Norway's Kon-Tiki Museum returns artifacts to Chile's remote Easter Island
Artifacts and human remains taken by a Norwegian explorer and anthropologist in the late 1940s are being returned by a museum in Norway to Chile's remote territory of Easter Island in the mid-Pacific
COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Artifacts and human remains taken by a Norwegian explorer and anthropologist in the late 1940s are being returned by a museum in Oslo to Chile’s remote territory of Easter Island in the mid-Pacific, the Kon-Tiki Museum said Wednesday.
In 1947, explorer Thor Heyerdahl sailed on a log raft named Kon-Tiki from Peru to Polynesia in 101 days to prove his theory — that the South Sea Islands were settled by seafarers from South America.
He brought 5,600 objects back from Easter Island, also known as Rapa Nui. This is the third time objects taken by him are being returned.
Many have been stored and displayed at the Kon-Tiki Museum in Oslo, Norway's capital, and some were given back in 1986 and others 2006. The return has been a collaboration between the museum, Chile and Rapa Nui's local authorities.
