Monica Fjeld Monica Fjeld

Epic journey across five continents

"The greatest land adventure of its time". Jiří Hanzelka and Miroslav Zikmund started their 10-year journey from Prague on April 22, 1947, just six days before the Kon-Tiki journey. They crossed 5 continents in their own car. They published 10 travelogues and 3 documentaries.

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Monica Fjeld Monica Fjeld

The woman behind the Kon-Tiki expedition

The Kon-Tiki expedition made six men world famous. However, it was a woman, Gerd Vold Hurum, who was central to the organization of the expedition and held the reins on land. She was the secret seventh member of the expedition.

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Monica Fjeld Monica Fjeld

Galapagos-Reevaluation of the evidence

Fishermen appear to have frequented visited the Galapagos group for centuries before the arrival of the first European visitors. From various locations on the mainland, from coastal Ecuador to the Casma Valley area in the southern part of the range.

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Monica Fjeld Monica Fjeld

When and how did the marae structure develop?

Did two Swedish archaeologists finally figured out how and when marae structures developed in Eastern Polynesia? In a recently published article, Paul Wallin and Helene Martinsson-Wallin from Uppsala University visit their own excavation of a key Rapa Nui site.

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Monica Fjeld Monica Fjeld

Models of the Kon-Tiki fleet

The "Kon-Tiki" brand was widely used in popular culture. Thor and the crew devised ways to make money to pay back some of the debt they had incurred during the expedition. Souvenirs for sale, including Kon-Tiki models, became a solution.

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Monica Fjeld Monica Fjeld

The new reference for Rongorongo researchers

Rongorongo is one of the few written scripts invented by mankind, and was first discovered on the small island of Rapa Nui in the 1860s. The scripts consist of figures carved into a piece of wood. "The original name is said to have been kohau motu mo rongorongo.

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Monica Fjeld Monica Fjeld

A lost manuscript called Rongo-rongo

The Rapanui culture has presented researchers with many questions, often referred to as mysteries. The Moai statues are perhaps the most famous of all the mysteries. How these stone giants were carved, transported and erected has preoccupied anthropologists for many decades.

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Kerstin Krohg Kerstin Krohg

Racism in Thor Heyerdahl's theories?

Was Thor Heyerdahl's search for a lost people of megalithic builders a racist theory? From time to time, writers and researchers make claims. Several are well argued, but some contain errors and personal interpretations.

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Kerstin Krohg Kerstin Krohg

‘Uncovering Pacific Pasts’ a collaboration

Uncovering Pacific Pasts is a unique collaboration between 25 museums and research institutions in the Pacific, America and Europe to tell stories about the development of archaeological research in the region. Each institution has a small exhibition.

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Kerstin Krohg Kerstin Krohg

Five thousand new photos in the archive!

The Kon-Tiki Museum has enriched its archive with 5,000 new photographs of Thor Heyerdahl's life, work and travels. The images are the collection of the outstanding Italian photographer Walter Leonardi, and originate mainly from the 1980s and 1990s.

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Monica Fjeld Monica Fjeld

White gods, white scientists, white lies

The book Thor Heyerdahl and the hunt for Atlantis makes a number of claims about Thor Heyerdahl's life and theories. Not all are equally correct. Read our review to find out what is right and what is wrong with the book.

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Monica Fjeld Monica Fjeld

'Kon-Tiki' in modern popular culture

The Kon-Tiki expedition became the most talked about adventure after World War II. With increasing fame throughout the 1950s, the term "Kon-Tiki" became a buzz word and eventually a popular culture phenomenon in its own right.

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Kerstin Krohg Kerstin Krohg

The anti-nuclear movement in Tahiti

Hvordan vokste motstanden mot atomtesting i Fransk Polynesia til en sterk politisk bevegelse med internasjonal støtte? Den svenske studenten, Anton Öhman, fant svaret i Bengt Danielsson-arkivet på Kon-Tiki-museet.

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Kerstin Krohg Kerstin Krohg

Daring ocean crossings before Kon-Tiki

The Kon-Tiki voyage was hailed as the greatest maritime adventure of our time. But was Thor Heyerdahl the first to experiment with copies of old crafts? Or was he equally inspired by the adventurous travels of others?

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