AKU-AKU: The Secret of Easter Island

by Thor Heyerdahl ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 8, 1958

Easter Island, lonely outpost in the Pacific, has long been a subject of speculation and bafflement to archaeologists and anthropologists. For here- with no explanation as to when they were made, or by whom or why, are great statues and strange sculptures. Thor Heyerdahl, whose theories about sources of racial strains and customs were put to a test to prove the possibility of a link between Peru and the far Pacific -- went by raft across virtually uncharted waters -- an adventure story widely known through Kon-Tiki. Now- eight years later- he challenged the Easter Island mystery, and has here recorded that strange adventure. Kon-Tiki was known to the natives of Easter Island- and the magic of the achievement was transferred to Heyerdahl, so that they ascribed super-natural powers to him. Taboos were strong; superstition, as to what would happen were the secrets revealed, bred terror so that any of the natives who helped him and brought their possessions to him were suspect. When their trust was won, he found that the islanders had underground caves where enormous quantities of archaeological treasures were stored. Not in the sense of the Egyptian pyramids- but immensely valuable as clues to the past, to the links binding the early islanders with others elsewhere who had made similar figures. There were plenty of copyists who tried to palm off fakes. There was ignorance as to what this meant, but by and large, superstition was used to break down superstition. Heyerdahl played up his own guardian spirit- his aku-aku- to win them over. And in the end, he met success....With a rare gift of communication, Heyerdahl keeps one reading even when the material seems somewhat repetitive, and one longs for more of the natives of today- and less of their grisly treasures. The individuals come through the story -- and their strange traditions and ancestor worship and the incredible continuity of inherited abilities, scarcely sensed themselves, make a unique contribution to understanding.

Pub Date: Sept. 8, 1958

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Rand McNally

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1958

Categories: NONFICTION