The Kon-Tiki Expedition: By Raft Across the South Seas

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The Kon-Tiki Expedition: By Raft Across the South Seas

TheKonTikiExpedition.jpg

First edition (Norwegian)
Author Thor Heyerdahl
Original titleKon-Tiki Ekspedisjonen
Country Norway
Language Norwegian
Publisher Gyldendal Norsk Forlag
George Allen & Unwin Ltd. (UK)
Publication date
1948
Published in English
1950
Pages 235

The Kon-Tiki Expedition: By Raft Across the South Seas (Norwegian : Kon-Tiki ekspedisjonen) is a 1948 book by the Norwegian writer Thor Heyerdahl. It recounts Heyerdahl's experiences with the Kon-Tiki expedition, where he travelled across the Pacific Ocean on a balsa tree raft. The book was first published in Norway on 2 November 1948, and sold out in 15 days. [1]

Norwegian language North Germanic language spoken in Norway

Norwegian is a North Germanic language spoken mainly in Norway, where it is the official language. Along with Swedish and Danish, Norwegian forms a dialect continuum of more or less mutually intelligible local and regional varieties, and some Norwegian and Swedish dialects, in particular, are very close. These Scandinavian languages, together with Faroese and Icelandic as well as some extinct languages, constitute the North Germanic languages. Faroese and Icelandic are hardly mutually intelligible with Norwegian in their spoken form because continental Scandinavian has diverged from them. While the two Germanic languages with the greatest numbers of speakers, English and German, have close similarities with Norwegian, neither is mutually intelligible with it. Norwegian is a descendant of Old Norse, the common language of the Germanic peoples living in Scandinavia during the Viking Era.

Thor Heyerdahl Norwegian anthropologist and adventurer

Thor Heyerdahl was a Norwegian adventurer and ethnographer with a background in zoology, botany, and geography. He became notable for his Kon-Tiki expedition in 1947, in which he sailed 8,000 km (5,000 mi) across the Pacific Ocean in a hand-built raft from South America to the Tuamotu Islands. The expedition was designed to demonstrate that ancient people could have made long sea voyages, creating contacts between separate cultures. This was linked to a diffusionist model of cultural development. Heyerdahl subsequently made other voyages designed to demonstrate the possibility of contact between widely separated ancient people, notably the Ra II expedition of 1970, when he sailed from the west coast of Africa to Barbados in a papyrus reed boat. He was appointed a government scholar in 1984.

<i>Kon-Tiki</i> expedition raft used by Thor Heyerdahl

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 dramatized feature film nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.

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Bygdøy or Bygdø is a peninsula situated on the western side of Oslo, Norway. Administratively, Bygdøy belongs to the borough of Frogner. Bygdøy is also the home of five national museums as well as a royal estate.

Torstein Raaby Norwegian resistance member

Torstein Pettersen Raaby was a Norwegian telegrapher, resistance fighter and explorer. He is known as a crew member on the Kon-Tiki expedition.

Knut Haugland Norwegian resistance fighter

Knut Magne Haugland, DSO, MM, was a resistance fighter and noted explorer from Norway, who accompanied Thor Heyerdahl on his famous 1947 Kon-Tiki expedition.

Eduard Ingris Czech traveller, conductor, photographer and composer

Eduard Ingriš was a Czech-American composer, photographer, conductor and adventurer.

Kon-Tiki (Scouting)

Kon-Tiki refers to Scout and Guide raft-building competitions held by Scouts South Africa and Scouts Australia.

<i>Kon-Tiki</i> (1950 film) 1950 Norwegian film directed by Thor Heyerdahl

Kon-Tiki is a Norwegian-Swedish documentary film about the Kon-Tiki expedition led by Norwegian explorer and writer Thor Heyerdahl in 1947, released in Sweden, Norway, Finland, and Denmark in 1950, followed by the United States in 1951. The movie, which was directed by Thor Heyerdahl and edited by Olle Nordemar, received the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature for 1951 at the 24th Academy Awards. The Oscar officially went to Olle Nordemar.

Kontiki or Kon-Tiki may refer to:

Tangaroa Expedition

The Tangaroa Expedition of 2006 closely resembled the Kon-Tiki expedition sailing a balsa raft from Peru to Polynesia. Tangaroa outperformed Kon-Tiki by having an improved sail rig and by actively using guaras (centerboards). As such, the expedition represents a scientific continuation of Thor Heyerdahl's experiments in recreated maritime technology.

The Kantuta Expeditions were two separate expeditions on balsa rafts led by the Czech explorer and adventurer Eduard Ingris.

Kon-Tiki Museum museum

The Kon-Tiki Museum is a museum in the Bygdøy peninsula in Oslo, Norway. It houses vessels and maps from the Kon-Tiki expedition, as well as a library with about 8000 books. It was opened in a provisional building in 1949. In 1957, the current building—designed by architects F. S. Platou and Otto Torgersen—was opened. In 1978, an extension of the museum designed by Torgersen was opened.

Snake mackerel species of fish

The snake mackerel is a species of fish in the monotypic genus Gempylus, belonging to the family Gempylidae. It is found worldwide in tropical and subtropical oceans between the latitudes of 42° N and 40° S; adults are known to stray into temperate waters. It is found to a depth of 600 meters. Populations of the snake mackerel from the Atlantic and the Indo-Pacific differ in vertebral count and number of first dorsal fin spines, and so may represent separate species.

Kon-Tiki Nunatak is a raft-like nunatak, 1,300 metres (4,300 ft) high, surmounting the Cooper Icefalls in the center of Nimrod Glacier, Antarctica. It was first seen by the northern party of the New Zealand Geological Survey Antarctic Expedition (1961–62) and named after the raft Kon-Tiki which was sailed across the Pacific Ocean from East to West in 1947 by the Norwegian explorer Thor Heyerdahl.

<i>Kon-Tiki</i> (2012 film) 2012 Norwegian film

Kon-Tiki is a 2012 historical drama film directed by Joachim Rønning and Espen Sandberg about the 1947 Kon-Tiki expedition. The film was mainly shot on the island of Malta. The role of Thor Heyerdahl is played by Pål Sverre Hagen. The film is an international co-production between Norway, Denmark, Germany, Sweden, and the United Kingdom.

Herman Watzinger Norwegian resistance member

Herman Watzinger was a Norwegian engineer in the area of cooling technique from NTH in Trondheim and a crewmember on the Kon-Tiki expedition. He was also a Milorg member during the Second World War operation Polar Bear II, which was brought to Trondheim by Captain Leif Hauge.

Erik Hesselberg Norwegian resistance member

Erik Bryn Hesselberg was a Norwegian sailor, author, photographer, painter and sculptor. He is most known as a crewmember of the Kon-Tiki raft expedition from South America to French Polynesia in 1947.

Torgeir Sæverud Higraff Norwegian explorer

Torgeir Sæverud Higraff is an explorer, teacher and author with special interest in prehistoric transoceanic contact. Like Thor Heyerdahl, Higraff combines history, anthropology and traditional knowledge with expeditions. In 2002, the year Heyerdahl died, Higraff decided to recreate the Kon-Tiki expedition, and in 2006 the Tangaroa Expedition sailed from Peru to Raiatea in eastern Polynesia. Tangaroa outperformed Kon-Tiki by using an improved sail rig and active use of the guara centerboards.

A guara is a hardwood centerboard used in Polynesian rafts. The Tangaroa Expedition outperformed Kon-Tiki in part due to using guaras.

Kon-Tiki2

The Kon-Tiki2 Expedition built and sailed two balsawood rafts from Peru to Easter Island in 2015. The goal of the expedition was to show that balsawood rafts can be sailed across long distances, and to collect scientific data in the southeast Pacific. The expedition built two rafts in 30 days and went on to sail the rafts more than 2000 nautical miles before reaching Easter Island after 43 days at sea. No other balsa rafts have sailed to Easter Island in modern times.

References

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