Editing Thor Heyerdahl (section)

==Fatu Hiva==
{{Main|Fatu Hiva (book)}}
In 1936, on the day after his marriage to Liv Coucheron Torp, the young couple set out for the South Pacific Island of [[Fatu Hiva]]. They nominally had an academic mission, to research the spread of animal species between islands, but in reality they intended to "run away to the South Seas" and never return home.<ref name= FHWP>Copied content from [[Fatu Hiva (book)]];see that page history for attribution</ref>

Aided by expedition funding from their parents, they nonetheless arrived on the island lacking "provisions, weapons or a radio". Residents in Tahiti, where they stopped en route, did convince them to take a machete and a cooking pot.<ref name=KTM/>

They arrived at Fatu Hiva in 1937, in the valley of [[Omo'a|Omo‘a]], and decided to cross over the island's mountainous interior to settle in one of the small, nearly abandoned, valleys on the eastern side of the island. There, they made their [[thatch]]-covered stilted home in the valley of [[Uia]].<ref name= FHWP/>

Living in such primitive conditions was a daunting task, but they managed to live off the land, and work on their academic goals, by collecting and studying zoological and botanical specimens. They discovered unusual artifacts, listened to the natives' oral history traditions, and took note of the prevailing winds and ocean currents.<ref name=KTM/>

It was in this setting, surrounded by the ruins of the formerly glorious [[Marquesan culture|Marquesan civilization]], that Heyerdahl first developed his theories regarding the possibility of [[pre-Columbian trans-oceanic contact]] between the pre-European [[Polynesians]], and the peoples and cultures of [[South America]].<ref name= FHWP/>

Despite the seemingly idyllic situation, the exposure to various tropical diseases and other difficulties caused them to return to civilisation a year later. They worked together to write an account of their adventure.<ref name=KTM/>

The events surrounding his stay on the [[Marquesas Islands|Marquesas]], most of the time on [[Fatu Hiva]], were told first in his book ''På Jakt etter Paradiset'' (''Hunt for Paradise'') (1938), which was published in Norway but, following the outbreak of [[World War II]], was never translated and remained largely forgotten. Many years later, having achieved notability with other adventures and books on other subjects, Heyerdahl published a new account of this voyage under the title ''[[Fatu Hiva (book)|Fatu Hiva]]'' (London: [[Allen & Unwin]], 1974). The story of his time on Fatu Hiva and his side trip to Hivaoa and Mohotani is also related in ''Green Was the Earth on the Seventh Day '' ([[Random House]], 1996).