The Kon-Tiki Expedition

Whether the Inca Viracocha was a direct survival, a reinterpretation, or a later identification remains disputed.

The name Kontiki, connected in some accounts to a creator figure, acquired modern fame in 1947 when Thor Heyerdahl used it for the raft with which he sailed from South America toward Polynesia.

His experiment demonstrated that such a voyage was physically possible with a craft built along traditional lines.

It did not, by itself, establish the origin of Polynesian settlement or verify the proposed identity of Kontiki with any particular image from Tiwanaku.

The connection is memorable because an ancient divine name became associated with one of the 20th century's most celebrated maritime experiments.

Mangkokapak crosses the boundary between god and ruler still more openly.

Now, you may not recognize that name, but I, I'll bet you a lot of you actually do recognize that name, Thor Heyerdahl.

And if I say Kon-Tiki, then it's gonna dial it right in, I'm sure, because he, back in nineteen forty-seven, sailed from South America to the Polynesian islands, um, in a raft that was essentially based on what, uh, what, uh, peoples of the, of the, um, of the, uh, earlier eras could have used and may have used in order to be able to sail, uh, from that, that kind of distance.

And so what's really cool about this, again, it's like, well, I'm going to prove, I'm gonna set out, and I'm going to show that it can be done using the materials and so forth available, and here's how it could have been done.

And it was turned into a book.

And it, it's always kind of stuck with me.

So [chuckles] if, if, uh, uh, you know, if you learn about history and it's just kinda dry and, well, then you had an, probably an awful, uh, history teacher.

But I remember learning about Thor Heyerdahl and thinking about the Kon-Tiki and how it would have been constructed, and the very fact that this would have been a, a very dangerous thing, uh, to do.

And it would have been, uh, obviously s- and not foolhardy, but certainly a little bit out there.

Mm.

Yes, Thor Hey- Thor Heyerdahl, yes, on all his Kon-Tiki stuff and, and all of that.

And you know, the things like the cocaine mummies, you know, that, that, um, our dear friend Gary Evans talks about, um, for example.

Um, yes, you know, the cocaine mummies, uh, found in Egypt with cocaine from, from South America.