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Papyrus from ‘Ra I’ crosses Atlantic Ocean to Norway
CONSERVATION A R O U N D THE WORLD
sinking within two weeks, papyrus has proved to float for at least three years. The person who found the reeds on the Lofoten Islands commented that oil-clots, of the same size and type reported by T.H. as observed very widely in the Atlantic on the Ra expeditions (Heyerdahl, 1970, 1971, 1972a, 1972b),* were numerous along the shoreline where the papyrus landed. He subsequently sent a jar of these oil-clots to the Kon-Tiki Museum in Oslo, where they were examined by T.H. who confirmed that they were similar to those he had seen floating in the Atlantic. There is no reason to doubt that oil-clots float for as long as do the waterlogged papyrus reeds, and that these examples were of the same general provenance as those observed from the papyrus rafts on the drift-voyages from Morocco to the Caribbean area.
PAPYRUS FROM ' R A I' CROSSES ATLANTIC OCEAN TO NORWAY
In December 1972, papyrus from Thor Heyerdahl's raft-ship, ' R a I', was washed ashore on the west coast of the Lofoten Islands, N o r w a y - - n o r t h of the Arctic Circle and where the Gulf Stream arrives in full strength as a direct conveyor from the Gulf of Mexico. The two complete reeds discovered in December, which bore the marks of the lashings that held the vessel together, were recently examined by T.H. They were readily identifiable as being from ' R a I' rather than from ' R a I I ' ; for apart from the fact that no complete length of reed was lost from ' R a II', these examples were riddled with characteristic tiny holes of the desert bug which had bored into the papyrus during the building of ' R a I' in Egypt. ' R a I' was abandoned and broke up east of Barbados in midJuly, 1969 (Heyerdahl, 1971, 1972a). In February 1973 a complete mat of papyrus reeds, held together by string, landed at Vigra, on the west coast of southern Norway. The mat proved to be typical of the kind used as buffers to prevent the ceramic food-jars carried on the voyage from breaking. Particularly on ' R a I' there were a large number of these mats which were thrown overboard as the jars were used: it is thought that this must be one of those so discarded. Indeed, owing to the extreme unlikelihood of papyrus finding its way into the Gulf Stream from any other source than a papyrus boat in midAtlantic, and to the above corroborative evidence, we have no doubt as to its origin. Papyrus has presumably not drifted in the ocean since the time of ancient civilizations, and T.H. had to go to the interior of Africa to find the quantity of such building material which he required for both ' R a I' and ' R a II'. Apart from the curiosity value of these most surprising discoveries in Norway, science is now provided with conclusive evidence of the buoyancy and durability of papyrus in salt water. Contrary to pre-Ra expedition dogma, it is obvious that salt water preserves the reed instead of causing it to rot, and, rather than
References
HEYERDAHL, Thor (1970). Atlantic Ocean pollution observed by Expedition Ra. Biological Conservation, 2(3), pp. 221-2, fig. HEYERDAHL,Thor (1971). Atlantic Ocean pollution observed by the 'Ra' Expeditions. Biological Conservation, 3(3), pp. 164-7, map. HEYERDAHL, Thor (1972a). The Ra Expeditions (transl. Patricia Crampton). Penguin Books, Harmondsworth, Middlesex: [xii q-] 373 pp., illustr. HEYERDAHL,Thor (1972b). Addendum. Pp. 286-9 in The Environmental Future (Ed. N. Polunin). Macmillan, London & Basingstoke, and Barnes & Noble, New York : xiv -- 660 pp., illustr. THOR HEYERDAHL
& PETER B. JONES, Colla Micheri,
17020 Laigueglia, Italy. * and also by others subsequently, including A. R. G. Price in his paper in this journal, 5 (4), October 1973, pp. 297-8 entitled 'A Further Look at Pollution in the Atlantic Ocean' and in his letter of 13 July 1973 written on completion of the return crossing of the Atlantic.--Ed. 60
Biological Conservation, Vol. 6, No. I, January 1974--~ AppliedSciencePublishersLtd, England, 1974--Printedin Great Britain
sinking within two weeks, papyrus has proved to float for at least three years. The person who found the reeds on the Lofoten Islands commented that oil-clots, of the same size and type reported by T.H. as observed very widely in the Atlantic on the Ra expeditions (Heyerdahl, 1970, 1971, 1972a, 1972b),* were numerous along the shoreline where the papyrus landed. He subsequently sent a jar of these oil-clots to the Kon-Tiki Museum in Oslo, where they were examined by T.H. who confirmed that they were similar to those he had seen floating in the Atlantic. There is no reason to doubt that oil-clots float for as long as do the waterlogged papyrus reeds, and that these examples were of the same general provenance as those observed from the papyrus rafts on the drift-voyages from Morocco to the Caribbean area.
PAPYRUS FROM ' R A I' CROSSES ATLANTIC OCEAN TO NORWAY
In December 1972, papyrus from Thor Heyerdahl's raft-ship, ' R a I', was washed ashore on the west coast of the Lofoten Islands, N o r w a y - - n o r t h of the Arctic Circle and where the Gulf Stream arrives in full strength as a direct conveyor from the Gulf of Mexico. The two complete reeds discovered in December, which bore the marks of the lashings that held the vessel together, were recently examined by T.H. They were readily identifiable as being from ' R a I' rather than from ' R a I I ' ; for apart from the fact that no complete length of reed was lost from ' R a II', these examples were riddled with characteristic tiny holes of the desert bug which had bored into the papyrus during the building of ' R a I' in Egypt. ' R a I' was abandoned and broke up east of Barbados in midJuly, 1969 (Heyerdahl, 1971, 1972a). In February 1973 a complete mat of papyrus reeds, held together by string, landed at Vigra, on the west coast of southern Norway. The mat proved to be typical of the kind used as buffers to prevent the ceramic food-jars carried on the voyage from breaking. Particularly on ' R a I' there were a large number of these mats which were thrown overboard as the jars were used: it is thought that this must be one of those so discarded. Indeed, owing to the extreme unlikelihood of papyrus finding its way into the Gulf Stream from any other source than a papyrus boat in midAtlantic, and to the above corroborative evidence, we have no doubt as to its origin. Papyrus has presumably not drifted in the ocean since the time of ancient civilizations, and T.H. had to go to the interior of Africa to find the quantity of such building material which he required for both ' R a I' and ' R a II'. Apart from the curiosity value of these most surprising discoveries in Norway, science is now provided with conclusive evidence of the buoyancy and durability of papyrus in salt water. Contrary to pre-Ra expedition dogma, it is obvious that salt water preserves the reed instead of causing it to rot, and, rather than
References
HEYERDAHL, Thor (1970). Atlantic Ocean pollution observed by Expedition Ra. Biological Conservation, 2(3), pp. 221-2, fig. HEYERDAHL,Thor (1971). Atlantic Ocean pollution observed by the 'Ra' Expeditions. Biological Conservation, 3(3), pp. 164-7, map. HEYERDAHL, Thor (1972a). The Ra Expeditions (transl. Patricia Crampton). Penguin Books, Harmondsworth, Middlesex: [xii q-] 373 pp., illustr. HEYERDAHL,Thor (1972b). Addendum. Pp. 286-9 in The Environmental Future (Ed. N. Polunin). Macmillan, London & Basingstoke, and Barnes & Noble, New York : xiv -- 660 pp., illustr. THOR HEYERDAHL
& PETER B. JONES, Colla Micheri,
17020 Laigueglia, Italy. * and also by others subsequently, including A. R. G. Price in his paper in this journal, 5 (4), October 1973, pp. 297-8 entitled 'A Further Look at Pollution in the Atlantic Ocean' and in his letter of 13 July 1973 written on completion of the return crossing of the Atlantic.--Ed. 60
Biological Conservation, Vol. 6, No. I, January 1974--~ AppliedSciencePublishersLtd, England, 1974--Printedin Great Britain