European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - October 18, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse Exploring the e past Thor Heyerdahl turns 80 chasing a. A. A a a a. A a / civilization from Peru to China by do Jug Mellgren the associated press Thor Heyerdahl who made a career of sailing the seas on fragile Craft was terrified of the water until he fell into a racing River at age. 22 and was forced to swim Quot if you Kad asked to e As a t 7-year-old Quot whether i would go to sea on a raft t would have a so i u t Ely de n i edit a he said Shortl y before his a Feitli birthday this month during an interview at the Kon Tiki museum in Oslo Norway which is devoted to his voyages. \ / but he did go to sea on a Taft the Kon Tiki and in the a Reed boats a rail and Tigris to test his . Civilizations were spread by ancient mariners. Heyerdahl s books describing his voyages captured the y world s imagination i is filth of the 101 Day 4,300-m i i e Kon Tiki voyage won an Reader by award in 1951. At the close of his eighth decade the norwegian sent Island adventurer shows no signs of slowing Down. He has projects going in Africa South America and Asia. Quot if there is any change it is that i have More to do than Ever Quot he said during a Brief visit to Oslo from work in Peru and the Canary islands. He now is writing about five years of excavations at a Complex of 2 6 by ram ids in the e t ecu me a Rea of v Northwestern Peru which he believes May have been settled by people arriving on rafts like the Kon Tiki. Quot we have hardly even touched the surface Quot he said. Quot there is enough for a Hundred years of an Ocean away at the Island of Tenerife off the Hump of Africa Heyerdahl is investigating More pyramids. Quot we have found the completely unbelievable Quot he said. Quot there lies a Pyramid Complex that no researcher had been to look Heyerdahl believes the stepped pyramids at both Sites which resemble those of ancient Mesopotamia in what is now Iraq suggest Contact Between the oldest civilizations. Ini Chita Heyerdahl plans to investigate fair skinned Blond people buried hundreds or thousands of years before the first known Contact Between Europe and that vast country. A a a a. Quot d Quot Quot they have found the mummies of european Type people that the chinese did not announce for seven years Beta use it d i d not up Nib pm to the i r accepted ideas Quot he said a a a a a a a a a a challenging accepted notions is nothing new for Heyerdahl. Other scientists often scoffed at his theories partly because he was a zoologist by training and had unimpressive academic credentials. A he believes ancient mariners could have settled polynesia and in 1947 sailed Kon Tiki a 40-foot raft of Balsa logs from Peru in an attempt to prove it. Quot Quot everyone said the logs would be waterlogged and the raft would sink within two weeks Quot he said. After More than three months the nearly wrecked Kon Tiki reached a tiny atoll East of Tahiti. A a a a a the High Point of his adventurous life Heyerdahl said Quot will always be the moment we hit land on a South Pacific Island after 103 Days on Kon Tiki. After the huge Waves that were higher than the Mast we could look around and count that All six of us were still alive that we could dig our toes into warm dry in the 1950s, Heyerdahl probed the secrets of the giant Aku Aku statues on easter Island off Chile. In 1969, he tried to sail from Morocco to Barbados on clockwise from right Thor Heyerdahl inspects rail before launching the boat in 1970 Heyerdahl with the boat at the Kon Tiki museum a month before his 80th birthday the. Kon a Tiki in shallow Waters during Heyerdahl s most famous journey. The a a papyrus boat built to designs in ancient egyptian Wall drawings. Because construction error it broke up after 55 Days. A year later Heyerdahl made the 3,200-mile crossing in 57 Days in a modified boat the a ii. In 1977, Heyerdahl launched the Reed boat Tigris to see How far from the persian Gulf ancient mesopotamian might have sailed. After covering 4,200 Miles in 144 Days the voyage Yves blocked by warfare in the Horn of Africa. He and his Crew set the Tigris afire Quot to protest what was happening Quot there. Y a a v a a. A his Youthful fear of water was Quot a Complex Quot Heyerdahl developed after nearly drowning twice near his Quot Hometown of Narvik in Southern Norway. Then in 1936, during his first foreign adventure he fell into a wild River in Tahiti. A. A a -.-. A a a. Quot i had to save my life by swimming Quot he said. Quot and. When i got to land i immediately Dove into the water. a. A a a a a a a a a . A a with a look of mild regret he added Quot i might have had a lot More fun As a boy if i had Learned to by Mill Mann. The associated press. found the remains . Huge rom an. Fortress an fortified town a Quot a near the Suez Cahal that guarded one endow a t a d e Rou t e i i n k i n g a n Cion t Egypt a h d / Palestine. A a \. The discovery provides or Ima fic us to Quot the biblical Peninsula history roman records spoke fortress that stood in the Quot Vicinity but excavators were a. Amazed by the size and grandeur of the ruin they Are uncovering. There had been no indication of the existence Large town servicing the fortress. Quot this changes everything we thought we knew Quot said to h a m med Abde i Makso u a head of la e excava to on Quot i n one moment we be changed the face of the desert. There s life again Here in the in mid september excavators began unearthing the 1,700-year-old fortress i n sight modern Highway connecting Egypt s Western Sinai with Israel that generally follows the ancient Road. The site at Kantara Egypt is a five minute drive from the Suez canal the discoveries Are the latest i i a series of surprises for archaeologists working hard to stay ahead of bulldozers carving a canal system in the Sinai desert that is to transform thousands of arid acres into Farmland. The Salaam canal follows the ancient Highway s path arid threatens 1,000 known Antiquity Sites. So far egyptian and foreign teams Are excavating or recording 23 Sites along a 20-mile stretch. A a a k Soud a id-1 he d i Scove by i s. T h e f i St rom a h fort it is. Found in Northern Egypt similar forts ill the nubian / Region which straddles the Egypt Sudan Border were lost 1 n i h e 19 60s w i the cons i r u Cli o n of t h e As a n to i ii d a m and the creation of Lake Nasser behind it a a a a the tort or ice. Defended by 12 towers is unique in a a Egypt because its mud Brick Walls White. M a so us said. Quot m a be t h Eye m i be d cd a 1 k \ v i t h m d d. We a. Don to know because we be never seen anything like a this Quot he said. A Quot a a a a work at the site . The excavators worry that much history will be lost if water moves in relics peek from their Sandy Graves coins and pottery from Egypt and other o i i p Osis of. I m per a i. Rome a a re a d y h a be e merged from the Bleak landscape. A a a a. A in be september diggers unearthed a worn Limestone statue bemused Jion his front paws crossed casualty. a coloured erotic fragment showing a cheerful nude male bather that once was part of an elaborate decoration adorning a roman Bath. A a a a a. Quot All you. Have to do is scratch the surface and. Something appears Quot said Maksoud who. Raced from one excavation to the other under a Bright late september. A Sun. A a Quot a a. The mud Brick fortress 660 feet by 412 feet originally was surrounded by a Large Lovon. That grew up near the a Elysium Branch of the Nile and two Large lakes. Today ruins of the town stretch fora most half a mile in. A Salty desert soil. A. The Lor Tress marked the Entrance to the i c h Nile Dei la a where Asia and armies had used the Highway near the Mediterranean sea com a a Earlino -. Times. A a a. Maksoud said i lie fori Rew served t to Pis Quot poses Lor. The third Century re mans. A. A. A soldiers were stationed inside ready for Man Liing orders. Excavators have found More than 4fj0 Grain Sims 16 the stars and stripes tuesday october 18, 1994 a a Digger Peers up from excavations of ruins of the roman town Elysium along the construction path of the Salaam canal. A Mohammed Abdel Maksoud Center and two other archaeologists examine pottery. Found at the site of an old roman fort. In the area an immediate food Supply in the army had to move out or came under siege a Large cac he it weapons along with horses would have been kept inside the. Fort. But for Maksoud the fort s More important function was a financial As the toll station controlling the lucrative Trad along the popular Highway. Traders and caravans had to Slop arid buy a government stamp allowing them to Canyon with their business. Getting the stamp could take Day. Maksoud said roman records testify to three Loi Rev a. In the Webern Sinai. Nine others Lay Lurcher Inland Enfa about 30 Miles apart. A a -. Lies a use i if in location the newly disc jeered . Have been by the far the largest grand j -t1 and no important. The stars and stripes 1 7
