. Kon-Tiki was high priest and sun-king of these legendary "white men" who left enormous ruins on the shores of Lake Titicaca and throughout Peru. The legend continues with the mysterious bearded white men being attacked by a chief named Cari who came from the Coquimbo Valley. They had a battle on an island in Lake Titicaca, and the fair race was massacred. However, Kon-Tiki and his closest companions managed to escape and later arrived on the Pacific coast. The legend ends with Kon-Tiki and his companions disappearing westward out to sea.
    When the Spaniards came to Peru, Heyerdahl asserted, the Incas told them that the colossal monuments that stood deserted about the landscape were erected by a race of white gods who had lived there before the Incas themselves became rulers. The Incas described these "white gods" as wise, peaceful instructors who had originally come from the north in the "morning of time" and taught the Incas' primitive forefathers architecture as well as manners and customs. They were unlike other Native Americans in that they had "white skins and long beards" and were taller than the Incas. They also had Semitic facial features. The Incas said that the "white gods" had then left as suddenly as they had come and fled westward across the Pacific. After they had left, the Incas themselves took over power in the country.
    There are many scientific points that have been discovered and shown to verify Heyerdahl’s views that Polynesia was settled from Peru. However, old paradigms, those first decided by hypothesis from ancient information, seem hard to displace in modern times with much more information and a far clearer understanding of the past.
    Thor Heyerdahl was a man far beyond his time in knowledge of the settlement of Polynesia—his views were mostly scoffed at by the scientific community during his lifetime, but the more we learn the more his ideas are proving to be quite accurate.