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Pyramids of Tucume: The Quest for Peru's Forgotten City
Thor Heyerdahl, explorer, anthropologist and adventurer, is well-known for his daring expedition around the globe. Almost half a century ago he risked his life sailing from Peru to Polynesia on a balsa raft, the story immortalized in his book The Kon-Tiki Expedition (1948). Since then similar voyages have taken him across the Atlantic and Indian Oceans, and the most remote corners of the world, in a lifelong quest for knowledge, adventure and excitement.
240 pages, Paperback
First published September 1, 1995
97 people want to read
About the author
Thor Heyerdahl
67 books316 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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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
May 29, 2016
Excellent book. Riveting account of a nearly forgotten culture and people. Wonderful photographs and drawings highlight this worthy tome.
January 30, 2017
I have never been to Peru, but it's on my bucket list. This book offers yet another reason to want to go there someday. I've read about the Amazon Rainforest, the Andes Mountains, the spectacled bear, the Nazca Lines, Cuzco, Lima, Macchu Picchu, etc. etc., but until learning of this book, I was unaware of the depth of Peru's ancient history. While most people would be able to identify the Inca as an ancient Peruvian civilization, few would know anything about the Chimú who preceded them in northern Peru or the ancient Lambayeque people who preceded the Chimú.
In this book, adventurer Thor Heyerdahl and archaeologists Daniel Sandweiss and Alfredo Narváez tell the story of the lost city of Túcume based on their excavations there. Sandweiss and Narváez offer scientific reports on their archaeological finds in the chapters they wrote, while Heyerdahl's chapters give background knowledge as well as fascinating stories about what life was like during the five digging seasons they spent among the modern day Tucumanos, while they were doing their field work. Heyerdahl's chapters are definitely easier to read than those of the other authors, which tend to be more dry and scientific in their style. While the change in style is obvious, all three authors provide important information that help to form a more complete picture of this ancient site. Plus, there are beautiful photos (some in color) and scientific drawings throughout the book to augment the text.
Finally, while these archaeologists and their many workers spent five digging seasons at Túcume in the late 1980's and early 1990's, they freely admit that their work has merely scratched the surface of this incredible site. It left me curious if any other scientists have continued the work that these men started and what wonders they might have since found there. This was a fascinating read.
In this book, adventurer Thor Heyerdahl and archaeologists Daniel Sandweiss and Alfredo Narváez tell the story of the lost city of Túcume based on their excavations there. Sandweiss and Narváez offer scientific reports on their archaeological finds in the chapters they wrote, while Heyerdahl's chapters give background knowledge as well as fascinating stories about what life was like during the five digging seasons they spent among the modern day Tucumanos, while they were doing their field work. Heyerdahl's chapters are definitely easier to read than those of the other authors, which tend to be more dry and scientific in their style. While the change in style is obvious, all three authors provide important information that help to form a more complete picture of this ancient site. Plus, there are beautiful photos (some in color) and scientific drawings throughout the book to augment the text.
Finally, while these archaeologists and their many workers spent five digging seasons at Túcume in the late 1980's and early 1990's, they freely admit that their work has merely scratched the surface of this incredible site. It left me curious if any other scientists have continued the work that these men started and what wonders they might have since found there. This was a fascinating read.
May 2, 2020
very dry and descriptive, without insights into how these people really lived. Also glosses over all the human sacrifices that happened there... this culture of blood is glossed over.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews