Heyerdahl’s Retreat

Press, Volume CV, Issue 30981, 10 February 1966, Page 9

Heyerdahl’s Retreat

The Norwegian I leader of the famous I Kon Tiki raft voyage | in the Pacific (Dr. Thor Heyerdahl) has bought a village on a mountain above the Italian Riviera and turned it into a scientific retreat. The village, Colla Micheri. has 27 inhabitants, all of whom, Dr. Heyerdahl said in an interview in Christchurch worked for him. When asked why he turned an entire village into his own private retreat. Dr. Heyerdahl said: “In Oslo, my home town, I could not get working peace. The telephone rang all day and all night. I decided to find a sort of hide-out, to get complete time to my own

disposal. That is what I found. in this little Italian mountain I village.” He had turned the village into a research centre to which came archaeologists, botanists and others from all parts of the world to collaborate with him for scientific publications. In the last 19 years, said Dr. Heyerdahl, he had with j his collaborators prepared three volumes of scientific work on Easter Island. The third and last volume of the “Report of the Norwegian Archaeological Expedition to Easter Island” was due to come out soon. Sixteen scientists from seven countries, including three Soviet scientists, had helped him in this joint | effort. The volume was sponsored and would be published by the American School of Research. Dr. Heyerdahl spent much of his three days in Christchurch at the Canterbury

Museum, where he studied Easter Island material. Study from the local collections. he said, would be incorporated in the third and final volume of his scientific work on Easter Island. He was also bringing himself up to date on Maori and Moa | Hunter culture. “I am greatly impressed by the collections I have seen,” said Dr. Heyerdahl. “So far I i have seen the Otago Museum and the Canterbury Museum. I am continuing now to the j Wellington and Auckland I museums. “I am impressed by the excellent modern displays here in the Canterbury Museum.” The photograph shows Dr. Heyerdahl in the Canterbury Museum’s Pacific hall. He is examining Easter Island wood sculptures from the Oldman collection, presented by the New Zealand Government.