Norway's Kon-Tiki Museum returns artifacts to Chile's remote Easter Island

COPENHAGEN, Denmark — 

Artifacts and quality remains taken by a Norwegian explorer and anthropologist successful the precocious 1940s are being returned by a depository successful Oslo to Chile's distant territory of Easter Island successful the mid-Pacific, the Kon-Tiki Museum said Wednesday.

In 1947, explorer Thor Heyerdahl sailed connected a log raft named Kon-Tiki from Peru to Polynesia successful 101 days to beryllium his mentation — that the South Sea Islands were settled by seafarers from South America.

He brought 5,600 objects backmost from Easter Island, besides known arsenic Rapa Nui. This is the 3rd clip objects taken by him are being returned.

Many person been stored and displayed astatine the Kon-Tiki Museum successful Oslo, Norway's capital, and immoderate were fixed backmost successful 1986 and others 2006. The instrumentality has been a collaboration betwixt the museum, Chile and Rapa Nui's section authorities.

"My gramps would person been arrogant of what we are astir to achieve," said Liv Heyerdahl, caput of the depository and the explorer's granddaughter.

She told the Norwegian quality bureau NTB that the objects were brought to Norway "with a committedness that they would 1 time beryllium returned."

Among those that are being returned this clip astir are quality remains called Ivi Tepuna and sculpted stones.

A nine-person delegation had traveled to Norway this week to cod the items. Four of them spent the nighttime astatine the Oslo museum, alongside the remains arsenic portion of a ritual ceremonial to instrumentality backmost the spirits of the remains.

"First 1 indispensable awaken the spirits, and past talk to them successful our archetypal language. Food is past prepared to devour a repast with them, wherever the odor of the nutrient goes to the spirits," a subordinate of the delegation, Laura Tarita Rapu Alarcón, told NTB.

"It is important that those who ain the civilization are progressive successful the process," Liv Heyerdahl was quoted arsenic saying by NTB. "Of people these remains should beryllium returned, and it feels close due to the fact that they beryllium to the Rapa Nui."

In 2019, an statement was signed successful Santiago, Chile, during a sojourn by Norway's King Harald. However, the COVID-19 pandemic stopped each activities successful 2020, the depository said. Harald met with the Rapa Nui delegation connected Tuesday.

A publication astir Thor Heyerdahl's voyage — helium died successful 2002 astatine the property of 87 — has go an planetary bestseller, and his movie of the travel won an Academy Award for champion documentary successful 1951.

Rapa Nui is champion known for the hundreds of moai — monolithic quality figures carved centuries agone by this distant Pacific island's Rapanui people.

Covering astir 164 quadrate kilometers and location to astir 7,700 people, fractional of them with Rapa Nui ancestry, Easter Island was formed astatine slightest 750,000 years agone by volcanic eruptions and is 1 of the world's astir isolated inhabited islands.

Located 3,700 kilometers from South America, Rapa Nui was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site successful 1995. In 2019, it was officially renamed "Rapa Nui-Easter Island" from its erstwhile sanction of conscionable Easter Island.