00:00.12
kinkella
Hello and welcome back to the pseudo archeology podcast episode 131 and I'm your host Dr Andrew King Kell member of the explorers club and we have been discussing the story of k tea key now as you saw in the first segment. The story of Khanti is pretty straightforward. Um. Ah, crazily driven Explorer Thor hired all makes funky boat out of balsa and sails it Willy Nily across the pacific and makes it to a polynesian island right? and becomes quite a bit of of a celebrity. In the late 1940 s and the 1950 s now Thor hired all in the after this does do a couple other funky expeditions like that always with the same sort of spacey ideas. You know. He does like a a Easter Island thing later in the 1950 s he builds a couple more boats I remember like the raw and the raw too that were supposedly I believe to sail from. Africa to the new world I believe don't quote me on it. But you know the reason why I believe the raw 2 had to be made was the raw one basically started to sink and he and he did 1 other one with a boat I believe called the tigris where he did some stuff around Mesopotamia. So always with this idea.

01:30.36
kinkella
Of exploration. But again with no scientific or historical deep knowledge. So that part is a bit of a bummer and the the downside. Thor hired all now he's you know he makes a great character this this explorers explorer you know, great name. The downside though is his unscientific um again not thought out plans. Basically to prove first that that polynesia and by but I mean all the islands of Polynesia were basically um, colonized in the ancient past by people from South America but that these people were were white. You know it just odd now I might be getting bits and bobs of this wrong because honestly I like confuse them sometimes because he has a couple different expeditions and they're all the same. But um here I'll quote the Wikipedia entry which I really like um ah Wikipedia says the basis of the khan tiki expedition was pseudo scientific radically controversial and has not gained acceptance among scientists even prior to the voyage. That's pretty bad.

02:59.44
kinkella
Hired all believed that the original inhabitants of Easter Island were that tiki people a race of white bearded men who supposedly originally sailed from Peru he described these tiki people as being sun worshipping fair skin people with blue eyes fair or red hair tall statues and beards. And these people were originally from the Middle East and had crossed the atlantic earlier right? So once you hear this which is very silly and sort of that has that pseudo ignorant racist thing. You know it's so sad. It's so unfortunate, but then his all his other voyages make sense because he's trying to show that everything kind of comes from the Middle East and goes westward right? It goes across Atlantic and then to the new world and I'm out into the pacific islands and. It's just really too bad. It really ends up where there's this kind of fun explorer's vibe thing you know that is kind of dirtied by by some really stupid ideas in for the time right? I'm not here to apply the ethos. Of 2023 to somebody who's doing something in 1947 but I am here to apply the ethos of 1947 to somebody who's doing something in 1947 and even then come on. We all know, um, it especially me because I have like a big Phd dead. So everything I say is right um.

04:33.63
kinkella
That that in terms of anthropology in in terms of the understanding of people peoples of the world even in 1947 we knew that that that idea was like preposterous and stupid. So. It's just really too bad now. With that said, um he was a member of the explorers club and um I honestly I really enjoy the Explorer's Club so the Explorer's Club is kind of this old school group and it really is a um, an international club right? Of. Of people who explore stuff you know and while you have stories like this where the where the ideology behind it is obviously just foolish as hell you that you can like the explorers club can do good stuff too. You know, um, the explorers club. Basically supports certain explorations you know and will give money and support to to groups if they apply for it just like it's just like any place else. So um, I've seen very good projects run for the explorers club but this is this is that that ideology of exploration thor hired all is a great example of. Um, adventure for adventures sake with no academic thought behind it right? So it's so sad because he like with the khan tiki it that could have been a time.

06:10.20
kinkella
To do some really great experimental archeology and what experimental archeology is right? Is you like rebuild something from the past and try it out and see if it works I love experimental archeology but the kontiki is so weird that it's not experimental archeology because it's not based on anything historic. Right? It's just it's just an oddity. So as we find so often on this show. You know I'm thinking back like way back to some of my episodes like on the thing. Um you get these eccentric people who do these odd. Have these little odd adventures or or make these odd things and they gain popularity just because they're so odd and in left field and I think the Khan Tiki totally fits with that and also I think the Khan Tiki kind of because it comes out in the late 1940 s early 50 s. It rides that wave of like um, sort of polynesian kitcheniness you know of the 1950 s like the ticky room. You know that that sort of that 50 s you know, sort of bamboo looking um vaguely polynesian right? You have your yeah have your polynesian themed party in that time you know if if you're watching something like madmen. You know the show madmen. You could see them doing that having like a polynesian theme. Um, that's sort of like this kitschy pastiche of.

07:45.98
kinkella
Pollination culture that doesn't really stand for much of anything. So ultimately what gives his project a big boost is really that he's in the right place at the right time and he has that explorers vibe and look when we return. Some final ideas on Thor hired all on the khan tiki and some ideas that might have been at slightly the wrong time but were really good.