Editing Thor Heyerdahl (section)

===Expedition to Easter Island===
[[File:Thor Heyerdahl - L0061 934Fo30141701190050.jpg|thumb|Thor Heyerdahl, in 1955]]
In 1955–1956, Heyerdahl organised the Norwegian Archaeological Expedition to [[Easter Island]]. The expedition's scientific staff included Arne Skjølsvold, Carlyle Smith, [[Edwin Ferdon]], Gonzalo Figueroa<ref>{{cite news|first=Malcolm |last=Coad |url=https://www.theguardian.com/science/2008/sep/04/archaeology |title=Gonzalo Figueroa |newspaper=Guardian |date=4 September 2008|access-date=1 September 2011 |location=London}}</ref> and [[William Mulloy]]. Heyerdahl and the professional archaeologists who travelled with him spent several months on Easter Island investigating several important archaeological sites. Highlights of the project include experiments in the carving, transport and erection of the notable [[moai]], as well as excavations at such prominent sites as [[Orongo]] and [[Poike]]. The expedition published two large volumes of scientific reports (''Reports of the Norwegian Archaeological Expedition to Easter Island and the East Pacific'') and Heyerdahl later added a third (''The Art of Easter Island''). Heyerdahl's popular book on the subject, ''[[Aku-Aku]]'' was another international best-seller.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.kon-tiki.no/|title=The Kon-Tiki Museum|website=The Kon-Tiki Museum}}</ref>

In ''Easter Island: The Mystery Solved'' (Random House, 1989), Heyerdahl offered a more detailed theory of [[History of Easter Island|the island's history]]. Working with [[Rapanui]] archaeologist [[Sonia Haoa Cardinali]]<ref name="MV">
[https://moevarua.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Revista-moeVarua-Abril-2019.pdf ''Moe Varua Rapa Nui'', Vol. 12, No. 132, April 2019 p. 17-21] 
</ref> and using other Rapanui evidence, he claimed the island was originally colonised by [[Hanau eepe]] ("Long Ears"), from South America, and that Polynesian [[Hanau momoko]] ("Short Ears") arrived only in the mid-16th century; they may have come independently or perhaps were imported as workers. According to Heyerdahl, something happened between Admiral Roggeveen's discovery of the island in 1722 and James Cook's visit in 1774; while Roggeveen encountered white, Indian, and Polynesian people living in relative harmony and prosperity, Cook encountered a much smaller population consisting mainly of Polynesians and living in privation. Heyerdahl notes the oral tradition of an uprising of "Short Ears" against the ruling "Long Ears." The "Long Ears" dug a defensive moat on the eastern end of the island and filled it with kindling. During the uprising, Heyerdahl claimed, the "Long Ears" ignited their moat and retreated behind it, but the "Short Ears" found a way around it, came up from behind, and pushed all but two of the "Long Ears" into the fire. This moat was found by the Norwegian expedition and it was partly cut down into the rock. Layers of fire were revealed but no fragments of bodies.{{citation needed|date=May 2024}}