Editing Thor Heyerdahl (section)

===Background===

Heyerdahl made four visits to [[Azerbaijan]] in 1981,<ref>Forecoming 2014: Thor Heyerdahl and Azerbaijan, to be published jointly by University of Oslo and Azerbaijan University of Languages, Editor Vibeke Roeggen et al.</ref> 1994, 1999 and 2000.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://azer.com/aiweb/categories/magazine/31_folder/31_articles/31_thorheyerdahl.html |title=Thor Heyerdahl in Azerbaijan |publisher=Azer.com |access-date=1 September 2011}}</ref> Heyerdahl had long been fascinated with the rock carvings that date back to about {{BCE|8th–7th millennia|link=y}} at [[Gobustan Rock Art Cultural Landscape|Gobustan]] (about 30 miles/48&nbsp;km west of [[Baku]]). He was convinced that their artistic style closely resembled the carvings found in his native Norway. The ship designs, in particular, were regarded by Heyerdahl as similar and drawn with a simple sickle-shaped line, representing the base of the boat, with vertical lines on deck, illustrating crew or, perhaps, raised oars.

Based on this and other published documentation, Heyerdahl proposed that Azerbaijan was the site of an ancient advanced civilization. He believed that natives migrated north through waterways to present-day [[Scandinavia]] using ingeniously constructed vessels made of skins that could be folded like cloth. When voyagers travelled upstream, they conveniently folded their skin boats and transported them on pack animals.