Rapa Nui Journal: Journal of the Foundation Volume 16 Article 1 Issue 2 October

2002 Thor eH yerdahl 1914-2002 Helene Martinsson-Wallin The Kon-Tiki , ,

Paul Wallin The Kon-Tiki Museum, Oslo, Norway

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Recommended Citation Martinsson-Wallin, Helene and Wallin, Paul (2002) "Thor eyH erdahl 1914-2002," Rapa Nui Journal: Journal of the Easter Island Foundation: Vol. 16 : Iss. 2 , Article 1. Available at: https://kahualike.manoa.hawaii.edu/rnj/vol16/iss2/1

This Commentary or Dialogue is brought to you for free and open access by the University of Hawai`i Press at Kahualike. It has been accepted for inclusion in Rapa Nui Journal: Journal of the Easter Island Foundation by an authorized editor of Kahualike. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Martinsson-Wallin and Wallin: 1914-2002 THOR HEYERDAHL 1914-2002

Te rnoana nui e [The sea is vast Te pahi iti e The boat is small A hakae tangata "Kon-Tiki" e Brave i the Kon-Tiki man]

r. "Kon-Tiki" passed away quietly in his home in and Heyerdahl's book about the voyage became a best eller on the 18th of April 2002, at the age of 87. As one of and was translated into at least 70 language ; it ha sold in S the most famous Norwegians ever, he accomplished many millions of copies all around the world. Thor's fllm many different things in his life, but his name will always be about the voyage was awardea an Oscar for best documentary intimately tied to the Kon-Tiki voyage and the archaeological in 1951. investigations on Rapa Nui and East . He was Thor Heyerdahl has always been dedicated to prove hi awarded a in Oslo on the 26th of April 2002, but theories concerning contact of prehistoric societies with the his final resting place is on the family estate at Colla Micheri aid of traditional boat types. In 1968 he built the reed ship RA in Italy. after models of traditional boat He was born in the small types in . The goal wa town of on the 6th of Oc­ to prove that the Old and the tober 1914. As a young boy he New World had prehistoric was intere ted in and contact over the Atlantic biology and had a dream to be­ Ocean. He and his interna­ come an explorer and travel to tional crew crossed the Atlan­ exotic countries far away. After tic Ocean in this vessel, but university studies in biology due to poor construction it dis­ and at Oslo univer- integrated just before reaching ity a well as tudies of anthro­ the Caribbean. Then he et his pology in Bjame Kroepelien' mind to make another try. famous Polynesia library in With RA II he set out from 1933-36, he and his young wife Safi in in 1969 and Liv et out to live on came ashore on Barbado 57 in the Marque a archipelago in day later. In 1977 Heyerdahl 1937-38. Thi journey had a constructed still another reed great influence on the rest of his ship. It was built in Iraq and life. Before reaching the Mar­ named Tigris. He sailed with que as he was "adopted" by an international crew during 5 Chief Teri'iro'o on , who months in the Persian and Ara­ appropriately gave Thor the bian ea with the goal to end name Te rai rna te ata up in Egypt to prove that the (reflection of the sky). On Fatu great ancient civilizations in Hiva the young couple lived , the Indus Val­ like and experi­ ley and Egypt had contact by enced both good and bad days. sea. Actions of war in the area However, the important experi­ stopped the voyage and in pro­ ence for Thor wa that he saw test Heyerdahl burnt his hip. that plant life, the winds and In addition to his mari­ current , a well as traditional time interests he has also pon­ history, could point so that the sored archaeological research. ancestor or forerunners of the With his investigations on the Polyne ians could have come Galapagos Islands in 1952-53 from the Ea t - . Thor Heyerdahl in 1998 and Easter Island in 1955-56 of Pacific Lutheran University) Later he developed thi (courtesy and in 1986-88, he and hi ar- theory in his book " American chaeologists were pioneers in Indian in the Pacific". The cientific community of the time Pacific archaeology. In addition to this he carried out research did not accept his ideas and this i the rea on why he decided on the in 1983-84, Tucume, in 1989-94, Tene­ to prove this theory in real life. On the 28th of April 1947, he rife in 1991, 1999 and 2000 and in , during 2001 and his five crew members set out from Callao in Peru on the as well a sponsoring research on monuments on Sardinia and Kon-Tiki balsa raft which they build in a traditional style. Sicily. Even during his last days he had far-reaching plan of They drifted 4300 miles during 101 days and ended up on Rar­ an archaeological expedition to to excavate the largest oia in the archipelago. The voyage was a success ceremonial monument in the Pacific, Pulemelei on Savai'i.

Rapa Nui Journal 67 Vol. 16 (2) October 2002

Published by Kahualike, 2002 1 Rapa Nui Journal: Journal of the Easter Island Foundation, Vol. 16 [2002], Iss. 2, Art. 1

With several honorary doctorates and other awards as well With his first wife Liv (t), he had two children, Thor Jr., as an extensive production of books, article and fIlms in addi­ and Bj0rn of which the former i the current head of the board tion to his many expedition and travel , he lived a very produc­ of the directors at the Kon-Tiki Mu eum, and the latter i taking tive and fu..l..l life. With hi arti tic and intellectual abilities he care of the family farm in Italy producing olive and wine. has, for example, created such classic books as Kon-Tiki, Aku­ Thor Heyerdahl wa an extraordinary and complex per on Aku The Secrets of Easter Island, which were enjoyed by mil­ in many ways, both controver ial and humble at the arne time. lions of readers all around the world. Furthermore, his scientific He cared very much for the environment and reflected over the papers and books have in variou way in pired a whole genera­ "big issues" in life as well as battling fiercely to prove his theo­ tion of scientists dealing with prehi tory of the Pacific. ries on diffusion and contacts between the great civilizations of The Famous Kon-Tiki raft as well as RA II are housed at the past. the Kon-Tiki Museum in 0 10 which was started by Heyerdahl Now, when he ha et out on his final journey he will be and (one of the crew on Kon-Tiki) in 1950. greatly missed, not just by family and friend, but also by hi Since 1986 an institute for PacifIc Archaeology and Cultural many readers and admirer, as well a many scholars. History is tied to the Museum a well. Heyerdahl lived his last years on , The Canary I land, with his third wife Jac­ Thor, Te Rai rna te ata queline, where he took part in creating a Mu eum and center for Maururu Nui re earch. Heyerdahl lived al 0 in Colla Micheri in Italy, where Helene Martin on-Wallin and Paul Wallin hi life ended. He, and hi econd wife Yvonne, and children Associate Professors The Kon-Tiki Museum, Annette (t), Marian, and Bettina owned and re tored a village Institute for PacifIc Archaeology and Cultural History from the Roman era. 010, Norway

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NEWS OF THOR HEYERDAHl: S DEATH addened us all. He will artists of Rapa Nui who hared their thoughts and experiences be long remembered. It was through his early books, uch a with him. Aku-Aku, that many of u first became fa cinated with Easter I land. We thank Helene Martisson-Wallin and Paul Wallin of ALso IN THIS ISSUE we welcome Andrea Mieth, Han -Rudolf the Kon-Tiki Mu eum for providing an obituary for the Journal Bork and logo Fee er of Okologie-Zentrum, Universitiit Klel. and to Don Ryan for the photograph. Their paper di cusses land use on Poike peninsula and provides a fascinating analysis of the soil and what that can tell us about ONE OF EASTER ISLAND'S "culture-bearers" has died. We are ancient agricultural practice and ettlement of that under- sad to report that Rafael Haoa (1925-2002) passed away in July tudied part of the island. It i probable that soil ero ion rates of this year. Rafael wa in the Armada de Chile for 36 year , were very high from the late 13 th to the early 15 th centuries. The beginning in 1946. Following his retirement, and for the next people of Rapa Nui lost most of their very fertile oils in one twenty years, Rafael worked with many scholar, anthropolo­ century, and not only at Poike but also in the western slope of gists, and writers who studied the Rapanui culture, and was an Rano Raraku. Their re earch project continues, and we hope to a ociate profe or of Rapanui language at the school on Easter have more on their work in a future issue of the Journal. Island. He worked with Ramon Campbell on La Herencia Musi­ cal de Rapa Nui and with also with Federico Felbermayer FERREN MACINTYRE CONTRIBUTES another out-of-the-ordinary (Historias y Leyendas de Isla de Pascua). He leaves two surviv­ paper, "Simultaneous Settlement of Indo-PacifIc Extreme ?" ing children, Ana Betty and Miriam Magdalena, and hi widow, MacIntyre, a profe sor of Oceanography, i our "in house" ver­ Ana Rapahango. Hi daughter, Ana Betty, i the director of the sion of Stephen Jay Gould, providing us with thought­ Biblioteca Rapanui at the Fonck Museum in Vifia del Mar. provoking essays such as hi two-part study of the physical oceanography of EI Nifio (RNJ Vol. 15, Nos. 1-2). IN THIS ISSUE WE PRESENT a econd portion of papers from the International Union of Prehistoric and Protohi toric Sciences WE ARE PLEASED TO INCLUDE an update on "things Rapanui" Sympo ium, held in Belgium la t year. The first group of papers by David Stanley, the noted travel writer. Stanley was on the wa publi hed in RNJ (Vol. 16: I). Papers in this issue include island recently, gathering material for his next edition of South "The Marae Temple Ground in the Society I land, French Pacific Handbook and kindly hared hi ob ervations with us. Polyne ia: A Structural Study of Spatial Relation" by P. Wallin Things are changing on the i land, a Stanley notes, and not all and R. Solsvik; and "Sea, Land, and Sky as Structuring Princi­ of them are positive. There are two things that shock vi itors ple in Easter Island Prehi tory" by H. Martinsson-Wallin. who return to Rapa Nui after many years away: the proliferation of automobiles (including horde of taxi ) and the appearance of PAUL TRACHTMAN'S e ay in the last RNJ (Vol. 16:1) provided hacks (paepae) that have prung up around the island, often our readers with the opinions and thoughts of many Rapanui disastrously near ahu and other sacred sites. The one located in i landers. In this is ue he presents more in-depth discussions front of Abu Akivi has been an eyesore for year and totally with the island's artists and a photo essay of islanders and i ­ ruin the ambience of the site. But now more islander are lander art. As an artist himself, Trachtman was embraced by the claiming land and putting up paepae. Vi itor come to glory in

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