Through his oceanic expeditions on primitive rafts and boats, documented in books, films, and television programs, Norwegian anthropologist Thor Heyerdahl (born 1914) has popularized ideas about common links among ancient cultures worldwide.

Since his voyage across the Pacific on the Kon-Tiki in 1947, Thor Heyerdahl has been the modern world's most renowned explorer-adventurer. He has made four oceanic trips in primitive vessels to demonstrate his theories that ancient civilizations may have spread from a common source through sea voyages. His expeditions to sites of ancient stone statues in the Pacific Ocean and pyramids in Peru have also attracted great interest. More than a dozen books about his adventures have sold tens of millions of copies worldwide. Heyerdahl's work has included several documentary films and hundreds of articles for journals and magazines. But while he has gained more popular attention than any contemporary anthropologist, the scientific community largely has rejected his...