1914-

Norwegian anthropologist and explorer who led several transoceanic voyages aboard primitive vessels to prove the possibility of ancient sea migrations. During his 1947 Kon-Tiki expedition, Heyerdahl sailed on a small raft from the Pacific coast of South America to Polynesia. In 1969 he crossed the Atlantic Ocean from Morocco to the coast of Central America in the Ra II, a replica of an ancient Egyptian reed boat. Since then Heyerdahl has made similar voyages down the Tigris River, to Easter Island, and Peru.