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Aku Aku
Aku-Aku, the Secret of Easter Island describes Thor Heyerdahl's research at Rano Raraku & Anakena on their many giant stone statues. The book & later film made a major contribution to awareness, outside anthropological & archeological communities, of both the island & the statues. Much of his evidence has now been refuted by archeologists. His methods have been criticised. Paul Bahn wrote: "he relied on the selective use of evidence, which resulted in a misleading conclusion".
Heyerdahl is most controversially associated with an attempt to revive the theory that the islanders' stone carving technology came from S. America. He argued that as well as being settled by Polynesians, Easter Island was settled by people from Peru, an area described as "more culturally developed".
"Aku-aku" refers to moving a tall, flat bottomed object by swiveling it alternatively on its corners in a walking fashion. Heyerdahl theorised the Easter Island Moai (statues) were moved in this fashion, & tested this on a small Moai--tho the test was abandoned after the Moai's base was damaged. He also asserts that for the islanders, Aku Aku means a "spiritual guide."
Heyerdahl compared the highest quality stonework on the island to pre-Columbian Amerindian stonework such as at Tihuanaco. Seemingly unaware of Polynesian stoneworking traditions such as the Marae he said of Ahu Vinapu's retaining wall "No Polynesian fisherman would have been capable of conceiving, much less building such a wall". However Alfred Metraux had already pointed out that the rubble filled Rapanui walls were of a fundamentally different design to those of the Inca.
Heyerdahl claimed a S. American origin for some Easter Island plants including the Totora reeds in the islands' three crater lakes which are now recognised as a separate species to the ones in Lake Titicaca. Also the Sweet Potato, which is now reckoned to have been in Polynesia before Easter Island was settled.
Heyerdahl is most controversially associated with an attempt to revive the theory that the islanders' stone carving technology came from S. America. He argued that as well as being settled by Polynesians, Easter Island was settled by people from Peru, an area described as "more culturally developed".
"Aku-aku" refers to moving a tall, flat bottomed object by swiveling it alternatively on its corners in a walking fashion. Heyerdahl theorised the Easter Island Moai (statues) were moved in this fashion, & tested this on a small Moai--tho the test was abandoned after the Moai's base was damaged. He also asserts that for the islanders, Aku Aku means a "spiritual guide."
Heyerdahl compared the highest quality stonework on the island to pre-Columbian Amerindian stonework such as at Tihuanaco. Seemingly unaware of Polynesian stoneworking traditions such as the Marae he said of Ahu Vinapu's retaining wall "No Polynesian fisherman would have been capable of conceiving, much less building such a wall". However Alfred Metraux had already pointed out that the rubble filled Rapanui walls were of a fundamentally different design to those of the Inca.
Heyerdahl claimed a S. American origin for some Easter Island plants including the Totora reeds in the islands' three crater lakes which are now recognised as a separate species to the ones in Lake Titicaca. Also the Sweet Potato, which is now reckoned to have been in Polynesia before Easter Island was settled.
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First published January 1, 1957
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About the author
Thor Heyerdahl
66 books313 followersThor Heyerdahl (October 6, 1914, Larvik, Norway – April 18, 2002, Colla Micheri, Italy) was a Norwegian ethnographer and adventurer with a scientific background in zoology and geography. Heyerdahl became notable for his Kon-Tiki expedition, in which he sailed 4,300 miles (8,000 km) by raft from South America to the Tuamotu Islands. All his legendary expeditions are shown in the Kon-Tiki Museum, Oslo.
Thor Heyerdahl was born in Larvik, the son of master brewer Thor Heyerdahl and his wife Alison Lyng. As a young child, Thor Heyerdahl showed a strong interest in zoology. He created a small museum in his childhood home, with a Vipera berus as the main attraction. He studied Zoology and Geography at University of Oslo. At the same time, he privately studied Polynesian culture and history, consulting what was then the world's largest private collection of books and papers on Polynesia, owned by Bjarne Kropelien, a wealthy wine merchant in Oslo. This collection was later purchased by the University of Oslo Library from Kropelien's heirs and was attached to the Kon-Tiki Museum research department. After seven terms and consultations with experts in Berlin, a project was developed and sponsored by his zoology professors, Kristine Bonnevie and Hjalmar Broch. He was to visit some isolated Pacific island groups and study how the local animals had found their way there. Just before sailing together to the Marquesas Islands in 1936, he married his first wife, Liv Coucheron-Torp (b. 1916), whom he had met shortly before enrolling at the University, and who had studied economics there. Though she is conspicuously absent from many of his papers and talks, Liv participated in nearly all of Thor's journeys, with the exception of the Kon-Tiki Expedition. The couple had two sons; Thor Jr and Bjørn. The marriage ended in divorce and in 1949 Thor Heyerdahl married Yvonne Dedekam-Simonsen. They in turn had three daughters; Annette, Marian and Helene Elisabeth. This marriage also ended in divorce, in 1969. In 1991 Thor Heyerdahl married for the third time, to Jacqueline Beer (b. 1932).
Thor Heyerdahl's grandson, Olav Heyerdahl, retraced his grandfather's Kon-Tiki voyage in 2006, as part of a six-member crew. The voyage, called the Tangaroa Expedition, was intended as a tribute to Thor Heyerdahl, as well as a means to monitor the Pacific Ocean's environment. A film about the voyage is in preparation.
--from Wikipedia
Thor Heyerdahl was born in Larvik, the son of master brewer Thor Heyerdahl and his wife Alison Lyng. As a young child, Thor Heyerdahl showed a strong interest in zoology. He created a small museum in his childhood home, with a Vipera berus as the main attraction. He studied Zoology and Geography at University of Oslo. At the same time, he privately studied Polynesian culture and history, consulting what was then the world's largest private collection of books and papers on Polynesia, owned by Bjarne Kropelien, a wealthy wine merchant in Oslo. This collection was later purchased by the University of Oslo Library from Kropelien's heirs and was attached to the Kon-Tiki Museum research department. After seven terms and consultations with experts in Berlin, a project was developed and sponsored by his zoology professors, Kristine Bonnevie and Hjalmar Broch. He was to visit some isolated Pacific island groups and study how the local animals had found their way there. Just before sailing together to the Marquesas Islands in 1936, he married his first wife, Liv Coucheron-Torp (b. 1916), whom he had met shortly before enrolling at the University, and who had studied economics there. Though she is conspicuously absent from many of his papers and talks, Liv participated in nearly all of Thor's journeys, with the exception of the Kon-Tiki Expedition. The couple had two sons; Thor Jr and Bjørn. The marriage ended in divorce and in 1949 Thor Heyerdahl married Yvonne Dedekam-Simonsen. They in turn had three daughters; Annette, Marian and Helene Elisabeth. This marriage also ended in divorce, in 1969. In 1991 Thor Heyerdahl married for the third time, to Jacqueline Beer (b. 1932).
Thor Heyerdahl's grandson, Olav Heyerdahl, retraced his grandfather's Kon-Tiki voyage in 2006, as part of a six-member crew. The voyage, called the Tangaroa Expedition, was intended as a tribute to Thor Heyerdahl, as well as a means to monitor the Pacific Ocean's environment. A film about the voyage is in preparation.
--from Wikipedia
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February 16, 2025
I can remember when I first heard of Thor Heyerdahl. It was a new term at school, and we were given our new text books. One of the reads for English looked incomprehensible to me: it was called “The Kon-Tiki Expedition” by Thor Heyerdahl. I was 14, and could only recognise two words of this title! After school I went home and told my parents about this strange book, making an attempt at the name and title. To my astonishment, they could not only recognise the author from my garbled attempt, but knew of the book. And I found that I was soon hooked on the adventures of this brave Norwegian, who with only five companions set off in April 1947 to sail a simple balsa wood raft across the Pacific Ocean, with the bare minimum of equipment and no modern tools, to see if it could be done. They set off from South America, sailing across to the Polynesian islands. It was 4,300 miles, and took them 101 days, swept along by the Pacific’s Humboldt current.
Heyerdahl continued to search for archaeological evidence, travelling to the Galapagos islands in 1952–53. He found shards of what were suggested to be pre-Incan pots, which challenged the idea that no pre-European visitors had been there. In 1969–70, he built two boats from papyrus in the style of Egyptian boatbuilding: “Ra” and “Ra II” setting out to cross the Atlantic Ocean from Morocco in Africa to the Caribbean islands and succeeding on the second attempt.
I was thrilled by the idea of the Kon-Tiki voyage, fighting the savage elements of sea and weather, and avidly followed other lone seafarers. At that time in 1966–67 (Sir) Francis Chichester was breaking all records in sailing single-handedly around the world in “Gipsy Moth IV”, making only one stop. It took him just nine months and a day. In 1977–78 Claire Francis became the first solo yachtswoman to sail round the world. I was entranced by all these stories. What courage! I would dearly love to face such a challenge, but quickly realised that you needed quite a lot of money to even embark on developing the skills needed, never mind actually mounting an expedition.
But for Thor Heyerdahl, it was not merely the challenge of fighting the odds to survive against savage sea and weather conditions. He wanted to prove his theory, that people from South America could have reached Polynesia during pre-Columbian times. By the time of this book Aku-Aku: the Secret of Easter Island, written in 1957, Thor Heyerdahl had made several expeditions to the Polynesian islands seeking more information to develop his hypothesis; his journey by raft in the “Kon-Tiki” was merely the beginning. Now, eight years later, he mounted an expedition to unravel the mysteries of “Rapa Nui” (or Easter Island) by means of archaeological evidence.
Thor Heyerdahl selected a handful of notable archaeologists to form his expedition team, plus a photographer, steward, cook, engineer, doctor and frogman: a crew of 23 in all, including his young family who were to go along too. The ship was a converted Greenland trawler; a practical choice where exploring the destination was the object, rather than the voyage itself.
The evening before they were to arrive at “Rapa Nui”, Thor Heyerdahl filled the crew in on the earlier expeditions. It makes for sober reading. First on record was the Dutchman Roggeveen on Easter Day, 1702. He observed several races, some white, some dark, some with skin “of a reddish tint”. One man wore a ceremonial crown of feathers and his ear lobes were artificially lengthened by means of removable pegs. The islanders were cheerful and friendly, and worshipped the sun. They kept fowls and cultivated bananas, sugar canes, and sweet potatoes as their main crop. Heyerdahl was to show that the sweet potato, an indigenous South American plant, growing in southeast and central Polynesia by 1000CE remains the best and most convincing evidence of human contact between the two regions.
The Dutch sailors were astonished by the mysterious statues, but as they only stayed one day, they wrongly assumed them to be formed of clay and filled with small stones. They noted that the islanders were all “expert thieves”, and thus set the attitude for all the following visitors. The ship left, having shot one islander on board and a dozen others ashore, leaving the dead and wounded staring after them as they sailed off into the distance.
In 1770 Spaniards arrived and declared Rapa Nui to be Spanish territory, with the islanders signing the declaration with “birds and curious figures”. There were only a few people: mostly fully grown white men with black or reddish hair, and a few women, but no children. They too noted the thieving but could not work out where their possessions had gone. By the time of Captain Cook’s landing, the people seemed to be even fewer and in a miserable state. He suspected most of the population to be in hiding, because of the previous disastrous visits. When the Frenchman La Perouse visited in 1786, Captain Cook’s theory was proved correct. A couple of thousand people crawled up out out of underground tunnels and chambers, no longer so scared of visitors, because Captain Cook’s stay had been a peaceful one. The two explorers were in agreement that the statues were very old, and formed of precisely carved stone, but that some had fallen.
The next century was to prove catastrophic for the islanders. First of all an American schooner kidnapped 12 men and 10 women. After 3 days’ sailing, the men were taken out of their chains and immediately jumped overboard to swim back to the island. Regardless, the captain turned the ship round to make a new raid. Russians also landed for a few hours. Then Peruvian sailing ships arrived, again in search of slaves. The islanders signed another contract in exchange for gifts of clothes, but some men were then seized and tied up. Anyone who resisted was shot, although a few escaped into the caves. It was Christmas Day, and the sailors celebrated their success, as the contract had been to go and work labouring on the guano island off Peru. These poor slaves were eventually returned to their home, but 900 had become ill and died, plus 85 more died on the voyage back. Only 15 returned. Then came a French missionary, plus another French expedition setting factions against each other, until finally the island was annexed by Chile, its closest neighbour, who used it to graze thousands of sheep.
Such was the sorry known history of the island Thor Heyerdahl was to explore. He impressed on his crew that they were there only to dig; to find the answers to the riddle, not to study the people. But it was impossible to not form relationships with the people on the island.
One, Pedro Atan or the “mayor”, became very close to Heyerdahl. The trawler had landed at Anakena beach, the opposite side of the island from its approach, because it was less treacherous. Since this was the very place where legends said the islanders’ ancestor, Hotu Matua had landed, this was considered a lucky sign. Also the party had come from strange lands; these people were more familiar with the constellations than they were with any other countries. Heyerdahl was soon considered lucky, in digging up artefacts the people had known to be there, and by using his wits “Señor Kon-Tiki” as they called him, soon gained a reputation for having magic powers. They were more than willing to share with him their knowledge about the island.
“In Volcanic gas tunnels” describes very entertainingly Heyerdahl’s first exploration of the underground caves. Rapa Nui’s inhabitants all lived in a village called “Hangaroa”, on the West of the island but the caves were dotted around all over. There were no trees, hence very little earth. The island’s surface was lava rock, impossible to walk on comfortably, so mostly the villagers got around on horseback. As well as the lava and basalt rock, this volcanic island had many natural tunnels of obsidian (volcanic glass). Smooth-surfaced, it was just possible to squeeze along them. But accessing the tunnels was usually a perilous journey along cliff edges, and it was such a tiny opening and channel, that it was impossible to even turn one’s head. The air was bad and it was only possible to inch forward, possibly taking a wrong turn and being lost forever. The description of this, as Heyerdahl teetered precariously on a ledge, wearing only a pair of mesh underpants as there would be no room for clothes, holding on with his fingertips and a pair of nail scissors in his mouth (an offering to the cave’s stone guardians) cannot fail to make the reader hold their breath with fear, and be amused by turns.
The people were increasingly keen to show the carvings in these caves and bring other artefacts to Señor Kon-Tiki. They believed him to be another ancestor, and trusted that he would protect their ancient relics. And of course he gave them gifts: clothes, and tobacco. Heyerdahl excavated deeper than any previous archaeologists, and found images of three-masted reed boats. These were apparently known in ancient Egypt. Could such boats have crossed the Atlantic? His 1969 voyage from Morocco in Ra I had proved that a papyrus ship could survive ocean conditions for a long time.
Heyerdahl and his team excavated several sites. All the moai, the monolithic human figures, were lying down: not one stood erect as in Captain Cook’s time. Heyerdahl gradually understood that they had been toppled as part of the civil wars on Rapa Nui. But how had these immense figures been moved to the perimeter of the island? The stone mostly came from one volcanic crater, “Rano Raraku”, where several half completed figures still lay, only their fronts having been yet carved. It seemed incredible, but the islanders were unanimous. Their ancestors, these immense stone figures, “had walked themselves”.
The mayor insisted that he knew the secret, but when Heyerdahl asked why he had never said so before, Pedro Atan said that nobody had asked him! He would show how they were raised to their positions, and so Heyerdahl selected one of the smaller moai for the demonstration. It took 12 men 18 days, working solidly, using poles, ropes and small stones to inch the moai upwards by careful, almost indiscernible increments. The statues walking was another gripping read. Basically it seems to have been a mistranslation. This time many more villagers were needed, all choreographed by the mayor, the method used being similar to when you try to “walk” a large fridge. Pedro Atan could recite a list of his ancestors through 11 generations, so it seem likely that this “secret method” was accurate. The backs of the moai were all unblemished, so they were unlikely to have been towed along the ground, yet the side edges of the base of the plinths they stood on were worn.
Pedro Atan told Heyerdahl many legends, which had hitherto been scoffed at. He claimed he was one of the few “long-ear” descendants left, and could name the others. For years there had been bitter battles over territory between the long-ears and the short-ears, culminating in the catastrophe of “Iko’s ditch”, or “the long-ears’ earth oven”. The long-ears wanted to make statues, and cultivate the land, and set the short-ears working to throw all the loose stones into the sea, and begin to cultivate the Poike peninsula. Eventually the short-ears rebelled and the long-ears fled to the peninsula. Their chief Iko ordered a defence trench to be dug, 2 miles long, and filled with branches and wood, to protect themselves. Eventually there was an ambush by sea, the short-ears surrounding the unsuspecting long-ears, who were slaughtered, with only a few escaping to their secret caves. The bodies of those who were killed before they could flee were thrown into their own ditch, and a huge pyre lighted. Just a quaint legend? But the Poike peninsula was grassy with no loose stones, whereas the rest of Rapa Nui was thickly covered with black and red scree and covered with lava blocks. Moreover, Heyerdahl, digging deep into the manmade trench separating the Poike peninsula, found evidence of charcoal and human bones.
Thor Heyerdahl was gradually piecing together the island’s history. An earlier archaeologist, Katherine Routledge, was responsible for terming the moai “heads”. Years of silt and sand had buried some figures up to their necks, covering up the lower parts. The first one she excavated was unfortunately a broken one, and she assumed there were no bodies beneath. She also called the red stone pieces on the top “hats”. They were made of tuff, and Heyerdahl located the area where all this stone came from: the Puna Pau crater across the island. The selection of this colour was significant: red was the colour of the islanders’ hair, which was piled up in topknots. And hair was considered sacred; their source of strength.
But Heyerdahl was digging deeper than ever before, and discovering completely different structures: walls made of carefully carved stone slabs, which were meticulously fitted together. None of the present islanders knew anything about them, nor did they know how to construct such precise pieces. Heyerdahl collected more and more evidence to show there were at least two eras. These ancient walls were similar to those in Peru. The moai belonged to a later culture, carbon dated to about 1300, and although broadly similar to some Polynesian island art, there was a whole tradition of “bird men”, unique to Rapa Nui. Other ancient carvings he discovered were of turkeys, and cats, both completely unknown in Polynesia. There is a wealth of information about the carvings, and about the flora on Rapa Nui. However, reading “Superstition Against Superstition”, I was becoming disturbed by Heyerdahl’s methods for eliciting the information. This was within in my lifetime, and Heyerdahl was an educated European. Was he “bold and respectful” as the blurb said? I did not think so.
As well as the archaeological excavations, the Mayor had boasted to Heyerdahl about his “secret caves” full of treasures. Each family had its own secret cave, he said, but no other family knew where they were, and it was taboo to even admit their existence. To prove this, he would bring Heyerdahl a few prize artefacts from his cave, but he was sworn to secrecy. Otherwise Pedro Atan’s “aku aku” would be angry. The aku aku was like the spirit of the individual, with supernatural properties. As he learned more about the ceremonies and traditions, Heyerdahl used this information to feed back to the islanders so that they believed he was indeed supernatural; an ancestor of theirs from overseas. For instance he knew that to appease the cave gods he must bite off and eat the tail end of a roasted chicken, and share the rest and sweet potatoes with the owner of the cave before entering.
Various islanders grew to trust Señor Kon-Tiki. They would creep into his tent at night, with carvings from their caves, in exchange for cloth or cigarettes. Heyerdahl tells this with barely suppressed glee, as he gradually gained more and more information about the locations—always perilous—and won some people over to be allowed to visit their cave for himself. But it gets worse.
Not only did he trick them into thinking that he was almost a god himself, and would respect their carvings as much as they themselves did, but Heyerdahl began to capitalise on this, pretending he had his own magical powers and superstitions, and manipulating the islanders who trusted him implicitly. The older ones were worried. The next generation they said, did not care so much about the old traditions. They did not respect and look after the carvings in the caves as they should. The old people worried that the cave gods and guardians would be angry and seek vengeance. Heyerdahl convinced them that the the carvings would be safe and respected in museums, where guards were employed to look after them day and night.
Thus Heyerdahl’s acceptance of a few carvings now and then, developed over a few months into illicit visits to several of the islanders’ family caves. Each time he would some away with two or three prize pieces—all he could carry—and come back later for “the rest”. This made me feel physically sick. The carvings were not only their most precious heirlooms, they had spiritual significance for the islanders. And it was all they had. There was not even one shop on the island, and their basic needs were met by what they could find or farm, and one annual visit by a naval ship from Chile. When Heyerdahl’s ship eventually left Rapa Nui, it had 1000 carvings on board. At one point Heyerdahl observed ironically that there were more artefacts from Rapa Nui in the world’s museums than remained on the island.
I asked myself, who was the thief?
For almost a month I have hesitated about this book which I loved, but whose ethics troubled me. I have read enough around the topic to be convinced that some of Heyerdahl’s theories were correct, and will write about this more in my review of the later companion book by Thor Heyerdahl about Rapa Nui: “Easter Island: The Mystery Solved”.
Some carvings have now been returned, and are in a museum on the island. One of the smaller moai (brought back by the earlier explorer Katherine Routledge) remains in the British Museum but its return has been requested, and it is only a matter of time. An airstrip talked about during Heyerdahl’s visit was constructed in 1967, and since then tourism has boomed. The island has developed an economy, whose main industry is tourism. Wooden carvings are produced using trees from other islands, which may once have grown on Rapa Nui. One of the mayor’s sons went to university, and returned to Rapa Nui to continue the archaeological work started by Heyerdahl. He has also re-erected all the moai to their original positions, which is why all the images you see of Easter island show them standing proud. The islanders remember Señor Kon-Tiki with affection, because he brought them into the present century.
Perhaps then this was inevitable. As time passed, the inhabitants of Rapa Nui could not remain unaffected. Planes would not pass overhead, leaving them undisturbed. Others would come, to destroy their way of life and pillage their cultural artefacts. It could have been worse.
So I have come to terms with Aku Aku: an engrossing read which for me should be five stars, with its stories of secret caves and ghostly magic ceremonies. Yet I am troubled by the duplicity involved in this expedition, and the deliberate ploy to separate these people from their inheritance, so have to fix it at four.
Heyerdahl continued to search for archaeological evidence, travelling to the Galapagos islands in 1952–53. He found shards of what were suggested to be pre-Incan pots, which challenged the idea that no pre-European visitors had been there. In 1969–70, he built two boats from papyrus in the style of Egyptian boatbuilding: “Ra” and “Ra II” setting out to cross the Atlantic Ocean from Morocco in Africa to the Caribbean islands and succeeding on the second attempt.
I was thrilled by the idea of the Kon-Tiki voyage, fighting the savage elements of sea and weather, and avidly followed other lone seafarers. At that time in 1966–67 (Sir) Francis Chichester was breaking all records in sailing single-handedly around the world in “Gipsy Moth IV”, making only one stop. It took him just nine months and a day. In 1977–78 Claire Francis became the first solo yachtswoman to sail round the world. I was entranced by all these stories. What courage! I would dearly love to face such a challenge, but quickly realised that you needed quite a lot of money to even embark on developing the skills needed, never mind actually mounting an expedition.
But for Thor Heyerdahl, it was not merely the challenge of fighting the odds to survive against savage sea and weather conditions. He wanted to prove his theory, that people from South America could have reached Polynesia during pre-Columbian times. By the time of this book Aku-Aku: the Secret of Easter Island, written in 1957, Thor Heyerdahl had made several expeditions to the Polynesian islands seeking more information to develop his hypothesis; his journey by raft in the “Kon-Tiki” was merely the beginning. Now, eight years later, he mounted an expedition to unravel the mysteries of “Rapa Nui” (or Easter Island) by means of archaeological evidence.
Thor Heyerdahl selected a handful of notable archaeologists to form his expedition team, plus a photographer, steward, cook, engineer, doctor and frogman: a crew of 23 in all, including his young family who were to go along too. The ship was a converted Greenland trawler; a practical choice where exploring the destination was the object, rather than the voyage itself.
The evening before they were to arrive at “Rapa Nui”, Thor Heyerdahl filled the crew in on the earlier expeditions. It makes for sober reading. First on record was the Dutchman Roggeveen on Easter Day, 1702. He observed several races, some white, some dark, some with skin “of a reddish tint”. One man wore a ceremonial crown of feathers and his ear lobes were artificially lengthened by means of removable pegs. The islanders were cheerful and friendly, and worshipped the sun. They kept fowls and cultivated bananas, sugar canes, and sweet potatoes as their main crop. Heyerdahl was to show that the sweet potato, an indigenous South American plant, growing in southeast and central Polynesia by 1000CE remains the best and most convincing evidence of human contact between the two regions.
The Dutch sailors were astonished by the mysterious statues, but as they only stayed one day, they wrongly assumed them to be formed of clay and filled with small stones. They noted that the islanders were all “expert thieves”, and thus set the attitude for all the following visitors. The ship left, having shot one islander on board and a dozen others ashore, leaving the dead and wounded staring after them as they sailed off into the distance.
In 1770 Spaniards arrived and declared Rapa Nui to be Spanish territory, with the islanders signing the declaration with “birds and curious figures”. There were only a few people: mostly fully grown white men with black or reddish hair, and a few women, but no children. They too noted the thieving but could not work out where their possessions had gone. By the time of Captain Cook’s landing, the people seemed to be even fewer and in a miserable state. He suspected most of the population to be in hiding, because of the previous disastrous visits. When the Frenchman La Perouse visited in 1786, Captain Cook’s theory was proved correct. A couple of thousand people crawled up out out of underground tunnels and chambers, no longer so scared of visitors, because Captain Cook’s stay had been a peaceful one. The two explorers were in agreement that the statues were very old, and formed of precisely carved stone, but that some had fallen.
The next century was to prove catastrophic for the islanders. First of all an American schooner kidnapped 12 men and 10 women. After 3 days’ sailing, the men were taken out of their chains and immediately jumped overboard to swim back to the island. Regardless, the captain turned the ship round to make a new raid. Russians also landed for a few hours. Then Peruvian sailing ships arrived, again in search of slaves. The islanders signed another contract in exchange for gifts of clothes, but some men were then seized and tied up. Anyone who resisted was shot, although a few escaped into the caves. It was Christmas Day, and the sailors celebrated their success, as the contract had been to go and work labouring on the guano island off Peru. These poor slaves were eventually returned to their home, but 900 had become ill and died, plus 85 more died on the voyage back. Only 15 returned. Then came a French missionary, plus another French expedition setting factions against each other, until finally the island was annexed by Chile, its closest neighbour, who used it to graze thousands of sheep.
Such was the sorry known history of the island Thor Heyerdahl was to explore. He impressed on his crew that they were there only to dig; to find the answers to the riddle, not to study the people. But it was impossible to not form relationships with the people on the island.
One, Pedro Atan or the “mayor”, became very close to Heyerdahl. The trawler had landed at Anakena beach, the opposite side of the island from its approach, because it was less treacherous. Since this was the very place where legends said the islanders’ ancestor, Hotu Matua had landed, this was considered a lucky sign. Also the party had come from strange lands; these people were more familiar with the constellations than they were with any other countries. Heyerdahl was soon considered lucky, in digging up artefacts the people had known to be there, and by using his wits “Señor Kon-Tiki” as they called him, soon gained a reputation for having magic powers. They were more than willing to share with him their knowledge about the island.
“In Volcanic gas tunnels” describes very entertainingly Heyerdahl’s first exploration of the underground caves. Rapa Nui’s inhabitants all lived in a village called “Hangaroa”, on the West of the island but the caves were dotted around all over. There were no trees, hence very little earth. The island’s surface was lava rock, impossible to walk on comfortably, so mostly the villagers got around on horseback. As well as the lava and basalt rock, this volcanic island had many natural tunnels of obsidian (volcanic glass). Smooth-surfaced, it was just possible to squeeze along them. But accessing the tunnels was usually a perilous journey along cliff edges, and it was such a tiny opening and channel, that it was impossible to even turn one’s head. The air was bad and it was only possible to inch forward, possibly taking a wrong turn and being lost forever. The description of this, as Heyerdahl teetered precariously on a ledge, wearing only a pair of mesh underpants as there would be no room for clothes, holding on with his fingertips and a pair of nail scissors in his mouth (an offering to the cave’s stone guardians) cannot fail to make the reader hold their breath with fear, and be amused by turns.
The people were increasingly keen to show the carvings in these caves and bring other artefacts to Señor Kon-Tiki. They believed him to be another ancestor, and trusted that he would protect their ancient relics. And of course he gave them gifts: clothes, and tobacco. Heyerdahl excavated deeper than any previous archaeologists, and found images of three-masted reed boats. These were apparently known in ancient Egypt. Could such boats have crossed the Atlantic? His 1969 voyage from Morocco in Ra I had proved that a papyrus ship could survive ocean conditions for a long time.
Heyerdahl and his team excavated several sites. All the moai, the monolithic human figures, were lying down: not one stood erect as in Captain Cook’s time. Heyerdahl gradually understood that they had been toppled as part of the civil wars on Rapa Nui. But how had these immense figures been moved to the perimeter of the island? The stone mostly came from one volcanic crater, “Rano Raraku”, where several half completed figures still lay, only their fronts having been yet carved. It seemed incredible, but the islanders were unanimous. Their ancestors, these immense stone figures, “had walked themselves”.
The mayor insisted that he knew the secret, but when Heyerdahl asked why he had never said so before, Pedro Atan said that nobody had asked him! He would show how they were raised to their positions, and so Heyerdahl selected one of the smaller moai for the demonstration. It took 12 men 18 days, working solidly, using poles, ropes and small stones to inch the moai upwards by careful, almost indiscernible increments. The statues walking was another gripping read. Basically it seems to have been a mistranslation. This time many more villagers were needed, all choreographed by the mayor, the method used being similar to when you try to “walk” a large fridge. Pedro Atan could recite a list of his ancestors through 11 generations, so it seem likely that this “secret method” was accurate. The backs of the moai were all unblemished, so they were unlikely to have been towed along the ground, yet the side edges of the base of the plinths they stood on were worn.
Pedro Atan told Heyerdahl many legends, which had hitherto been scoffed at. He claimed he was one of the few “long-ear” descendants left, and could name the others. For years there had been bitter battles over territory between the long-ears and the short-ears, culminating in the catastrophe of “Iko’s ditch”, or “the long-ears’ earth oven”. The long-ears wanted to make statues, and cultivate the land, and set the short-ears working to throw all the loose stones into the sea, and begin to cultivate the Poike peninsula. Eventually the short-ears rebelled and the long-ears fled to the peninsula. Their chief Iko ordered a defence trench to be dug, 2 miles long, and filled with branches and wood, to protect themselves. Eventually there was an ambush by sea, the short-ears surrounding the unsuspecting long-ears, who were slaughtered, with only a few escaping to their secret caves. The bodies of those who were killed before they could flee were thrown into their own ditch, and a huge pyre lighted. Just a quaint legend? But the Poike peninsula was grassy with no loose stones, whereas the rest of Rapa Nui was thickly covered with black and red scree and covered with lava blocks. Moreover, Heyerdahl, digging deep into the manmade trench separating the Poike peninsula, found evidence of charcoal and human bones.
Thor Heyerdahl was gradually piecing together the island’s history. An earlier archaeologist, Katherine Routledge, was responsible for terming the moai “heads”. Years of silt and sand had buried some figures up to their necks, covering up the lower parts. The first one she excavated was unfortunately a broken one, and she assumed there were no bodies beneath. She also called the red stone pieces on the top “hats”. They were made of tuff, and Heyerdahl located the area where all this stone came from: the Puna Pau crater across the island. The selection of this colour was significant: red was the colour of the islanders’ hair, which was piled up in topknots. And hair was considered sacred; their source of strength.
But Heyerdahl was digging deeper than ever before, and discovering completely different structures: walls made of carefully carved stone slabs, which were meticulously fitted together. None of the present islanders knew anything about them, nor did they know how to construct such precise pieces. Heyerdahl collected more and more evidence to show there were at least two eras. These ancient walls were similar to those in Peru. The moai belonged to a later culture, carbon dated to about 1300, and although broadly similar to some Polynesian island art, there was a whole tradition of “bird men”, unique to Rapa Nui. Other ancient carvings he discovered were of turkeys, and cats, both completely unknown in Polynesia. There is a wealth of information about the carvings, and about the flora on Rapa Nui. However, reading “Superstition Against Superstition”, I was becoming disturbed by Heyerdahl’s methods for eliciting the information. This was within in my lifetime, and Heyerdahl was an educated European. Was he “bold and respectful” as the blurb said? I did not think so.
As well as the archaeological excavations, the Mayor had boasted to Heyerdahl about his “secret caves” full of treasures. Each family had its own secret cave, he said, but no other family knew where they were, and it was taboo to even admit their existence. To prove this, he would bring Heyerdahl a few prize artefacts from his cave, but he was sworn to secrecy. Otherwise Pedro Atan’s “aku aku” would be angry. The aku aku was like the spirit of the individual, with supernatural properties. As he learned more about the ceremonies and traditions, Heyerdahl used this information to feed back to the islanders so that they believed he was indeed supernatural; an ancestor of theirs from overseas. For instance he knew that to appease the cave gods he must bite off and eat the tail end of a roasted chicken, and share the rest and sweet potatoes with the owner of the cave before entering.
Various islanders grew to trust Señor Kon-Tiki. They would creep into his tent at night, with carvings from their caves, in exchange for cloth or cigarettes. Heyerdahl tells this with barely suppressed glee, as he gradually gained more and more information about the locations—always perilous—and won some people over to be allowed to visit their cave for himself. But it gets worse.
Not only did he trick them into thinking that he was almost a god himself, and would respect their carvings as much as they themselves did, but Heyerdahl began to capitalise on this, pretending he had his own magical powers and superstitions, and manipulating the islanders who trusted him implicitly. The older ones were worried. The next generation they said, did not care so much about the old traditions. They did not respect and look after the carvings in the caves as they should. The old people worried that the cave gods and guardians would be angry and seek vengeance. Heyerdahl convinced them that the the carvings would be safe and respected in museums, where guards were employed to look after them day and night.
Thus Heyerdahl’s acceptance of a few carvings now and then, developed over a few months into illicit visits to several of the islanders’ family caves. Each time he would some away with two or three prize pieces—all he could carry—and come back later for “the rest”. This made me feel physically sick. The carvings were not only their most precious heirlooms, they had spiritual significance for the islanders. And it was all they had. There was not even one shop on the island, and their basic needs were met by what they could find or farm, and one annual visit by a naval ship from Chile. When Heyerdahl’s ship eventually left Rapa Nui, it had 1000 carvings on board. At one point Heyerdahl observed ironically that there were more artefacts from Rapa Nui in the world’s museums than remained on the island.
I asked myself, who was the thief?
For almost a month I have hesitated about this book which I loved, but whose ethics troubled me. I have read enough around the topic to be convinced that some of Heyerdahl’s theories were correct, and will write about this more in my review of the later companion book by Thor Heyerdahl about Rapa Nui: “Easter Island: The Mystery Solved”.
Some carvings have now been returned, and are in a museum on the island. One of the smaller moai (brought back by the earlier explorer Katherine Routledge) remains in the British Museum but its return has been requested, and it is only a matter of time. An airstrip talked about during Heyerdahl’s visit was constructed in 1967, and since then tourism has boomed. The island has developed an economy, whose main industry is tourism. Wooden carvings are produced using trees from other islands, which may once have grown on Rapa Nui. One of the mayor’s sons went to university, and returned to Rapa Nui to continue the archaeological work started by Heyerdahl. He has also re-erected all the moai to their original positions, which is why all the images you see of Easter island show them standing proud. The islanders remember Señor Kon-Tiki with affection, because he brought them into the present century.
Perhaps then this was inevitable. As time passed, the inhabitants of Rapa Nui could not remain unaffected. Planes would not pass overhead, leaving them undisturbed. Others would come, to destroy their way of life and pillage their cultural artefacts. It could have been worse.
So I have come to terms with Aku Aku: an engrossing read which for me should be five stars, with its stories of secret caves and ghostly magic ceremonies. Yet I am troubled by the duplicity involved in this expedition, and the deliberate ploy to separate these people from their inheritance, so have to fix it at four.
March 17, 2013
Thor Heyerdahl is an excellent story teller. Yes, he's a stud-man adventurer who happens to do incredibly varied and interesting things around the globe, speaking multiple languages and engaging with and even living with indigenous peoples of numerous continents. That doesn't mean he's not an excellent story teller, too. Aku Aku is about his year living and researching Easter Island and its enigmatic statues. Thus there is a lot of archeology in this book, and not necessarily the Indiana Jones type (though frequently close!). The real treasure of this book is his keen eye on the locals and his interactions with them. The island is full of absolutely whacky and fascinatingly complex characters, who Thor has to simultaneously utilize, outwit, and run from. His patient narrating of the individuals who live on Easter Island are what make this book so charming, not to mention there's just so much about the island itself that you don't know, whether you think you do or not. Because he lives a year on the island and there is so much to do and so many colorful characters, the writing is leisurely, a bit less snappy than, say Kon-Tiki. I would give this 4.5 stars, but most certainly will round up for this man and his contributions to human knowledge.
November 2, 2022
A book that I don’t have the patience to finish I always give one star. I didn’t finish this. I dumped it after listening to a little more than half. I have given it a fair try. Right?!
Much of that which Heyerdahl states has been proven to be false. As a result, I question absolutely every statement he makes. This does not lead to enjoyable reading.
I do not find the writing clear. His descriptions of objects leave me wondering how the object appears. Boats for example, his words do not draw a picture I can see.
Heyerdahl doesn’t get to the point. He takes forever to say what he wants to say. The text is too long and drawn out. The information becomes boring. Things are said that could be left out.
I have enjoyed hearing about how Heyerdahl related to the people on Easter Island. He becomes close to some of the inhabitants. He is pulled in by their stories and their beliefs. We hear about caves where ancestral spirits remain. We hear about a night when sleeping outside, cockroaches swarm around him! Talk about creepy, but it is well described.
There aren’t enough good sections to outweigh the bad.
The narrator of the audiobook is Bertil Karlsson. I listened to the Swedish translation. He mumbles. Do I like the narration? No! I sit tense, trying my best to grab at each word.
I am giving up. This is a pain in the neck. Why should I force myself to read what I do not enjoy?!
Much of that which Heyerdahl states has been proven to be false. As a result, I question absolutely every statement he makes. This does not lead to enjoyable reading.
I do not find the writing clear. His descriptions of objects leave me wondering how the object appears. Boats for example, his words do not draw a picture I can see.
Heyerdahl doesn’t get to the point. He takes forever to say what he wants to say. The text is too long and drawn out. The information becomes boring. Things are said that could be left out.
I have enjoyed hearing about how Heyerdahl related to the people on Easter Island. He becomes close to some of the inhabitants. He is pulled in by their stories and their beliefs. We hear about caves where ancestral spirits remain. We hear about a night when sleeping outside, cockroaches swarm around him! Talk about creepy, but it is well described.
There aren’t enough good sections to outweigh the bad.
The narrator of the audiobook is Bertil Karlsson. I listened to the Swedish translation. He mumbles. Do I like the narration? No! I sit tense, trying my best to grab at each word.
I am giving up. This is a pain in the neck. Why should I force myself to read what I do not enjoy?!
July 21, 2020
Bár Thor Heyerdahlhoz örök és olthatatlan szerelem fűz, mégis kicsit félve kezdtem bele ebbe a könyvébe. Egyrészt mert a legutóbb olvasott kötete kicsit csalódás volt (túl sok volt az elméleti bevezető az ízlésemnek, és kevés a kaland), másrészt nem tudtam, hogy hajóépítés és utazás nélkül mennyire lesz izgalmas a sztori. (Noha olvastam már hajótlan TH könyvet, a Fatu Hivát, aminél nem hiányzott a tengeren hánykolódás, érdekfeszítő volt anélkül is.)
Félelmeim végül nem igazolódtak be, már a könyv eleje behúzott. Valahogy mindig meglepetésként ér TH humora, mert nem ez az a jellegzetessége, amit első körben hozzá kötnék. Mindig frissítőleg hat újra és újra felfedezni az (ön)ironikus stílusát, ami annyira gördülékennyé teszi a könyveit.
(Időrendbe téve a köteteit, valahogy azt látom, a korábbiak az igaziak, a későbbiek pedig nyögvenyelősebbek.)
A könyv olvasása előttig nekem nem volt tiszta, mennyire nagy jelentőségű is volt, hogy akkoriban eljutottak a Húsvét-szigetre TH-ék. Nem tudtam, hogy ők voltak az elsők, akik ásatásokat végeztek a szigeten. Ez azért elég nagy dolog, és ennek a jelentősége átsugárzott a könyv sorain is.
Mégsem ez adta a kötet különleges ízét, hanem az, ahogy a csapat "civilizált" európai megérkezik erre a szigetre, ahol még élénken élnek a polinéz babonák, de már organikus módon elkeveredtek a keresztény hittérítők által közvetített vallásos szemlélettel. Ez az egymásra hatás volt a legizgalmasabb aspektusa a történetnek.
Zárt közösség ez, a szó legszorosabb értelmében, mindenki ismer mindenkit. A nyugati vallásosságot képviselő atya a közösség "kiskirálya", és ebben az esetben csak egy kis pejoratív értelmet kell ideképzelni. Elfogadott, tisztelt személyiség, aki ugyanúgy elfogadja és tiszteli a kis atmoszférát, ahova megérkezett.
A sziget polgármestere mélyen hisz a barlangokat és mitikus faragványokat övező babonákban, a települések lakói meg szorgosan másolják őseit szobrocskáit, hogy évszázados kincsekként beállítva eladják őket a gyanútlan turistáknak.
TH nem is TH lenne, ha megelégedne az elméleti kutatással. Nem, amikor a titokzatos moai szobrok sorsa kerül a középpontba, ő bizony kifaragtat egyet a hosszúfűlűeknek nevezett ősi törzs leszármazottaival (hogy minél autentikusabb legyen a dolog), majd el is szállíttatja és fel is állítattja velük a szobrot. Elvégre így derül ki legjobban, hogyan is zajlottak ezek a dolgok, nem?
A Húsvét-szigeten kevés a fa, de annál több a barlang. A könyv közepe táján abszolút elveszünk a barlanglabirintusban, ami a sziget felszíne alatt húzódik. Mint kiderül, itt az a gazdag ember, aki minél több barlanggal rendelkezik. Ezekben az üregekben őseik által faragott, varázserővel bíró szobrocskák találhatóak, amikhez hasonlót még régész nem láthatott. Nyilván fente rájuk a fogát TH és csapata. Na de nem olyan egyszerű a történet, hogy akkor uzsgyi, fejlámpát fel, irány a barlang!
Először az ősök beleegyezését kell kérni, régi tabukat megtörni, és persze meg kell győzni az ember/barlang aku-akuját is.
De mi is az az aku-aku, aki a könyv címében is szerepel? Valamiféle szellem, aki társul szegődik egy-egy emberhez vagy éppen barlanghoz, és utat mutat neki, erőt ad neki, jutalmazza és bünteti, ha épp ezekre van szükség. A szigeten fontos kérdés, kinek mennyire erős az aku-akuja. Ezt különféle módokon lehet bizonyítani, például meg lehet kérni a szellemet, hogy súgja meg, mi van egy zárt dobozban vagy egy kilométerekre található barlangban. Az aku-akut nem ajánlatos felbőszíteni, mert akkor különféle betegségeket és baleseteket okoz az embernek, hogy móresre tanítsa őket.
Csak az a baj, hogy amikor a szigeten mindenki mindenkinek a rokona, és valakinek nyilván van éppen valami nyűgje, akkor igazán könnyű minden apróságban az aku-aku működését látni. (Az unokahúgom azért lett beteg, mert én megszegtem a barlangokat övező tabut két napja.)
TH-nak egyik legnagyobb feladata a szigeten az aku-akukat övező babonákkal való küzdelem. Azért nem léphet be a csodás archeológiai kincseket rejtő barlangokba, mert az éppen illetékes bennszülött aku-akuja megtiltotta. Be kell bizonyítani, hogy TH aku-akuja (mert neki is van, bizony!) hatalmasabb az övénél. És TH rendesen belemegy a játékba.
Amúgy ez az egyik dolog, amit szeretek TH-ban: ő a vendég, hát ő alkalmazkodik a szokásokhoz. Hiába is győzködné ezeket az embereket, hogy ezek a kövek fontosak lennének az emberiség kultúrájának történeti kirakósában, ha egyszer családi tabu és csintalan szellem ül a barlang bejáratánál. Szóval akkor beveti saját csintalan szellemét. Persze nevezhetnénk ezt manipulációnak, és felmerül a kérdés, mennyire etikus "kicsalni" ezeket a kincseket a helyiektől. De nagyon fontos látni, TH mennyire szakít a fehér, európai "kolonizáló" vagy akár "kincskereső" szokásokkal. Erőszakkal nem vesz el semmit, csak azt tekinti saját vagy a norvég állam vagy akármi tulajdonának, amit önszántukból adnak neki. Lehet, hogy az aku-akuja csalta ki, de ez legalább a helyi játékszabályok szerint történt, olyan feltételekkel, amit a helyiek is elfogadnak.
(Megrázó jelenet, amikor a felbérelt munkások nem akarnak munkaszerződést aláírni, mert évszázadokkal azelőtt pont ilyen trükkel vitték el a felmenőiket aztán rabszolgának.)
Egy jó példa erre, amikor egy ajándékokban reménykedő házaspár elvezeti TH-t egy idős asszony udvarába, ahol ősi kövek találhatóak. TH megvizsgálja a köveket, megállapítja, hogy tényleg értékesek, ám látva, hogy a megbolygatásuk mennyire feldúlta az asszonyt, visszaforgatja őket eredeti helyükbe, és üres kézzel távozik. Ő tudja a legjobban, hogy azok a kövek nem csak kövek.
A könyv végén leírja, hogy ténykedésük a szigeten, és az, hogy rengeteg barlangot bejártak, mégsem sújtott le rájuk az ősi szellemek bosszúja, feszegeti a régi tabukat. Már az ottaniak is bátrabban járnak le a barlangokba, hisz a saját szemükkel látják, hogy nem jelent halálos veszélyt a dolog. Az európai ember, ha nem is mindig erőszakos eszközökkel, de hat, befolyásol, változtatja a régi hiedelmeket. Ma talán TH-ra cultural appropriation-t kiáltanának, amiért betolakodott a Húsvét-szigetre, hordta a neki készült fejdíszt, és aku-akuját megversenyeztette a helyi polgármesterével.
Nem én fogok ítéletet mondani ez ügyben, ez biztos, csak elgondolkodom, néha nekem is jól jönne egy aku-aku, aki megsúgja, merre tovább, aki megvéd, ha kell, és jutalmaz, ha jó irányba haladok. A büntetéstől akár el is tekinthetünk...:))
Félelmeim végül nem igazolódtak be, már a könyv eleje behúzott. Valahogy mindig meglepetésként ér TH humora, mert nem ez az a jellegzetessége, amit első körben hozzá kötnék. Mindig frissítőleg hat újra és újra felfedezni az (ön)ironikus stílusát, ami annyira gördülékennyé teszi a könyveit.
(Időrendbe téve a köteteit, valahogy azt látom, a korábbiak az igaziak, a későbbiek pedig nyögvenyelősebbek.)
A könyv olvasása előttig nekem nem volt tiszta, mennyire nagy jelentőségű is volt, hogy akkoriban eljutottak a Húsvét-szigetre TH-ék. Nem tudtam, hogy ők voltak az elsők, akik ásatásokat végeztek a szigeten. Ez azért elég nagy dolog, és ennek a jelentősége átsugárzott a könyv sorain is.
Mégsem ez adta a kötet különleges ízét, hanem az, ahogy a csapat "civilizált" európai megérkezik erre a szigetre, ahol még élénken élnek a polinéz babonák, de már organikus módon elkeveredtek a keresztény hittérítők által közvetített vallásos szemlélettel. Ez az egymásra hatás volt a legizgalmasabb aspektusa a történetnek.
Zárt közösség ez, a szó legszorosabb értelmében, mindenki ismer mindenkit. A nyugati vallásosságot képviselő atya a közösség "kiskirálya", és ebben az esetben csak egy kis pejoratív értelmet kell ideképzelni. Elfogadott, tisztelt személyiség, aki ugyanúgy elfogadja és tiszteli a kis atmoszférát, ahova megérkezett.
A sziget polgármestere mélyen hisz a barlangokat és mitikus faragványokat övező babonákban, a települések lakói meg szorgosan másolják őseit szobrocskáit, hogy évszázados kincsekként beállítva eladják őket a gyanútlan turistáknak.
TH nem is TH lenne, ha megelégedne az elméleti kutatással. Nem, amikor a titokzatos moai szobrok sorsa kerül a középpontba, ő bizony kifaragtat egyet a hosszúfűlűeknek nevezett ősi törzs leszármazottaival (hogy minél autentikusabb legyen a dolog), majd el is szállíttatja és fel is állítattja velük a szobrot. Elvégre így derül ki legjobban, hogyan is zajlottak ezek a dolgok, nem?
A Húsvét-szigeten kevés a fa, de annál több a barlang. A könyv közepe táján abszolút elveszünk a barlanglabirintusban, ami a sziget felszíne alatt húzódik. Mint kiderül, itt az a gazdag ember, aki minél több barlanggal rendelkezik. Ezekben az üregekben őseik által faragott, varázserővel bíró szobrocskák találhatóak, amikhez hasonlót még régész nem láthatott. Nyilván fente rájuk a fogát TH és csapata. Na de nem olyan egyszerű a történet, hogy akkor uzsgyi, fejlámpát fel, irány a barlang!
Először az ősök beleegyezését kell kérni, régi tabukat megtörni, és persze meg kell győzni az ember/barlang aku-akuját is.
De mi is az az aku-aku, aki a könyv címében is szerepel? Valamiféle szellem, aki társul szegődik egy-egy emberhez vagy éppen barlanghoz, és utat mutat neki, erőt ad neki, jutalmazza és bünteti, ha épp ezekre van szükség. A szigeten fontos kérdés, kinek mennyire erős az aku-akuja. Ezt különféle módokon lehet bizonyítani, például meg lehet kérni a szellemet, hogy súgja meg, mi van egy zárt dobozban vagy egy kilométerekre található barlangban. Az aku-akut nem ajánlatos felbőszíteni, mert akkor különféle betegségeket és baleseteket okoz az embernek, hogy móresre tanítsa őket.
Csak az a baj, hogy amikor a szigeten mindenki mindenkinek a rokona, és valakinek nyilván van éppen valami nyűgje, akkor igazán könnyű minden apróságban az aku-aku működését látni. (Az unokahúgom azért lett beteg, mert én megszegtem a barlangokat övező tabut két napja.)
TH-nak egyik legnagyobb feladata a szigeten az aku-akukat övező babonákkal való küzdelem. Azért nem léphet be a csodás archeológiai kincseket rejtő barlangokba, mert az éppen illetékes bennszülött aku-akuja megtiltotta. Be kell bizonyítani, hogy TH aku-akuja (mert neki is van, bizony!) hatalmasabb az övénél. És TH rendesen belemegy a játékba.
Amúgy ez az egyik dolog, amit szeretek TH-ban: ő a vendég, hát ő alkalmazkodik a szokásokhoz. Hiába is győzködné ezeket az embereket, hogy ezek a kövek fontosak lennének az emberiség kultúrájának történeti kirakósában, ha egyszer családi tabu és csintalan szellem ül a barlang bejáratánál. Szóval akkor beveti saját csintalan szellemét. Persze nevezhetnénk ezt manipulációnak, és felmerül a kérdés, mennyire etikus "kicsalni" ezeket a kincseket a helyiektől. De nagyon fontos látni, TH mennyire szakít a fehér, európai "kolonizáló" vagy akár "kincskereső" szokásokkal. Erőszakkal nem vesz el semmit, csak azt tekinti saját vagy a norvég állam vagy akármi tulajdonának, amit önszántukból adnak neki. Lehet, hogy az aku-akuja csalta ki, de ez legalább a helyi játékszabályok szerint történt, olyan feltételekkel, amit a helyiek is elfogadnak.
(Megrázó jelenet, amikor a felbérelt munkások nem akarnak munkaszerződést aláírni, mert évszázadokkal azelőtt pont ilyen trükkel vitték el a felmenőiket aztán rabszolgának.)
Egy jó példa erre, amikor egy ajándékokban reménykedő házaspár elvezeti TH-t egy idős asszony udvarába, ahol ősi kövek találhatóak. TH megvizsgálja a köveket, megállapítja, hogy tényleg értékesek, ám látva, hogy a megbolygatásuk mennyire feldúlta az asszonyt, visszaforgatja őket eredeti helyükbe, és üres kézzel távozik. Ő tudja a legjobban, hogy azok a kövek nem csak kövek.
A könyv végén leírja, hogy ténykedésük a szigeten, és az, hogy rengeteg barlangot bejártak, mégsem sújtott le rájuk az ősi szellemek bosszúja, feszegeti a régi tabukat. Már az ottaniak is bátrabban járnak le a barlangokba, hisz a saját szemükkel látják, hogy nem jelent halálos veszélyt a dolog. Az európai ember, ha nem is mindig erőszakos eszközökkel, de hat, befolyásol, változtatja a régi hiedelmeket. Ma talán TH-ra cultural appropriation-t kiáltanának, amiért betolakodott a Húsvét-szigetre, hordta a neki készült fejdíszt, és aku-akuját megversenyeztette a helyi polgármesterével.
Nem én fogok ítéletet mondani ez ügyben, ez biztos, csak elgondolkodom, néha nekem is jól jönne egy aku-aku, aki megsúgja, merre tovább, aki megvéd, ha kell, és jutalmaz, ha jó irányba haladok. A büntetéstől akár el is tekinthetünk...:))
September 1, 2018
Thor Hammers Dead Horse
Thor Heyerdahl and his companions took a risky trip aboard a balsa raft from Peru to Polynesia in 1947. They proved that such trips could have been made centuries ago. What they didn’t prove was that such trips WERE made! I don’t want to knock the guy very much. He was brave as all get out and he writes very well too. He took these primitive reed raft trips from Africa to the New World and from Iraq to India. All these adventures will interest any reader with an ounce of historical imagination. I definitely recommend AKU-AKU and any of his other books. But read them as adventures, read them as showing what was possible. Definitely don’t believe that they prove very much else.
Heyerdahl early on conceived the theory that the Polynesian isles of the South Pacific were settled from South America. He was wrong. Linguistics, their pigs and chickens, and (now) DNA show that they were settled from the direction of Asia. AKU-AKU could be a case study in how not to do archaeological or historical research. First you ought to go to your site and see what you find. Then you make your conclusions. It’s a bad idea to develop your conclusion first and then go try to prove it. It’s not the same as inventing things that people need; then you imagine what an item could look like and try to produce it. History and anthropology are the opposites to this method. On the basis of his fantastic success with Kon-Tiki, Heyerdahl was heavily financed with a ship, supplies, a team of sailors and scientists who went to Easter Island for a whole year. They learned some very interesting things---for example, how the giant statues were erected (they weighed many tons each). They discovered that Easter Island was practically honeycombed with caves used by the old inhabitants to live, to hide, and sometimes to bury their dead. They were able to come to some interesting conclusions about Easter Island history. They realized that the old culture was not entirely dead despite the near-genocide of the population. There could have been some occasional contacts with South America, but nothing more than that. Heyerdahl was also bamboozled by the Polynesian inhabitants, who offloaded some highly suspect “antiques” on him.
Conclusion: great reading, this is a guy with guts, but who kept on beating a dead horse for far too long.
Thor Heyerdahl and his companions took a risky trip aboard a balsa raft from Peru to Polynesia in 1947. They proved that such trips could have been made centuries ago. What they didn’t prove was that such trips WERE made! I don’t want to knock the guy very much. He was brave as all get out and he writes very well too. He took these primitive reed raft trips from Africa to the New World and from Iraq to India. All these adventures will interest any reader with an ounce of historical imagination. I definitely recommend AKU-AKU and any of his other books. But read them as adventures, read them as showing what was possible. Definitely don’t believe that they prove very much else.
Heyerdahl early on conceived the theory that the Polynesian isles of the South Pacific were settled from South America. He was wrong. Linguistics, their pigs and chickens, and (now) DNA show that they were settled from the direction of Asia. AKU-AKU could be a case study in how not to do archaeological or historical research. First you ought to go to your site and see what you find. Then you make your conclusions. It’s a bad idea to develop your conclusion first and then go try to prove it. It’s not the same as inventing things that people need; then you imagine what an item could look like and try to produce it. History and anthropology are the opposites to this method. On the basis of his fantastic success with Kon-Tiki, Heyerdahl was heavily financed with a ship, supplies, a team of sailors and scientists who went to Easter Island for a whole year. They learned some very interesting things---for example, how the giant statues were erected (they weighed many tons each). They discovered that Easter Island was practically honeycombed with caves used by the old inhabitants to live, to hide, and sometimes to bury their dead. They were able to come to some interesting conclusions about Easter Island history. They realized that the old culture was not entirely dead despite the near-genocide of the population. There could have been some occasional contacts with South America, but nothing more than that. Heyerdahl was also bamboozled by the Polynesian inhabitants, who offloaded some highly suspect “antiques” on him.
Conclusion: great reading, this is a guy with guts, but who kept on beating a dead horse for far too long.
January 24, 2020
I first read this book when I was about 25.
Somewhat obviously, if you are at all interested in Easter Island, this is really the place to start.
Even though it is very factual and scientific, it is still very interesting and very riveting.
It really verges into the paranormal and the occult in a way.
I know a lot of people don't like non-fiction books, but if you ever want one, this is the place to start.
For any men who like adventure stories ( which is most men), this would be a great book.
This book is amazing in that while it is very factual and scientific, it is at the same time very interesting and very riveting.
At the time when I first read it I thought that it was one of the most interesting books that I had ever read.
Somewhat obviously, if you are at all interested in Easter Island, this is really the place to start.
Even though it is very factual and scientific, it is still very interesting and very riveting.
It really verges into the paranormal and the occult in a way.
I know a lot of people don't like non-fiction books, but if you ever want one, this is the place to start.
For any men who like adventure stories ( which is most men), this would be a great book.
This book is amazing in that while it is very factual and scientific, it is at the same time very interesting and very riveting.
At the time when I first read it I thought that it was one of the most interesting books that I had ever read.
May 9, 2021
I vacillated between two and three stars. The author is a talented story teller so that, even though this was about a scientific exploration, "Aku-Aku: The Secret of Easter Island" reads like a novel. I hate to admit that before reading this book the only thing I knew of Easter Island was the iconic heads sticking out of the earth. I'm grateful to have filled in and corrected my impression of the islanders, their culture, and lifestyle. This part was fascinating.
My problem started half way through. Thor had his original mission to dig out statues(he even got locals to successfully raise one of the massive heads using ancient techniques), and to push understanding of the Easter Island settlement back to its possible origin. I loved this part.
Thor then set out to collect smaller pieces for museums. He found out that ancient stone carvings had been preserved in secret family caves for generations. To overcome rigid cultural superstitions, Thor used whatever means he could come up with to impress upon the natives that his Aku-Aku was stronger than theirs, thereby protecting him from the danger that the natives feared was sure to come from betraying old secrets and traditions. Are trickery and manipulation justified in the name of scientific study?
I understand Thor's reasons for removing the cave statutes. Many of the hidden caves were so well hidden that even other family members did not know the entrances. The hidden treasures could have been lost for all time.
Yet, Thor ended up doing what I saw as serious damage to the island's belief system and customs. The statutes were saved for Norwegian museums and for scientific study, but at what cost to the people? These islanders had been trading wooden carvings for generations to foreign ships, while keeping part of their stone-carved culture hidden and untouched by Western man. I, for one, was saddened to see their loss.
My problem started half way through. Thor had his original mission to dig out statues(he even got locals to successfully raise one of the massive heads using ancient techniques), and to push understanding of the Easter Island settlement back to its possible origin. I loved this part.
Thor then set out to collect smaller pieces for museums. He found out that ancient stone carvings had been preserved in secret family caves for generations. To overcome rigid cultural superstitions, Thor used whatever means he could come up with to impress upon the natives that his Aku-Aku was stronger than theirs, thereby protecting him from the danger that the natives feared was sure to come from betraying old secrets and traditions. Are trickery and manipulation justified in the name of scientific study?
I understand Thor's reasons for removing the cave statutes. Many of the hidden caves were so well hidden that even other family members did not know the entrances. The hidden treasures could have been lost for all time.
Yet, Thor ended up doing what I saw as serious damage to the island's belief system and customs. The statutes were saved for Norwegian museums and for scientific study, but at what cost to the people? These islanders had been trading wooden carvings for generations to foreign ships, while keeping part of their stone-carved culture hidden and untouched by Western man. I, for one, was saddened to see their loss.
September 9, 2024
Третя і поки найгірша прочитана мною книга дослідника Тура Геєрдала. Після п’ятизіркової «Експедиції Кон-Тікі» іноді здавалося, що цю писав хтось інший.
У цій книзі ми разом з автором приїжджаємо на острів Пасхи, де будемо розгадувати таємницю появи знаменитих велетенських багатотонних статуй, їх переміщення островом та встановлення на спеціальні постаменти (без кранів, заліза та з кам’яними сокирами), відкриємо декілька нових, ведемо розкопки, подружимося з місцевими, дізнаємося про родові печери, у які заборонено запрошувати незнайомців, бо аку-аку покарає тебе і, звісно ж, побуваємо у деяких з них.
Я не знаю, наскільки змінилися жителі острова з моменту, коли автор проводив свої дослідження, які стали основою цієї книги, але цікаво було порівняти, наскільки ж інакше там ставляться до приватної власності (жителі спокійно крали все, що погано лежало, але й так само легко ділилися своїм) чи до смерті (нетривале горювання).
Уявіть, що ви палите і живете на острові, а військовий корабель, який може доставити ці цигарки для вас, припливає двічі на рік. Не дивно, що Тур Геєрдал міг навіть роботу людей оплачувати тими цигарками – настільки вони цінувалися (по-моєму, легше було б кинути палити). Також для оплати використовував тканину та їжу.
Загалом моєю найголовнішою проблемою з цією книжкою став стиль написання і величезна кількість однотипних розповідей про одне і те ж: про печери, про фігурки, про печену курку на удачу – здається, у другій половині книги ми тільки про це постійно і читаємо. Я вперше періодично нудьгувала з книгою автора.
У цій книзі ми разом з автором приїжджаємо на острів Пасхи, де будемо розгадувати таємницю появи знаменитих велетенських багатотонних статуй, їх переміщення островом та встановлення на спеціальні постаменти (без кранів, заліза та з кам’яними сокирами), відкриємо декілька нових, ведемо розкопки, подружимося з місцевими, дізнаємося про родові печери, у які заборонено запрошувати незнайомців, бо аку-аку покарає тебе і, звісно ж, побуваємо у деяких з них.
Я не знаю, наскільки змінилися жителі острова з моменту, коли автор проводив свої дослідження, які стали основою цієї книги, але цікаво було порівняти, наскільки ж інакше там ставляться до приватної власності (жителі спокійно крали все, що погано лежало, але й так само легко ділилися своїм) чи до смерті (нетривале горювання).
Уявіть, що ви палите і живете на острові, а військовий корабель, який може доставити ці цигарки для вас, припливає двічі на рік. Не дивно, що Тур Геєрдал міг навіть роботу людей оплачувати тими цигарками – настільки вони цінувалися (по-моєму, легше було б кинути палити). Також для оплати використовував тканину та їжу.
Загалом моєю найголовнішою проблемою з цією книжкою став стиль написання і величезна кількість однотипних розповідей про одне і те ж: про печери, про фігурки, про печену курку на удачу – здається, у другій половині книги ми тільки про це постійно і читаємо. Я вперше періодично нудьгувала з книгою автора.
January 13, 2016
Simply sensational! Endless adventure, archaeology! Good reasoning.
In one of his books, the famous UFO-researcher Dr Jacques Vallee, described this book as "extraordinary". It is.
At the start of the book, Heyerdahl finds himself stuck inside what is essentially an Eastern Island cave booby trap, designed to lock him to the buried ancestors forever.
One of the best bits is when he is collecting artefacts from Easter Islanders' families tombs. Of course he must convince their families of his good intentions. One day he notices he is being effectively put on trial by the witch doctor and his family. He somehow manages to outwit them, convincing them that his Aku, or spirit is more powerful.
By convincing the entire Islands' population that his Aku is more resplendent, he is able to basically get away with any collection of artefacts for his museums/sponsors, etc.
At several times he fears being murdered and describes in detail the huge superstition of the Easter Islanders and their ruling class.
With highest recommendation, esp for the paranormal, history researcher.
Charles Kos, author of "In Search of the Origin of Pyramids and the Lost Gods of Giza."
In one of his books, the famous UFO-researcher Dr Jacques Vallee, described this book as "extraordinary". It is.
At the start of the book, Heyerdahl finds himself stuck inside what is essentially an Eastern Island cave booby trap, designed to lock him to the buried ancestors forever.
One of the best bits is when he is collecting artefacts from Easter Islanders' families tombs. Of course he must convince their families of his good intentions. One day he notices he is being effectively put on trial by the witch doctor and his family. He somehow manages to outwit them, convincing them that his Aku, or spirit is more powerful.
By convincing the entire Islands' population that his Aku is more resplendent, he is able to basically get away with any collection of artefacts for his museums/sponsors, etc.
At several times he fears being murdered and describes in detail the huge superstition of the Easter Islanders and their ruling class.
With highest recommendation, esp for the paranormal, history researcher.
Charles Kos, author of "In Search of the Origin of Pyramids and the Lost Gods of Giza."
September 3, 2016
Very interesting study of Easter Island by Kon-Tiki explorer Heyerdahl.
August 24, 2023
A thrilling story-telling history.
February 12, 2018
A gem. Norwegian archeologist/sociologist Thor Heyerdahl recounts his fascinating 1959 trip to Easter Island—in the middle of the Pacific Ocean—to uncover the origins of the island’s mysterious history.
The book reads like a true adventure story. Heyerdahl is equally interested in the island’s people as he is with the infamous moai statues. As a result, book is filled with colorful characters, exciting excursions to uncover hidden caves, and the unearthing of hidden statues. He and his team are primarily scientists, focused on evidence and facts to support their hypotheses. This lends credibility to their work, but doesn’t take away from the story.
I was impressed by the physicality of the Heyerdahl’s escapades; he and his team are diving, lifting, driving, hanging, climbing all around the island as they’re piecing together the history and ancient techniques of the people who built the giant statues.
As a whole, the story is upbeat, optimistic, entertaining, and engaging. Highly recommended for anyone interested in adventurous archeological expeditions, especially in far-away places on the other side of the world.
The book reads like a true adventure story. Heyerdahl is equally interested in the island’s people as he is with the infamous moai statues. As a result, book is filled with colorful characters, exciting excursions to uncover hidden caves, and the unearthing of hidden statues. He and his team are primarily scientists, focused on evidence and facts to support their hypotheses. This lends credibility to their work, but doesn’t take away from the story.
I was impressed by the physicality of the Heyerdahl’s escapades; he and his team are diving, lifting, driving, hanging, climbing all around the island as they’re piecing together the history and ancient techniques of the people who built the giant statues.
As a whole, the story is upbeat, optimistic, entertaining, and engaging. Highly recommended for anyone interested in adventurous archeological expeditions, especially in far-away places on the other side of the world.
May 5, 2016
Opening any book by Thor Heyerdahl is a ticket to a world of adventure. Aku-Aku is no exception. The expedition to Easter Island and then on to other islands in the vicinity, uncovered not only startling relics that had been buried by the dust of time but also a verbal history passed on from generation to generation. Pulling it all together with a personal narrative, the author gives the reader a fascinating picture of the history of migration of a mysterious race of tall fair skinned, red haired people who preceded the Incas in South America and moved on to Easter Island leaving behind incredible stone works in Peru and other parts of South America. The modern inhabitants of Easter Island (some of whom were descendants of the last of the 'long ears' - the mariners from South America) encountered by Heyerdahl were a colorful bunch of characters that brought the whole expedition to life with their stories and intrigues. Fortunately my copy of the book was printed with numerous color photos which further enhanced the reading enjoyment.
October 20, 2015
The first quarter of the book is actually OK. Heyerdahl talks about the preparations he made for his archaeological expedition to Easter Island and also gives the reader a good introduction about the island history. The best part for me was to learn how many Moais had to be literally dug out of the soil, and the theory Heyerdahl presented to explain how the Moais could be build. Moais bodies were carved in stone inside one quarry, but their red caps were carved out in another quarry several kilometers apart. This hats weighted literally tons. How the aboriginals managed to transport both parts of the sculptures and assembled them together was a mystery that Heyerdahl was determined to resolve.
Then it's the rest 3/4 of the book which is a recollection of Heyerdahl visits and misfortunes to many caves in order to retrieve idols, sculptures and other utensils. It was an overly repetitive account that had me wondering WHY THE HELL it was left in the book because it does not add anything to the story. Honestly, this book could have done without it. Such a waste of paper!!!
Then it's the rest 3/4 of the book which is a recollection of Heyerdahl visits and misfortunes to many caves in order to retrieve idols, sculptures and other utensils. It was an overly repetitive account that had me wondering WHY THE HELL it was left in the book because it does not add anything to the story. Honestly, this book could have done without it. Such a waste of paper!!!
October 30, 2017
As I understand it, much of the anthropological theory in this book has since been disproven. However, to be honest, those aren't really the legs this book stands on. The book itself makes this clear, referring to Heyerdahl's scientific publications for the nitty gritty.
What this is is a great series of adventures about an explorer's time in an exotic place, and with an unfamiliar people. Heyerdahl's writing is full of character, and makes it easy to imagine being there with his crew. It would be almost as good if it were pure fiction, but is more enjoyable for knowing that these things, at least in some part, actually happened.
What this is is a great series of adventures about an explorer's time in an exotic place, and with an unfamiliar people. Heyerdahl's writing is full of character, and makes it easy to imagine being there with his crew. It would be almost as good if it were pure fiction, but is more enjoyable for knowing that these things, at least in some part, actually happened.
July 31, 2011
I actually liked this better than Kon Tiki, loved the detailed descriptions of the natives and the intricate, interwoven society illustrated.
July 16, 2025
Absolutely sick
July 11, 2019
What a captivating read! Having already enjoyed Katherine Routledge’s diary written during her time on Rapa Nui I was looking forward to reading about the island from a more modern perspective. Thor Heyerdahl was a Norwegian ethnographer who was particularly well known for his expeditions to various Polynesian islands. Spending well over half a year on Easter Island, Heyerdahl was able to meet with possibly the last significant generation of islanders who were initiated into the mythology and craftsmanship of the islands patriarchs and matriarchs. He truly immersed himself into the community of Rapa Nui, having taken his wife and daughter with him on the expedition.
Heyerdahl describes how his expedition carried out the first archeological investigations on the islands, discovering incredible things such as the subterranean portion of the moais (more than half of the stone statue’s body is hidden beneath the earth), finding tangential evidence for the myth regarding the ultimate battle between the long and short ear factions, verifying the method of raising the moais onto their ahus (the rectangular stone platforms) and much more. The documentation of many inhabitants’ beliefs and memories has greatly contributed to capturing the soul of the islands community for posterity.
The only gripes I have with Heyerdahl’s method of discovering the mythology, and specifically the artifacts stored in the inhabitants ancestral caves, involve him manipulating the locals into believing he had a powerful aku aku (a spirit guardian). Despite his denial, the islanders believed he was somehow ancestrally related to themselves and that he was some sort of a sage with knowledge about the island that they themselves did not even possess. Not being able to convince the natives that he was not some sort of sage, he started to use this myth as a pretext to coax the islanders to do things against their initial inclination.
For example, he would convince islanders to show him their ancestral caves and artifacts by claiming that his aku aku was powerful enough to defy their own aku akus, who did not allow strangers into their family caves. I am also discontent with him having taken a lot of statues and carvings in exchange for money or other worldly items. Although I don’t claim he did so maliciously, he did rob the islands community of their cultural patrimony with the excuse that he was conducting scientific studies on them. I do have to consider however that during the time of the expedition colonial holdings were still a thing, and that the author is not (and definitely wasn’t at the time) the only archeologist/ethnographer to have appropriated artifacts belonging to native communities.
Having enjoyed this book so much, I am planning to visit Rapa Nui during my South America backpacking trip in 2021. Overall, I really enjoyed this book and would recommend it to anyone interested in indigenous societies and sociology in general. I’m looking forward to reading his other books in the future.
Heyerdahl describes how his expedition carried out the first archeological investigations on the islands, discovering incredible things such as the subterranean portion of the moais (more than half of the stone statue’s body is hidden beneath the earth), finding tangential evidence for the myth regarding the ultimate battle between the long and short ear factions, verifying the method of raising the moais onto their ahus (the rectangular stone platforms) and much more. The documentation of many inhabitants’ beliefs and memories has greatly contributed to capturing the soul of the islands community for posterity.
The only gripes I have with Heyerdahl’s method of discovering the mythology, and specifically the artifacts stored in the inhabitants ancestral caves, involve him manipulating the locals into believing he had a powerful aku aku (a spirit guardian). Despite his denial, the islanders believed he was somehow ancestrally related to themselves and that he was some sort of a sage with knowledge about the island that they themselves did not even possess. Not being able to convince the natives that he was not some sort of sage, he started to use this myth as a pretext to coax the islanders to do things against their initial inclination.
For example, he would convince islanders to show him their ancestral caves and artifacts by claiming that his aku aku was powerful enough to defy their own aku akus, who did not allow strangers into their family caves. I am also discontent with him having taken a lot of statues and carvings in exchange for money or other worldly items. Although I don’t claim he did so maliciously, he did rob the islands community of their cultural patrimony with the excuse that he was conducting scientific studies on them. I do have to consider however that during the time of the expedition colonial holdings were still a thing, and that the author is not (and definitely wasn’t at the time) the only archeologist/ethnographer to have appropriated artifacts belonging to native communities.
Having enjoyed this book so much, I am planning to visit Rapa Nui during my South America backpacking trip in 2021. Overall, I really enjoyed this book and would recommend it to anyone interested in indigenous societies and sociology in general. I’m looking forward to reading his other books in the future.
June 6, 2021
Знание и никаких загадок)
Люблю книги, которые читаешь и узнаешь что-то новое. Или приводишь разбросанные в голове данные в порядок.
Вот с книгой "Аку-аку", в голове закрепилась информация, что фигуры длинноухих людей есть не только на острове Пасхи. Я знала про это. Я читала про это, но это бродило в моей голове, как факт не подкрепленный доказательствами, ну как "мало ли что в этих интернетах пишут". И про рыжие волосы я знала и что камни-цилиндры-прически должны быть на головах статуй тоже знала, книга просто дала всему объяснение и выстроила эти хаотично собранные данные в надежную цепочку.
Как же я люблю, когда человек умеет писать так, что читаешь и понимаешь о чем он, что тебе интересно все происходящее и даже научные объяснения и они порой даже интереснее приключений могут быть) Тур Хейердал просто удивительный человек. Как же хорошо, что он умел общаться и это позволило ему совершить столько исследований и донести их до масс.
Такие книги конечно же надо читать. Не важно знают ли сейчас люди больше, это просто именно тот фундамент знаний, который позволит воспринять новую информацию, укрепить ее. Не просто взорвать мозг чем-то новым, а именно закрепиться новой информации на той научной основе, что так незатейливо, просто была преподнесена ученым, археологом, путешественником и писателем Туром Хейердалом.
Благодаря книге, ты словно заново смотришь на карту мира. Тебе привычно может звучать то, что "пока твои предки по деревьям лазили мои математику придумали", когда говорят о Греции, но ведь и на другом краю света было нечто удивительное и феноменальное на момент, когда чьи-то предки по деревьям прыгали. Просто одна страна нам привычна и оставила после себя больше письменных свидетельств (или мы больше нашли), чем другая, которая все попрятала по пещерам внутри острова. Или не все, что особенно жаль, учитывая, что это пропало. Из-за удаленности этих мест, мы так мало о них знаем и не изучаем про эти острова и путешествия людей в школе, потому что на нас, на нашу культуру это не повлияло. Хорошо, когда есть возможность изучить самостоятельно, хотя бы вот так.
Я за такие книги. Я за таких авторов. Я за то, чтобы наука не была чем-то запредельным, а входила в наш обиход делая нас самих богаче.
July 25, 2011
This non-fiction book of adventure and exploration was a more exciting mystery story than most fiction books I've read of that genre. Through Heyerdahl's eyes the reader get's to travel to probably the most isolated inhabited place on earth, and the place often portrayed as the epitome of the unexplained.
Over the years I've seen so many passing references to the mysterious giant statues of Easter Island, but never had the opportunity to hear many details - I didn't even think the place was inhabited. But this book takes us there on the first archeological excavations and through the author's growing intimacy with the island's inhabitants, we hear of their myths at the same time the digs are producing artifacts that surprise even them.
Heyerdahl found much to support his theory that the islands of the South Pacific were first settled in a westward direction from South America. His findings in this book - both from the artifacts and the local lore - add a dramatic element concerning a clash between two cultures on this small island - the long-ears and the short-ears. But alas, as happened when I read the author's Kon-Tiki and The Ra Expeditions, I do further reading on Wikipedia and discover that Heyerdahl's findings get only passing mention, and then only as "controversial." Regardless, I still find his writing and adventures immensely enjoyable.
Over the years I've seen so many passing references to the mysterious giant statues of Easter Island, but never had the opportunity to hear many details - I didn't even think the place was inhabited. But this book takes us there on the first archeological excavations and through the author's growing intimacy with the island's inhabitants, we hear of their myths at the same time the digs are producing artifacts that surprise even them.
Heyerdahl found much to support his theory that the islands of the South Pacific were first settled in a westward direction from South America. His findings in this book - both from the artifacts and the local lore - add a dramatic element concerning a clash between two cultures on this small island - the long-ears and the short-ears. But alas, as happened when I read the author's Kon-Tiki and The Ra Expeditions, I do further reading on Wikipedia and discover that Heyerdahl's findings get only passing mention, and then only as "controversial." Regardless, I still find his writing and adventures immensely enjoyable.
July 12, 2017
Kriminālromānu un fantastikas virknējumā sagribējās palasīt kādu reālāku un mierīgāku grāmatu - grāmatu par ceļojumiem. Un tieši tad arī saņēmu T.Heijerdāla grāmatu balvā radiospēlē "Lieliskais piecinieks".
Zināmā mērā grāmata attaisnoja uz to liktās cerības. Diemžēl darvas pilienu medus mucā iepilināja tulkojums un LV redaktoru nekvalitatīvais darbs. Bet tik un tā grāmata savu pievienoto vērtību nezaudēja. Ko mēs zinam par par Lieldienu salām? Visapkārt salai ir simtiem Maoi - milzīgās statujas, kuru izcelsmi un iemselu neviens nezin. Kas tās cēlis, kā tās pārvietotas, kā paceltas, kas noticis ar pašiem celtniekiem. Ar šādiem jautājumiem uz Lieldienu salām arī devās Tūra ekspedīcija. Ļoti maz informācijas un ļoti daudz jautājumu.
Uz salas ekspedīcija pielīdzināmatrillerim, piedzīvojumu filmai ar mistikas elementiem. Milzīgās statujas ir Lieldienu salas noslēpumu aisberga redzāmā daļa. Daudz vairāk noslēpumu ir pazemē. Heijerdālam nākas balansēt starp reliģiju un zinātni, starp māņticību un pierādījumiem un dažu brīdi arī starp dzīvību un nāvi. Bet tas viss tikai lai iegūtu atbildes uz jautājumiem un iegūtu taustāmus pierādījumus senajām civilizācijām. Lieki piebilst, ka atbldes iegūstam visiem augstāk minētajime jautājumiem.
Diemžēl Latvijas izdevniecība vienu zvaigzni "nozaga" šai grāmatai, bet tik un tā ir vērts izlasīt.
Zināmā mērā grāmata attaisnoja uz to liktās cerības. Diemžēl darvas pilienu medus mucā iepilināja tulkojums un LV redaktoru nekvalitatīvais darbs. Bet tik un tā grāmata savu pievienoto vērtību nezaudēja. Ko mēs zinam par par Lieldienu salām? Visapkārt salai ir simtiem Maoi - milzīgās statujas, kuru izcelsmi un iemselu neviens nezin. Kas tās cēlis, kā tās pārvietotas, kā paceltas, kas noticis ar pašiem celtniekiem. Ar šādiem jautājumiem uz Lieldienu salām arī devās Tūra ekspedīcija. Ļoti maz informācijas un ļoti daudz jautājumu.
Uz salas ekspedīcija pielīdzināmatrillerim, piedzīvojumu filmai ar mistikas elementiem. Milzīgās statujas ir Lieldienu salas noslēpumu aisberga redzāmā daļa. Daudz vairāk noslēpumu ir pazemē. Heijerdālam nākas balansēt starp reliģiju un zinātni, starp māņticību un pierādījumiem un dažu brīdi arī starp dzīvību un nāvi. Bet tas viss tikai lai iegūtu atbildes uz jautājumiem un iegūtu taustāmus pierādījumus senajām civilizācijām. Lieki piebilst, ka atbldes iegūstam visiem augstāk minētajime jautājumiem.
Diemžēl Latvijas izdevniecība vienu zvaigzni "nozaga" šai grāmatai, bet tik un tā ir vērts izlasīt.
February 28, 2015
"It does not come so natural for just anybody to make for the nearest mountain side with a stone in his hand, and set about quarrying the solid rock. No one has ever seen a Polynesian do anything of the kind, even in the coldest parts of New Zealand. Generations of experience in stone-carving are normally required for such projects. And experience alone is not enough. People with a fanatical urge to work and create are needed, people of the type of the mayor of Easter Island. He was certainly not a Polynesian type, that confounded mayor. I could still see him in my mind's eye, standing at the door with the whole floor behind him covered with queer figures. Beside him, to the left, and on a level with his knee, stood his little invisible aku-aku."
Very good.
December 9, 2008
If you ever wondered what could possibly be exciting at an excavation, please read Thor Heyerdahl’s thrilling book about the secrets of Easter Island. You will never think digging earth is dull ever again. He is irresistably readable and brings out your curious and enthusiastic inner child. His storytelling is so exciting, you hardly believe it’s non-fiction. You are captivated and truly feel that you yourself are pushing through the impossibly narrow underground cave passages and negotiating with the maddeningly superstitious natives. It’s a long book and I haven’t even finished it yet, still, yes, this is a raving review.
http://mukikamu.wordpress.com
http://mukikamu.wordpress.com
August 9, 2016
Thor Heyerdahl, one of those people with a huge need to sate his curiosity, and the determination to see through any project he set forth to undertake. As he writes at the beginning of the book - crossing the ocean in a balsa fleet was one thing (The Kon Tiki mission), sailing over in a fully fledged ship is a whole other deal altogether, liscenes must be obtained, permissions, contracts, paperwork and whatnot all must be diligently filled out. nd as he adds, plus the fact, that noen of his crew had any sailing experience with a real boat med the task daunting - It made me laugh at least.
This is first of all a fun book to read, as they et to the Easter Islands and befriends the local population, and have to figure out ways to learn as much as they cn while they are there. Like figuring out how the giantAkuAku sculptures were made, moved and raised, - what no other before him was able to solve, with good help from the local population, digging around in holes in the ground, uncovering hidden mountain fortresses, and of course finding how to make boats out of traw.
This is not a deeply scientific book, but fun to read and should encourage the adventerous soul to get out there and go on an fun dventure, to discover how peoples of the past lived.
This is first of all a fun book to read, as they et to the Easter Islands and befriends the local population, and have to figure out ways to learn as much as they cn while they are there. Like figuring out how the giantAkuAku sculptures were made, moved and raised, - what no other before him was able to solve, with good help from the local population, digging around in holes in the ground, uncovering hidden mountain fortresses, and of course finding how to make boats out of traw.
This is not a deeply scientific book, but fun to read and should encourage the adventerous soul to get out there and go on an fun dventure, to discover how peoples of the past lived.
June 11, 2008
Another great adventure from Heyerdahl. The history that he and his team uncover on Easter Island is truly remarkable. One negative about the book is the author's relentless quest to obtain stone carvings from the natives' hidden family caves. He justifies it by supposing that they will eventually sell the carvings to private collectors for money or they will be lost forever, as the caves are well hidden and only one family member at a time knows the location. It seems he uses his influence and the natives' superstitions in obtaining a huge amount of artifacts for the price of cloth and cigarettes.
It would have been nice if he had given more attention to their work on other islands that they visited on the same expedition.
It would have been nice if he had given more attention to their work on other islands that they visited on the same expedition.
January 1, 2016
WHAT A BOOK. Wow. Absolute long time favorite. Full of colonialist bravado, the author goes to a remote island to study it, convinces the locals he is a powerful wizard, with trickery and schemes, robs the locals blind of long term inherited stone statues they hid in the island's miles and miles of volcanic caves, gains access to those ancestral grave and treasure caves, and hauls them back to his home country. Amazing asshole author from the era where research and archaeological theft were intertwined and poorly regulated telling one of a kind story. A must read. Reading it on the white sandy beach of Anakena, in Easter Island (in a leather bound yellowing copy in Hebrew, which the locals were just tickled by) just added a fun layer to an off the beaten track trip of a lifetime.
December 21, 2014
Thor strikes me as the closest thing we have had to an Indiana Jones adventurer-scholar, like Harry Houdini strikes me as the closest thing to a superhero. These chronicles of exploring the truth behind mysterious Easter Island, or Rapa Nui meaning 'Great Rapa,' read as much like adventure as they do scholarship. Secret caves, superstition, and wizardry read with as much drama and tension as there is in enlightenment coming from the archaeology, rongo-rong, and top knots and burial spaces of the long-faced statues. As tantalizing and unfortunate in its brevity is the cursory treatment given to stops at Pitcairn Island and Rapa Iti. Plenty of color pictures and maps help out this book.
June 18, 2018
I don't like that Thor wanted to fool the inhabitants. In the name of science he tried to persuade the people to take out their sacred stone monuments from their secret family caves.
One should always respect the other people's faith ane belief.
In addition, he did not keep his secret to himself - telling all Chile students about secret family caves!
At this stage, he wanted to be seen as a hero. How clever I am!
On the other hand, there is a lot od interesting things. I enjoy reading about reed boats, about trees growing there in the old times, about Iko's ditch, how two nations had colonised the island, etc..
One should always respect the other people's faith ane belief.
In addition, he did not keep his secret to himself - telling all Chile students about secret family caves!
At this stage, he wanted to be seen as a hero. How clever I am!
On the other hand, there is a lot od interesting things. I enjoy reading about reed boats, about trees growing there in the old times, about Iko's ditch, how two nations had colonised the island, etc..
February 23, 2013
Having read Heyerdahl's Kon-Tiki prior to visiting the Norwegian side of our family in sixty-two, I read Aku-Aku sometime after returning and having seen the Kon-Tiki Museum in Oslo. Unlike Kon-Tiki, which is primarily a travel-adventure book (Heyerdahl saved the serious stuff for journal articles), Aku-Aku is more an archaeological work written for the general public. Like Kon-Tiki, however, the underlying thesis is that there was prehistoric intercourse between South America and Polynesia and the archaeological evidence is so construed as to support this thesis.
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