Is the Kon Tiki theory correct?

Is the Kon Tiki theory correct?

Fifty years ago, Thor Heyerdahl and the Kon-Tiki expedition appeared to prove that ancient humans could have sailed west from South American to colonise the Pacific islands. But DNA evidence now shows that his theory was wrong. Charles Arthur, Science Editor, on the molecules that have upset a great adventure.

Is the story of Kon-Tiki true?

“Kon-Tiki” is based on a true story that follows the incredible story of Norwegian explorer Thor Heyerdahl, who crossed the Pacific ocean in a balsa wood raft in 1947, together with five men, to prove that South Americans – specifically, Peruvians – back in pre-Colombian times could have crossed the sea and settled on …

What happened to the crew of Kon-Tiki?

Heyerdahl and five companions sailed the raft for 101 days over 6,900 km (4,300 miles) across the Pacific Ocean before smashing into a reef at Raroia in the Tuamotus on August 7, 1947. The crew made successful landfall and all returned safely.

What is the Kon Tiki theory?

The Kon-Tiki theory suggested that the Pacific island world was settled by two distinctly different migration waves, both coming via the Americas. American Indians is most accurately described as an amateur ethnological study.

What evidence supports Thor Heyerdahl’s theory?

Large DNA set The researchers started with DNA testing, the same tool that over the years initially helped debunk Heyerdahl’s theory. The research team collected DNA tests from 166 of the Easter Island’s indigenous people, as well as from 188 Polynesians from islands across the vast Pacific Ocean.

Was Polynesia settled from the east?

Polynesian culture developed at the eastern edge of this region (i.e., in Samoa and Tonga). –Around 300 B.C. or earlier, seafarers from Samoa and Tonga discovered and settled islands to the east – the Cook Islands, Tahiti-nui, Tuamotus, and Hiva (Marquesas Islands).

Who discovered Polynesia?

The first Polynesian islands visited by European explorers were the Marquesas Islands, first discovered by Europeans when the Spanish navigator, Álvaro de Mendaña de Neira, found the islands in 1595.

Was the Kon Tiki expedition successful?

After 101 days at sea the Kon-Tiki ran aground on a coral reef by the Raroia atoll in Polynesia. The expedition had been an unconditional success, and Thor Heyerdahl and his crew had demonstrated that South American peoples could in fact have journeyed to the islands of the South Pacific by balsa raft.

What is the DNA of Polynesians?

Today, people on Rapa Nui, also known as Easter Island, and four other Polynesian islands carry small amounts of DNA inherited from people who lived in Colombia about 800 years ago. One explanation: Polynesians came to South America, and then took South Americans onto their boats to voyage back out to sea.

What happened to the Kon-Tiki raft?

Which Polynesian country is the oldest?

Tonga
Archaeological dating places Tonga as the oldest known site in Polynesia for the distinctive Lapita ceramic ware, at 2800–2750 years before present.

Where did Polynesians originally come from?

They trace their early prehistoric origins to Island Southeast Asia and form part of the larger Austronesian ethnolinguistic group with an Urheimat in Taiwan. They speak the Polynesian languages, a branch of the Oceanic subfamily of the Austronesian language family.

What did Thor Heyerdahl’s expedition prove?

In 1969 Heyerdahl and a small crew crossed the Atlantic Ocean from Morocco to within 600 miles (965 km) of Central America in a facsimile of an ancient Egyptian reed boat, the Ra, thus confirming the possibility that the pre-Columbian cultures of the Western Hemisphere might have been influenced by Egyptian …

How old was Thor Heyerdahl when he died?

87 years (1914–2002)Thor Heyerdahl / Age at death
He was 87. Mr. Heyerdahl died of cancer in Italy, where he had been vacationing, his family said. He had lived in recent years in Güímar, Tenerife, in the Canary Islands.