Kon Tiki Redux-Old Theories Still Afloat

[Sam Salmon]

Well once again long discredited theories are afloat on the S. Pacific.
Thor Heyerdahl's Grandson is taking another journey west from S. America on a balsa raft-no doubt bringing Sweet Potatoes and Bottle Gourds as gifts.
I remember the original book being a fascinating read for a young kid living in a remote Canadian bush town-in that regard the web site is somewhat sketchy and bland.

http://pub.tv2.no/nettavisen/friluftsli ... 290367.ece

The Tangaroa Expedition
A tribute to a man and his country.

A crew of six is building and sailing a balsa-raft from Callao to the Polynesia, just like Thor Heyerdahl did in 1947. His grandson, Olav, is part of the crew.

The idea behind this expedition is to try out some of the design changes Thor Heyerdahl proposed after Kon-Tiki. His raft could not navigate – only drift. The Tangaroa-raft will have a different and larger sail, and use centreboards differently.

[gunny]

Where these changes in raft construction known by the ancient mariners?

[tj]

Thanks for the heads up Sam. Despite the fact that Heyerdahl's theory appears to be broken, this is great adventure material.

[Sam Salmon]

Were these changes in raft construction known by the ancient mariners?

IIRC the changes in design came from studying old Spanish material on the rafts.

[Sam Salmon]

Were these changes in raft construction known by the ancient mariners?

IIRC the changes in design came from studying old Spanish material on the rafts.

[Beagle]

When Thor Heyerdal made his famous trip in 1947, it probably added important information to the understanding of ancient seafaring. Since that time the oceans currents have been mapped extensively.

Beyond that, though, not a lot has been added to the problem of ancient seafaring. The subject is probably crucial to our eventual understanding of ancient migrations, and possibly trade.

If Thors' grandson casts better light on possible construction of seacraft, he might open the door again for more research. Good luck to him.

Thanks Sam.

[gunny]

Seems DNA from Easter Island or SW islanders could confirm movement from Peru, et al.

[stan]

I too read Kon-Tiki as a kid, and then Aku- Aku.
THey were wonderful! Like nothing I had ever
seen or heard of before.

[tj]

Seems DNA from Easter Island or SW islanders could confirm movement from Peru, et al.

Genetic research has found, however, that modern-day Polynesians are more closely related to Southeast Asians than to American Indians. [citation needed]

link

I'll try to hunt this down later.

[Minimalist]

One thing which Heyerdahl seems to have done wrong is that he sailed in the wrong direction. Leaving Micronesia and ending up in SA might have made more sense.

I doubt there was any great amount of South Pacific commerce by drifting raft. However, the occasional raftload blown off course and ending up in SA is quite plausible.

[gunny]

Actually The flow from Micronesia was clockwise, A landing in southern Commiefornia would be closer. Group there, as late as the 1890 confirmerd that.

[Pippin]

Hi

I see the new adventure as homage to Thor Heyerdahl, who was a great man. Some of his theories were wrong, but trying them out was part of the evolution of the science of history/archaeology.

I don’t se the DNA evidence as proof, that no one ever sailed a raft from South America to Polynesia, but only as proof that Polynesia wasn’t settled from South America. Does anyone know if it was Mitochondria DNA or core DNA they used in the DNA test?

Pippin

[Pippin]

I did a google search and found these pages:
This article says that there are proof contact between South America and Polynesia in ancient times:
http://news.scotsman.com/scitech.cfm?id=738032005

This article in Norwegian says that the DNA test were Mitochondrion DNA:
http://www.forskning.no/Artikler/2005/j ... 0809547.81

This article tells that Heyerdahl himself believed in his theory to his death, and he believed that the bones used in the test were of later date:
http://news.scotsman.com/topics.cfm?tid ... =416292002

Here is a longer article in English:
http://asiapacificuniverse.com/asia_pac ... 8/766.html

I haven’t examined the theories, but am as many others intrigued by Thor Heyerdahls big adventures. There seem to be indications that there were contacts between Polynesia in ancient times. That makes the new voyage of Thor Heyerdahls grandson interesting.

As a note, I just visited the Thor Heyerdahl museum in Norway. They have the Kon-tiki raft and the straw boat Ra II in exhibition there. I sailed to Bygdoy where the museum is in a 30 m. long vikingship (www.seastallion.dk).

Pippin

[Minimalist]

http://starbulletin.com/2001/07/15/edit ... ecial.html


Pippin, I would interpret at least one of these studies as having been mtDNA based.

Using DNA studies, geneticists Theodore Schurr of San Antonio and Douglas Wallace of Emory University in Atlanta argue that genetic diversity requires a New World presence of at least 30,000 years.

>> DNA studies of native American Indians have turned up five groupings of maternal ancestors. One of the five is found only in southwestern and central Asia -- and Europe.

But I especially loved this line.....for all those who still resist the idea of "The Club!"

For decades, anyone who came up with a different scenario was ridiculed. Scientists who found conflicting evidence often covered it up for fear of endangering their careers.

[marduk]

anyone notice how the only ship he built that did what he said it would is the Tigris based on a mesopotamian design
funny that