Kon-Tiki - New World Encyclopedia Kon-Tiki Next (Konark Sun Temple) The raft in the Kon-Tiki Museum, Oslo Kon-Tiki was the raft used by Norwegian explorer and writer Thor Heyerdahl in his 1947 expedition from Peru to the Tuamotu Islands. It was named after the Inca sun god, Viracocha, for whom "Kon-Tiki" was said to be an old name. Kon-Tiki is also the name of the popular book that Heyerdahl wrote about his adventures. Heyerdahl believed that people from South America could have settled Polynesia in the South Pacific in Pre-Columbian times. His aim in mounting the Kon-Tiki expedition was to show, by using only the materials and technologies available to these people at the time, that there were no technical reasons to prevent them from having done so. Heyerdahl and a small team went to Peru , where they constructed a balsa -wood raft out of balsa logs and other native materials in an indigenous style, as recorded in illustrations by Spanish conquistadors. This trip began on April 28, 1947.

Accompanied by five companions, Heyerdahl sailed it for 101 days over 4,300 miles across the Pacific Ocean before smashing into the reef at Raroia in the Tuamotu Islands on August 7, 1947. The only modern equipment they had was a radio. Contents The book Kon-Tiki was a best-seller, and a documentary motion picture of the expedition won an Academy Award in 1951. The original Kon-Tiki raft is now on display in a museum of the same name in Oslo , Norway . Construction Polynesians sailing a canoe c. 1781 The main body of the raft was composed of nine balsa tree trunks up to 45 feet long and two feet in diameter that were lashed together with one and a quarter inch hemp ropes. Cross-pieces of balsa logs 18 feet long and one foot in diameter were lashed across the logs at three feet intervals to give lateral support. Pine splashboards clad the bow, and lengths of pine one inch thick and two feet long were wedged between the balsa logs and used as centerboards.

The main mast was made of lengths of mangrove wood lashed together to form an A-frame 29 feet high. Behind the main-mast was a cabin of plaited bamboo 14 feet long and eight feet wide that was built about four to five feet high, and roofed with banana leaf thatch. At the stern was a 19-foot long steering oar of mangrove wood, with a blade of fir. The main sail was 15 by 18 feet on a yard of bamboo stems lashed together. Photographs also show a top-sail above the main sail and a mizzen-sail mounted at the stern. The raft was partially decked in split bamboo. No metal was used in the construction. The Voyage The Kon-Tiki left Callao, Peru on the afternoon of April 28, 1947. It was initially towed 50 miles out to open water by the Fleet Tug Guardian Rios of the Peruvian Navy. She then sailed roughly west carried along on the Humboldt Current. The team’s first sight of land was the atoll of Puka-Puka on July 30.

They made brief contact with the inhabitants of Angatau Island on August 4, but were unable to land safely. Three days later, on August 7, the raft struck a reef and was eventually beached on an uninhabited islet off Raroia Island in the Tuamotu group. They had traveled a distance of around 3,770 nautical miles in 101 days, at an average speed of 1.5 knots. Stores The Kon-Tiki carried 66 gallons of water in bamboo tubes. For food they took two hundred coconuts, sweet potatoes , bottle gourds, and other assorted fruit and roots. The U.S. Army Quartermaster Corps provided field rations, tinned food, and survival equipment. In return, the Kon-Tiki explorers reported on the quality and utility of the provisions. They also caught plentiful numbers of fish, particularly flying fish, mahi-mahi, yellowfin tuna, and shark . Crew The Kon-Tiki was crewed by six men, all Norwegian except for Bengt Danielsson, who was from Sweden: Thor Heyerdahl Thor Heyerdahl was the expedition leader. Erik Hesselberg was the navigator and artist.

He painted the large Kon-Tiki figure on the raft's sail. Bengt Danielsson took on the role of steward, in charge of supplies and daily rations. Danielsson was a sociologist interested in human migration theory . He also served as translator, as he was the only member of the crew who spoke Spanish. Knut Haugland was a radio expert, decorated by the British in World War II for actions in the Norwegian heavy-water sabotage that stalled Germany's plans to develop an atomic bomb. Torstein Raaby was also in charge of radio transmissions. He gained radio experience while hiding behind German lines during WWII, spying on the German battleship Tirpitz. His secret radio transmissions eventually helped guide in Allied bombers to sink the ship. Herman Watzinger was an engineer whose area of expertise was in technical measurements. He recorded meteorological and hydrographical data while underway. Communications Receiver: National NC-173 Transmitter: unknown As an emergency backup they also carried a British Mark II transceiver originally produced by the SOE in 1942.

Marine Life Encountered The Kon-Tiki explorers discovered the legendary snake-mackerel (latin name Gempylus) and had a rare sighting of the whale shark . Heyerdahl had experiences with two specimens of the snake-mackerel, a fish which had never previously been seen alive by man, when they jumped aboard from out of the deep. The first was at night, when the snake-mackerel was washed into Torstein Raaby's sleeping bag; the second was also at night, when the Gempylus tried to attack the lantern. The whale shark, huge in size, hence its name, was so big that as it swam under the raft the explorers could see its huge, flat head on one side and its tail on the other. After about an hour of the whale shark circling the raft, a crew member rammed a harpoon into its skull. The whale shark simply broke the harpoon and swam away. Anthropology The Kon-Tiki adventure is often cited as a classic of "pseudoarchaeology," although its daring and inventive nature is still widely acclaimed.

While the voyage was successfully demonstrated the seaworthiness of Heyerdahl's intentionally primitive raft, his theory that Polynesia was settled from South America did not gain acceptance by anthropologists . Physical and cultural evidence had long suggested that Polynesia was settled from west to east; migration having begun from the Asian mainland, not South America. In the late 1990s genetic testing found that the mitochondrial DNA of the Polynesians is more similar to people from southeast Asia than to people from South America, showing that their ancestors most likely came from Asia. It should be noted, however, that Heyerdahl claimed the people that settled Polynesia from South America were of a white race that was distinct from the South Americans and had been driven from their shores. Therefore, it would be expected that the DNA of the Polynesians would be dissimilar to that of South Americans. According to Heyerdahl, some Polynesian legends say that Polynesia was originally inhabited by two peoples, the so-called long-eared and the short-eared. In a bloody war, all the long-eared peoples were eliminated and the short-eared peoples assumed sole control of Polynesia.

Heyerdahl asserted that these extinct people were the ones who could have settled Polynesia from the Americas, not the current, short-eared inhabitants. However one of the problems with this argument is that traditions involving long-ears and short-ears are found only at Easter Island , and are unknown in the rest of Polynesia. Heyerdahl further argues in his book American Indians in the Pacific that the current inhabitants of Polynesia did indeed migrate from an Asian source, but via an alternate route. He proposes that Polynesians traveled with the wind along the North Pacific current. These migrants then arrived in British Columbia. Heyerdahl points to the contemporary tribes of British Columbia, such as the Tlingit and Haida , as the descendants of these migrants. Again Heyerdahl notes the cultural and physical similarities between these British Columbian tribes, Polynesians, and the Old World source. Heyerdahl notes how simple it would have been for the British Columbians to travel to Hawaii and even onward to the greater Polynesia from their New World stepping-stone by way of wind and current patterns.

Heyerdahl's claims aside, there is no evidence that the Tlingit, Haida, or other British Columbian tribes have any special affinity with Polynesians. Linguistically, their morphologically complex languages are about as far from Austronesian and Polynesian languages as it is possible to be, and their cultures demonstrate their undeniable links to the rest of the peoples of North America. Anthropologist Robert C. Suggs included a chapter on "The Kon-Tiki Myth" in his book on Polynesia . He concludes: The Kon-Tiki theory is about as plausible as the tales of Atlantis , Mu, and "Children of the Sun." Like most such theories it makes exciting light reading, but as an example of scientific method it fares quite poorly. Other Projects by Heyerdahl Expedition to Easter Island In 1955-1956, Heyerdahl organized the Norwegian Archaeological Expedition to Easter Island. With a staff that included several professional archaeologists, the expedition spent several months on the island investigating several of its profound mysteries. Highlights of the project include experiments in the carving, transport, and erection of the famous moai statues, and excavations at prominent sites such as Orongo and Poike.

The expedition published two large volumes of scientific reports (Reports of the Norwegian Archaeological Expedition to Easter Island and the East Pacific) and Heyerdahl later added a third (The Art of Easter Island). The work of this expedition laid the foundation for much of the archaeological research that continues to be conducted on the island. Heyerdahl's popular book on the subject, Aku-Aku was another international best-seller. The Boats Ra and Ra II Ra II in the Kon-Tiki Museum In 1969 and 1970, Heyerdahl built two boats manufactured from papyrus and attempted to cross the Atlantic from Morocco in Africa . There has been much confusion about the purpose of these voyages. They were not, as it is often stated, an attempt to prove that Egyptians visited the New World in ancient times, something that Heyerdahl himself found unlikely. Instead, they were meant to test the possibility that vessels made of buoyant reeds were seaworthy. Such boats of various sizes were in use in a number of culture areas around the world in ancient times.

Based on drawings and models from ancient Egypt , the first boat, named Ra , was constructed by boat builders from Lake Chad in the Republic of Chad using reed obtained from Lake Tana in Ethiopia and launched into the Atlantic Ocean from the coast of Morocco. After a number of weeks, Ra took on water after its crew made modifications to the vessel that caused it to sag and break apart. The ship was abandoned and the following year another similar vessel, Ra II, was built by boatmen from Lake Titicaca in Bolivia and likewise set sail across the Atlantic from Morocco, this time with great success. A book, The Ra Expeditions, and a film documentary were made about the voyages. The Tigris Heyerdahl built yet another reed boat, Tigris, which was intended to demonstrate that trade and migration could have linked Mesopotamia with the Indus Valley Civilization in what is now modern-day Pakistan. Tigris was built in Iraq and sailed with its international crew through the Persian Gulf to Pakistan and made its way into the Red Sea.

After about five months at sea, while still seaworthy, the Tigris was deliberately burnt in Djibouti , on April 3, 1978 as a protest against the wars raging on every side in the Red Sea and Horn of Africa . In the years that followed, Heyerdahl was often outspoken on issues of international peace and the environment. Maldive Mounds, Tenerife Pyramids, Search for Odin Thor Heyerdahl also investigated the mounds found on the Maldive Islands in the Indian Ocean. There he found sun-oriented foundations and courtyards as well as statues with elongated earlobes. Both of these archaeological finds fit with his theory of a sea-faring civilization which originated in what is now Sri Lanka , colonized the Maldives , and influenced or founded the cultures of ancient South America and Easter Island. His discoveries are detailed in his book, The Maldive Mystery. In 1991 he studied the Pyramids of Güímar on Tenerife and discovered that they cannot be random stone heaps, but actual pyramids. He also discovered their special astronomical orientation. Heyerdahl advanced a theory according to which the Canaries had been bases of ancient shipping between America and the Mediterranean .

His last project was presented in the book Jakten på Odin, (The Search for Odin), in which he initiated excavations in Azov, near the Sea of Azov at the northeast of the Black Sea . He searched for the possible remains of a civilization to match the account of Snorri Sturluson in Ynglinga saga, where Sturluson describes how a chief called Odin led a tribe, called the Æsir in a migration northwards through Saxland, to Fyn in Denmark settling in Sweden . There, according to Sturluson, he so impressed the natives with his diverse skills that they started worshiping him as a god after his death (see also House of Ynglings and Mythological kings of Sweden). Heyerdahl accepted Sturluson's story as literal truth. This project generated harsh criticism and accusations of pseudo-science from historians, archaeologists, and linguists in Norway, who accused Heyerdahl of selective use of sources, and a basic lack of scientific methodology in his work. The controversy surrounding the Search for Odin project was in many ways typical of the relationship between Heyerdahl and the academic community.

His theories rarely won any scientific acceptance, whereas Heyerdahl himself rejected all scientific criticism and concentrated on publishing his theories in best-selling books to the larger masses. Heyerdahl was also an active figure in Green politics. He was the recipient of numerous medals and awards, and he also received 11 honorary doctorates from universities in the Americas and Europe. References Heyerdahl, Thor. Kon-Tiki: Across the Pacific in a Raft. Ballantine Books. 2000. ISBN 978-0345236234 Heyerdahl, Thor, & Lyon, F.H. Kon-Tiki. Rand McNally & Company. 1950. Image Entertainment Kon-Tiki (DVD). 1951. Suggs, Robert C. The Island Civilizations of Polynesia. New American Library. 1960. Votager Kon-Tiki Interactive (CD-Rom). 2006.

External Links Kon-Tiki raft and Heyerdahl journey - VictoryShipModels.com | Wooden model ship kits Kon-Tiki raft and Heyerdahl journey - VictoryShipModels.com | Wooden model ship kits Kon-Tiki raft and Heyerdahl journey Nautical stories > Edition 2014 Tiki raft and Heyerdahl´s journey Kon- Tiki was the raft used by Norwegian explorer and writer Thor Heyerdahl in his 1947 expedition across the Pacific Ocean from South America to the Polynesian islands. It was named after the Inca sun god, Viracocha, for whom "Kon- Tiki" was said to be an old name. The Kon- Tiki expedition was funded by private loans, along with donations of equipment from the United States Army. Heyerdahl and a small team went to Peru, where, with the help of dockyard facilities provided by the Peruvian authorities, they constructed the raft out of balsa logs and other native materials in an indigenous style as recorded in illustrations by Spanish conquistadores. The trip began on April 28, 1947.

Heyerdahl and five companions sailed the raft for 101 days over 6900 km (4,300 miles) across the Pacific Ocean before smashing into a reef at Raroia in the Tuamotu Islands on August 7, 1947. The crew made successful landfall and all returned safely. Anthropology was at the beginning Heyerdahl believed that people from South America could have settled Polynesia in pre- Columbian times. Although most anthropologists as of 2010 had come to the conclusion they did not, in 2011, new genetic evidence was uncovered by Erik Thorsby that Easter Island inhabitants in fact do have some South American DNA, lending credence to at least some of Heyerdahl's theses. His aim in mounting the Kon- Tiki expedition was to show, by using only the materials and technologies available to those people at the time, that there were no technical reasons to prevent them from having done so. Although the expedition carried some modern equipment, such as a radio, watches, charts, sextant, and metal knives, Heyerdahl argued they were incidental to the purpose of proving that the raft itself could make the journey.

Brave crew Tiki had a six- man crew, all of whom were Norwegian except for Bengt Danielsson, a Swede. Thor Heyerdahl (1914–2002) was the expedition leader. He was also the author of the book of the expedition and the narrator of the story. Heyerdahl had studied the ancient people of South America and Polynesia and believed that there was a link between the two. Erik Hesselberg (1914–1972) was the navigator and artist. He painted the large Kon- Tiki figure on the raft's sail. His children's book Kon- Tiki and I appeared in Norwegian in 1949 and has since been published in more than 15 languages. Bengt Danielsson (1921–1997) took on the role of steward, in charge of supplies and daily rations. Danielsson was a Swedish sociologist interested in human migration theory. He also served as translator, as he was the only member of the crew who spoke Spanish. He was also a voracious reader; his box aboard the raft contained many books.

Knut Haugland (1917–2009) was a radio expert, decorated by the British in World War II for actions in the Norwegian heavy water sabotage that stalled what were believed to be Germany's plans to develop an atomic bomb. Haugland was the last surviving crew member; he died on Christmas Day, 2009 at the age of 92. Torstein Raaby (1918–1964) was also in charge of radio transmissions. He gained radio experience while hiding behind German lines during WWII, spying on the German battleship Tirpitz. His secret radio transmissions eventually helped guide in Allied bombers to sink the ship. Herman Watzinger (1910–1986) was an engineer whose area of expertise was in technical measurements. He was the first to join Heyerdahl for the trip. He collected and recorded all sorts of data on the voyage. Much of what he recorded, such as weather data, was sent back to various people, since this area of the ocean was largely unstudied. The expedition also carried a pet parrot named Lorita.

Raft construction followed from historical sources The main body of the float was composed of nine balsa tree trunks up to 45 ft. long, 2 ft. in diameter, lashed together with 1? inch hemp ropes. Cross- pieces of balsa logs 18 ft. long and 1 ft. in diameter were lashed across the logs at 3 ft. intervals to give lateral support. Pine splashboards clad the bow, and lengths of pine 1 inch thick and 2 ft. wide were wedged between the balsa logs and used as centreboards. The main mast was made of lengths of mangrove wood lashed together to form an A- frame 29 ft high. Behind the main- mast was a cabin of plaited bamboo 14 ft. long and 8 ft. wide was built about 4–5 ft. high, and roofed with banana leaf thatch. At the stern was a 19 ft. long steering oar of mangrove wood, with a blade of fir. The main sail was 15 by 18 ft. on a yard of bamboo stems lashed together.

Photographs also show a top- sail above the main sail, and also a mizzen- sail, mounted at the stern. The raft was partially decked in split bamboo. The main spars were a laminate of wood and reeds and Heyerdahl tested more than twenty different composites before settling on one that proved an effective compromise between bulk and torsional rigidity. No metal was used in the construction. Raft description is based on Heyerdahl´s book and the raft in the Kon- Tiki Museum, Oslo. Supplies for six men Kon- Tiki carried 275 gallons of drinking water in 56 water cans, as well as a number of sealed bamboo rods. The purpose stated by Heyerdahl for carrying modern and ancient containers was to test the effectiveness of ancient water storage. For food Kon- Tiki carried 200 coconuts, sweet potatoes, bottle gourds and other assorted fruit and roots. The U.S. Army Quartermaster Corps provided field rations, tinned food and survival equipment. In return, the Kon- Tiki explorers reported on the quality and utility of the provisions.

They also caught plentiful numbers of fish, particularly flying fish, "dolphin fish", yellowfin tuna, bonito and shark. Communications with rest of the world The expedition carried an amateur radio station with the call sign of LI2B operated by former World War II Norwegian underground radio operators Knut Haugland and Torstein Raaby. Haugland and Raaby maintained regular communication with a number of American, Canadian, and South American stations that relayed Kon Tiki's status to the Norwegian Embassy in Washington, D.C. On August 5, Haugland made contact with a station in Oslo, Norway, 10,000 miles away. Kon Tiki's transmitters were powered by batteries and a hand- cranked generator and operated on the 40- , the 20- meter band, the 10- meter band, and the 6- meter band. Each unit was water resistant and included 2E30 vacuum tubes providing 10 watts of RF input and approximately 6 watts of output; the equivalent of a small flashlight. A German Mark V transceiver was used as a backup unit.

The radio receiver used throughout the voyage was a National Radio Company NC- 173, once requiring a thorough drying out after being soaked during a shipwreck. An "all well, all well" message was sent via LI2B to notify would- be rescuers of the crew's safety. The call sign LI2B was used by Heyerdahl again in 1969–70, when he built a papyrus reed raft and sailed from Morocco to Barbados in an attempt to show a possible link between the civilization of ancient Egypt and the New World. The voyage Kon- Tiki left Callao, Peru, on the afternoon of April 28, 1947. To avoid coastal traffic it was initially towed 50 miles out by the Fleet Tug Guardian Rios of the Peruvian Navy, and then sailed roughly west carried along on the Humboldt Current. The crew's first sight of land was the atoll of Puka- Puka on July 30. On August 4, the 97th day after departure, Kon- Tiki reached the Angatau atoll.

The crew made brief contact with the inhabitants of Angatau Island, but were unable to land safely. Calculations made by Heyerdahl before the trip had indicated that 97 days was the minimum amount of time required to reach the Tuamotu islands, so that the encounter with Angatau showed that they had made good time. On August 7, the voyage came to an end when the raft struck a reef and was eventually beached on an uninhabited islet off Raroia atoll in the Tuamotu group. The team had travelled a distance of around 3,770 nautical miles (c. 6,980 km (4,340 mi)) in 101 days, at an average speed of 1.5 knots. After spending a number of days alone on the tiny islet, the crews were greeted by men from a village on a nearby island who arrived in canoes, having seen washed- up flotsam from the raft. The crews were taken back to the native village, where they were feted with traditional dances and other festivities.

Finally the crew was taken off Raroia to Tahiti by the French schooner Tamara, with the salvaged Kon- Tiki in tow. Tiki There were many recreations of Kon- Tiki. First of them was Seven Little Sisters raft. In 1954 William Willis sailed alone on a raft Seven Little Sisters from Peru to American Samoa, successfully completing the journey. He sailed 6,700 miles, which was 2,200 miles farther than Kon- Tiki. In a second great voyage ten years later, he rafted 11,000 miles from South America to Australia with a metal raft Age Unlimited. Sources for further study Thor Heyerdahl's book about his experience became a bestseller. It was published in 1948 as The Kon- Tiki Expedition: By Raft Across the South Seas, later reprinted as Kon- Tiki: Across the Pacific in a Raft. A documentary motion picture about the expedition, also called Kon- Tiki was produced from a write- up and expansion of the crew's filmstrip notes and won an Academy Award in 1951.

It was directed by Thor Heyerdahl and edited by Olle Nordemar. The voyage was also chronicled in the documentary TV- series The Kon- Tiki Man: The Life and Adventures of Thor Heyerdahl, directed by Bengt Jonson. The Kon- Tiki raft is now on display in the Kon- Tiki Museum in Oslo. What does KON-TIKI stand for? We've got 0 definitions for KON-TIKI » What does KON-TIKI stand for? What does KON-TIKI mean? This page is about the various possible meanings of the acronym, abbreviation, shorthand or slang term: KON-TIKI. We couldn't find any results for your search. Couldn't find the right meaning of KON-TIKI? Maybe you were looking for one of these abbreviations: ... or use our Power Search technology to look for more unique definitions from across the web! What does KON-TIKI mean? Kon-Tiki Kon-Tiki was the raft used by Norwegian explorer and writer Thor Heyerdahl in his 1947 expedition across the Pacific Ocean from South America to the Polynesian islands.

It was named after the Inca sun god, Viracocha, for whom "Kon-Tiki" was said to be an old name. Kon-Tiki is also the name of Heyerdahl's book, the dramatised feature film nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, and the Academy Award-winning documentary film chronicling his adventures. Heyerdahl believed that people from South America could have settled Polynesia in pre-Columbian times, although most anthropologists now believe they did not. His aim in mounting the Kon-Tiki expedition was to show, by using only the materials and technologies available to those people at the time, that there were no technical reasons to prevent them from having done so. Although the expedition carried some modern equipment, such as a radio, watches, charts, sextant, and metal knives, Heyerdahl argued they were incidental to the purpose of proving that the raft itself could make the journey. The Kon-Tiki expedition was funded by private loans, along with donations of equipment from the United States Army.

Heyerdahl and a small team went to Peru, where, with the help of dockyard facilities provided by the Peruvian authorities, they constructed the raft out of balsa logs and other native materials in an indigenous style as recorded in illustrations by Spanish conquistadores. The trip began on April 28, 1947. Heyerdahl and five companions sailed the raft for 101 days over 6900 km across the Pacific Ocean before smashing into a reef at Raroia in the Tuamotu Islands on August 7, 1947. The crew made successful landfall and all returned safely. Discuss these KON-TIKI abbreviations with the community: Know the definition for KON-TIKI ? Know the meaning of KON-TIKI ? Don't keep it to yourself! Add it HERE! Who is Kon-Tiki? Who is Kon-Tiki? tradebit.com Main Image: Kon-Tiki was the name of the raft built by 32-year-old Thor Heyerdahl who was a Norwegian writer and explorer.

Thor Heyerdahl used the Kon-Tiki to travel across the Pacific Ocean in the 1947 expedition, covering his voyage from ‘South America to the Polynesian islands’. The Kon-Tiki was constructed with natural materials found in the pre-Columbian era. Thor Heyerdahl wanted to prove that it was possible for man to have sailed from East to West even in the pre-Columbian period and there was every possibility that people from South America came to inhabit the Polynesian Islands. Content What is the origin of the name Kon-Tiki? The name Kon-Tiki finds its origin in the name of the Inca sun god who was also known by the name Viracocha. Later in 1948, Heyerdahl came out with his book named “The Kon-Tiki Expedition: By Raft Across the South Seas” which became a bestseller. The book was reprinted with the title “Kon-Tiki: Across the Pacific in a Raft” that was made into a documentary film by the name Kon-Tiki. The film which documented the expedition across the Pacific, earned an Academy Award in 1951. What was the nature of the Kon-Tiki Expedition?

The expedition commenced on 28 April 1947 when Heyerdahl set sail on the Kon-Tiki along with his five companions. Their expedition lasted for 101 days during which they covered nearly 4,300 miles of the Pacific Ocean. The Kon-Tiki finally met its end in the Tuamotu Islands when it smashed against a reef at Raroia. Fortunately the crew could successfully return to safety and tell the world bout their Pacific Expedition. The Kon-Tiki raft has since been exhibited in the Kon-Tiki Museum located in Oslo. Who were the Kon-Tiki Crew? The Kon-Tiki crew consisted of six members including Thor Heyerdahl. Other four Norwegian members were Knut Haagland and Torstien Raaby, who were both radio experts, Erik Hesselberg (an artist and skilled navigator) and Herman Watzinger (an engineer). Bengt Danielsson was the only crew member of Kon-Tiki who was of a Swedish nationality and a sociologist. The Kon-Tiki expedition was mainly sponsored by private loans with some help from the US Army.

The Kon-Tiki was stocked with sweet potatoes, coconuts and field rations supplied by the US Army apart from the fish that the crew caught on its voyages. How was the Kon-Tiki constructed? The Kon-Tiki was constructed without the use of metal in any form.The main part of the Kon-Tiki raft was made of the trunks of nine balsa trees which were fastened together with thick hemp ropes. The trunks were 45 ft long having a diameter of 2 ft while smaller pieces of balsa logs were used across the main body for additional strength and support. The centerboards were constructed with the help of 1 inch thick and 2 ft wide pine that was lodged between the balsa trunks. The other parts of the Kon-Tiki raft such as the main mast and steering oar was built with mangrove wood while the main sail and a cabin was constructed with the help of bamboo stems.

External References Kon Tiki - Societies on DocuWatch - free streaming documentaries Kon Tiki The raft in the Kon-Tiki Museum, Oslo Kon-Tiki is the raft used by Norwegian explorer and writer Thor Heyerdahl in his 1947 expedition across the Pacific Ocean from South America to the Polynesian islands. It was named after the Inca sun god, Viracocha, for whom "Kon-Tiki" was said to be an old name. Kon-Tiki is also the name of the popular book that Heyerdahl wrote about his adventures. Heyerdahl believed that people from South America could have settled Polynesia in pre-Columbian times. His aim in mounting the Kon-Tiki expedition was to show, by using only the materials and technologies available to those people at the time, that there were no technical reasons to prevent them from having done so. (Although the expedition carried some modern equipment, such as a radio, watches, charts, sextant, and metal knives, these were argued to be incidental to the purpose of proving that the raft itself could make the journey.) The Kon-Tiki expedition was funded by private loans, along with donations of equipment from the United States Army.

Heyerdahl and a small team went to Peru, where, with the help of dockyard facilities provided by the Peruvian authorities, they constructed the raft out of balsa logs and other native materials in an indigenous style as recorded in illustrations by Spanish conquistadores. The trip began on April 28, 1947. Heyerdahl and five companions sailed the raft for 101 days over 4,300 miles across the Pacific Ocean before smashing into a reef at Raroia in the Tuamotu Islands on August 7, 1947. The crew made successful landfall and all returned safely. Thor Heyerdahl's book about his experience became a bestseller. It was originally published in 1950 as The Kon-Tiki Expedition: By Raft Across the South Seas, later reprinted as Kon-Tiki: Across the Pacific in a Raft. A documentary motion picture about the expedition, also called Kon-Tiki was produced from a write-up and expansion of the crew's filmstrip notes and won an Academy Award in 1951. It was directed by Thor Heyerdahl and edited by Olle Nordemar.

The voyage was also chronicled in the documentary TV-series The Kon-Tiki Man: The Life and Adventures of Thor Heyerdahl, directed by Bengt Jonson. The original Kon-Tiki boat is now on display in the Kon-Tiki Museum in Oslo. Show less H5729 Ship model, scale model of the Kon-Tiki raft - Powerhouse Museum Collection History Notes include facts about what has happened to an object since manufacture. This could include who owned it and how it was used (provenance). It may also describe any cultural meanings with which it may have become associated. History notes " Kon-Tik i" was the raft used by Norwegian explorer and writer Thor Heyerdahl in his 1947 expedition across the Pacific Ocean from South America to the Polynesian Islands. It was named after the Inca sun god, Viracocha, for whom "Kon-Tiki" is an old name. The object of the expedition was to show, by using only the materials and technologies available to people of pre-Columbian time, that people from South America could have settled Polynesia. The "Kon-Tiki" was crewed by five Norwegians and one Swede.

Of the crew, Knut Haugland was a radio expert, decorated by the British in WW11 for actions in the sabotaging of the Norwegian heavy water plant, an action that stalled Germany's plans to develop an atomic bomb. Also in the crew was Torstein Raaby, who was responsible for radio transmissions behind German lines during WW11, which guided Allied bombers to sink the German battleship "Tirpitz". The main body of the raft was composed of nine balsa tree trunks lashed together with hemp ropes. Pine splashboards clad the bow, and lengths of pine were wedged between the balsa logs and used as centreboards. The main-mast was made of lengths of mangrove wood lashed together to form an A-frame. Behind the main-mast was a cabin of plaited bamboo ,roofed with banana leaf thatch. At the stern was a long steering oar of mangrove wood, with a blade of fir. The main sail was on a yard of bamboo stems lashed together. The raft was partially decked in split bamboo. The "Kon-Tiki" left Callao. Peru A,pril 28th 1947.

The crew's first sight of land was the atoll of Puka-Puka on 30th July, and on 4th August reached the Angatau atoll after 97 days sailing. On 7th August, the raft struck a reef and was beached on an uninhabited islet off Raroia Island in the Tuamotu group. The raft had travelled around 3,770 nautical miles (c. 6980 km.) in 101 days at an average speed of 1.5 kmots. In 2006, a Norwegian team, including Olav Heyerdahl, grandson of Thor Heyerdahl, successfully repeated the voyage using a newly built raft, the "Tangaroa". Heyerdahl set out on his epic trip to prove a theory that the Polynesian Islands had been populated from South America, based on the fact that wind and ocean streams flow across the Pacific from east to west. At that time, it had been generally accepted that the Pacific Islands had been populated by migrations from Indonesia.

The main argument against Heyerdahl's theory was the lack of evidence of Pre-Columbian Indians having sea-going vessels capable of deep ocean voyages. The theory is still highly controversial, with strong advocates on both sides. Heyerdahl also constructed the reed ship" RA "and "RA11", "RA" making it across the Atlantic in 1969 but coming apart before reaching the Caribbean, and " RA11 "successfully transiting from Safi ,Morocco to Barbados in1970. He was involved in archeological studies in The Galapagos,Easter Island, The Maldives, Tucume Peru, Tenerife, Azov, Russia, and has written extensively ,including the books "The Kon-Tiki Expedition", and "Aku-Aku, the Secrets of Easter Island ". The "Kon-Tiki" and "RA 11" are both housed at the "Kon-Tiki" Museum on the Bygdoy Peninsula, near Oslo.

Model ship kit-KON tiki KS11 [KS11] - $38.00 : Model ship kits, ZHL wooden ship model kits and model boat kits Size:402MM Scale:1/16 The Kon-Tiki expedition was a 1947 journey by raft across the Pacific Ocean from South America to the Polynesian islands, led by Norwegian explorer and writer Thor Heyerdahl. The raft was named Kon-Tiki after the Inca sun god, Viracocha, for whom "Kon-Tiki" was said to be an old name. Kon-Tiki is also the name of Heyerdahl's book; the Academy Award-winning documentary film chronicling his adventures; and the 2012 dramatised feature film nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. Heyerdahl believed that people from South America could have settled Polynesia in pre-Columbian times.

Although most anthropologists as of 2010 had come to the conclusion they did not,[1][2][3] in 2011, new genetic evidence was uncovered by Erik Thorsby that Easter Island inhabitants do have some South American DNA,[4] lending credence to at least some of Heyerdahl's theses. His aim in mounting the Kon-Tiki expedition was to show, by using only the materials and technologies available to those people at the time, that there were no technical reasons to prevent them from having done so. Although the expedition carried some modern equipment, such as a radio, watches, charts, sextant, and metal knives, Heyerdahl argued they were incidental to the purpose of proving that the raft itself could make the journey. The Kon-Tiki expedition was funded by private loans, along with donations of equipment from the United States Army. Heyerdahl and a small team went to Peru, where, with the help of dockyard facilities provided by the Peruvian authorities, they constructed the raft out of balsa logs and other native materials in an indigenous style as recorded in illustrations by Spanish conquistadores. The trip began on April 28, 1947.

Heyerdahl and five companions sailed the raft for 101 days over 6900 km (4,300 miles) across the Pacific Ocean before smashing into a reef at Raroia in the Tuamotu Islands on August 7, 1947. The crew made successful landfall and all returned safely. Thor Heyerdahl's book about his experience became a bestseller. It was published in Norwegian in 1948 as The Kon-Tiki Expedition: By Raft Across the South Seas, later reprinted as Kon-Tiki: Across the Pacific in a Raft. It appeared with great success in English in 1950, also in many other languages. A documentary motion picture about the expedition, also called Kon-Tiki was produced from a write-up and expansion of the crew's filmstrip notes and won an Academy Award in 1951. It was directed by Thor Heyerdahl and edited by Olle Nordemar.

The voyage was also chronicled in the documentary TV-series The Kon-Tiki Man: The Life and Adventures of Thor Heyerdahl, directed by Bengt Jonson.[5] The original Kon-Tiki raft is now on display in the Kon-Tiki Museum in Bygd?y, near Oslo. the procedure to make the contiki Sharpen one side of the stick, and make the other side round, it's up to you, just make the whole sense messy. take the 1:1 proportion picture as refence to lay out the potential area When there is no problem, you can begin to bind them every time you just have to bind 2 of the sticks, and the knot in the middle of the sticks, 1mm seam left, insert the centerboard from the back,as for the knot, how to do it, in which way, acctually the only requiment is to fasten. binded combination cut out a straw mat for reference insert the centerboard into the seam way to make the manger of the shiphead, all them are binded, natural without any nail.

picture of the final version begin to work, the lower layer is piled with small sticks, as there is something wrong in the picture, you have to take the picture in the kit as reference. as for the straw mat, you should take the picture in the kit as reference as well, mark and drill the hole, prepare to make the sunshade. install the standing column As the sideboard of the sunshade is cut from the straw mat according to the proportion, you should notice the edge of the straw mat, and it is also the reason why it cannot be cut by laser machine. install the mast NOTE： Though the price is low, it is entry level ancient sail model for children or entry level fans to make. basic tools and accessories are needed, a little hard to make( different from the plastic ones which need polishing and correction adjustment), the material for sharing and learning will be provided in the forum, order after consideration, and children can order it with the help and suggestion of teacher or parents.

This is a kit for youth, which do a lot of good to the wisdom and handwork development of youth, also a milestone for fans to step into the ancient model ship area, children could make the model under the survailence of parents or teachers to avoid being hurt by the knife， blade or drill and so on by mistake. Model: KS11 Tour Operator Kon-Tiki Tours Tweet About Kon-Tiki Tours Oy Kon-Tiki Tours Ltd is a privately owned tour operator and travel agency in Finland. We do tailor made tours for groups on request. For individual clients we offer tours in co-operation with selected magazines and media. Kon-Tiki Tours operates in whole Finland. In November 2016 Kon-Tiki Tours acquired another Finnish tour operator Trio Travels Oy. The acquisition supports Kon-Tiki´s growth ambitions and gives it a stronger market position in travel field, among the mid-size tour operators. By merging these two companies Kon-Tiki Tours will be able to offer an even wider selection of products for different client segments. After the acquisition the turn-over of the company will raise up to nearly 5 m€. Kon-Tiki and Trio Travels share similar values and a strong sense of responsibility as a tour operator.

Kon-Tiki Tours operates under three brands according to the clientele. Since 1995 we are known for organizing nature tours and bird watching tours by name Kon-Tiki Tours and since 1999 tailored senior travellers´ tours by the name MatkaSeniorit. WHOPS (Wealthy Healthy Older People) are one of our top target market. Trio Travels is known for forest and agriculture study trips in addition to culture tours. We operate with local agents and incoming agencies all over the world and are happy to offer tailored culture, nature & wellness tours as well as other special interest tours all over the world. “All three brands – Trio Travels, MatkaSeniorit and Kon-Tiki – carry on even stronger and more vital with our entrepreneurial spirit. We have now 12 employees and three offices in Helsinki, Turku and Kuusamo ”, says owner Timo Saranpää. For further information Timo Saranpää, managing director, entrepreneur timo@kontiki.fi Tel +358 50 523 6005 We are a member of AFTA (The Association of Finnish Travel Agents), PATA and The Finnish Association for Fair Tourism FAFT .

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Question: Raft used by Norwegian explorer Thor Heyerdahl named after Inca Sun God.
Answer: Kon Tiki