[00:47.42]VICTOR:Right, well, for our presentation shall I start with the early life of Thor Heyerdahl?
[00:53.78]OLIVIA:Sure.
[00:54.46]Why don't you begin with describing the type of boy he was, especially - his passion for collecting things.
[01:00.44]VICTOR:That's right, he had his own little museum.
[01:03.28]And I think it's unusual for children to develop their own values and not join in their parents' hobbies;
[01:09.80]I’m thinking of how Heyerdahl wouldn't go hunting with his dad, for example.
[01:14.67]OLIVIA:Yeah, he preferred to learn about nature by listening to his mother read to him.
[01:18.95]And quite early on he knew he wanted to become an explorer when he grew up.
[01:24.44]That came from his camping trips he went on in Norway I think...
[01:29.11]VICTOR:No, - it was climbing that he spent his time on as a young man.
[01:33.24]OLIVIA:Oh, right...
[01:34.90]After university he married a classmate and together, - they decided to experience living on a small island, - to find out how harsh weather conditions shaped people's lifestyles.
[01:46.22]VICTOR:As part of their preparation before they left home, they learnt basic survival skills tike building a shelter.
[01:53.43]I guess they needed that knowledge in order to live wild in a remote location with few inhabitants, cut off by the sea, which is what they were aiming to do.
[02:03.78]OLIVIA:An important part of your talk should be the radical theory Heyerdahl formed from examining mysterious ancient carvings that he happened to find on the island.
[02:13.28]I think you should finish with that.
[02:15.57]VICTOR:OK.
[03:19.11]OLIVIA:All right, Victor, so after your part I'll talk about Thor Heyerdahl's adult life, continuing from the theory he had about Polynesian migration.
[03:29.10]Up until that time of course, academics had believed that humans first migrated to the islands in Polynesia from Asia, in the west.
[03:37.63]VICTOR:Yes, they thought that travel from the east was impossible, because of the huge, empty stretch of ocean that lies between the islands and the nearest inhabited land.
[03:48.16]OLIVIA:Yes, but Heyerdahl spent ages studying the cloud movements, ocean currents and wind patterns to find if it was actually possible.
[03:56.13]And another argument was that there was no tradition of large ship-building in the communities lying to the east of Polynesia.
[04:03.28]But Heyerdahl knew they made lots of coastal voyages in locally built canoes.
[04:08.62]VICTOR:Yes, or sailing on rafts, as was shown by the long voyage that Heyerdahl did next.
[04:14.63]It was an incredibly risky journey to undertake—sometimes I wonder if he did that trip for private reasons, you know?
[04:21.67]To show others that he could have spectacular adventures.
[04:25.89]What do you think, Olivia?
[04:27.46]OLIVIA:Well, I think it was more a matter of simply trying out his idea, to see if migration from the east was possible.
[04:34.52]VICTOR:Yes, that's probably it.
[04:36.78]And the poor guy suffered a bit at that time because the war forced him to stop his work for some years...
[04:42.58]OLIVIA:Yes.
[04:43.59]When he got started again and planned his epic voyage, do you think it was important to him that he achieve it before anyone else did?
[04:51.55]VICTOR:Um, I haven't read anywhere that that was his motivation.
[04:55.98] The most important factor seems to have been that he use only ancient techniques and local materials to build his raft.
[05:03.29]OLIVIA:Yes.
[05:04.15]I wonder how fast it went.
[05:06.50]VICTOR:Well, it took them 97 days from South America to the Pacific Islands.
[05:12.42]OLIVIA:Mm.
[05:13.41]And after that, Heyerdahl went to Easter Island, didn't he?
[05:16.75]We should the purpose of that trip.
[05:19.66]I think he sailed there in a boat made out of reeds.
[05:23.27]VICTOR:No, that was later on in Egypt, Olivia.
[05:26.22]OLIVIA:Oh, yes, that’s right.
[05:27.39]VICTOR:But what he wanted to do was talk to the local people about their old stone carvings and then make one himself to learn more about the process.
[05:36.12]OLIVIA:I see.
[05:36.87]Well, what a great life.
[05:39.30]Even though many of his theories have been disproven, he certainly left a lasting impression on many disciplines, didn't he?
[05:46.20] To my mind, he was the first person to establish what modem academics call practical archaeology.
[05:53.11]I mean, that they try to recreate something from the past today, like he did with his raft trip.
[06:00.10]It's unfortunate that his ideas about where Polynesians originated from have been completely discredited.
[06:07.13]VICTOR:Yes.
[06:08.30]Right, well, I'll prepare a PowerPoint slide at the end that acknowledges our sources.
[06:13.72]I mainly used The Life and Work of Thor Heyerdahl by William Oliver.
[06:18.35]I thought the research methods he used were very sound, although I must say I found the overall tone somewhat old-fashioned.
[06:26.58]I think they need to do a new, revised edition.
[06:29.59]OLIVIA:Yeah.
[06:30.32]I agree.
[06:31.11]What about the subject matter—I found it realty challenging!
[06:35.16]VICTOR:Well, it's a complex issue...
[06:37.41]OLIVIA:I thought the book had lots of good points.
[06:40.42]What did you think of...
