Kon-Tiki Crosses Pacific: Heyerdahl Proves a Theory
Thor Heyerdahl and five companions sailed a primitive balsa-wood raft named Kon-Tiki from Callao, Peru, on April 28, 1947, to prove his theory that pre-Columbian South Americans could have colonized Polynesia. After 101 days and 4,340 miles of open ocean, the raft crashed into a reef at Raroia Atoll in the Tuamotu Islands on August 7, 1947. The crew survived by clinging to the wreckage. Heyerdahl's theory was dismissed by most anthropologists, who pointed to linguistic and genetic evidence linking Polynesians to Southeast Asia. But recent DNA studies have found traces of South American ancestry in some Polynesian populations, suggesting that some form of contact did occur, vindicating the spirit if not the specifics of Heyerdahl's hypothesis.
August 7, 1947
79 years ago
Key Figures & Places
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