Autumn 2000 (8.3)
Page 14

Earlier Civilizations - More Advanced

"The most important thing we can learn from the past is that no earlier civilization has survived. And the larger the pyramids and temples and statues they build in honor of their god or themselves, the harder has been the fall. Most of them have been so completely eradicated that it has taken archaeologists to bring them to light again. Neither the Sun God nor the creative power behind the Big Bang smiles upon the huge buildings or powerful armies of mankind. They smile at civilizations who respect their own creation and who show appreciation for it.

"Where people have constructed great buildings, they have also fought the greatest wars. When the archeologist excavates to the bottom of the ruins for an extinct civilization, more often than not, he will find the remnants of an even older one beneath it. And we would be wise to note that the most advanced culture is rarely the one on the top layer."


Thor Heyerdahl, 85, Norwegian archeologist-historian, traveling through the memories of a lifetime of observations in his recently published autobiography, "In the Footsteps of Adam". Heyerdahl [who we have featured in several issues of AI] is convinced that Scandinavians can trace their roots to the people who originated from the territory now known as Azerbaijan. He has returned to Baku for the fourth time this September, and is currently involved in organizing an archeological project.

_____

Other articles related to Thor Heyerdahl:

(1) Thor Heyerdahl in Azerbaijan: KON-TIKI Man by Betty Blair (AI 3:1, Spring 1995)
(2) The Azerbaijan Connection: Challenging Euro-Centric Theories of Migration by Heyerdahl (AI 3:1, Spring 1995)
(3) Azerbaijan's Primal Music Norwegians Find 'The Land We Come From' by Steinar Opheim (AI 5.4, Winter 1997)
(4) Thor Heyerdahl in Baku (AI 7:3, Autumn 1999)
(5) Scandinavian Ancestry: Tracing Roots to Azerbaijan - Thor Heyerdahl (AI 8.2, Summer 2000)
(6) The Kish Church - Digging Up History - An Interview with J. Bjornar Storfjel (AI 8.4, Winter 2000)
(7) Adventurer's Death Touches Russia's Soul - Constantine Pleshakov (AI 10.2, Summer 2002)
(8) Reflections on Life - Thor Heyerdahl (AI 10.2, Summer 2002)
(9) First Encounters in the Soviet Union - Thor Heyerdahl (AI 10.2, Summer 2002)
(10) Thor Heyerdahl's Final Projects - Bjornar Storfjell (AI 10.2, Summer 2002)
(11) Voices of the Ancients: Rare Caucasus Albanian Text - Dr. Zaza Alexidze (AI 10.2, Summer 2002)
(12) Heyerdahl Burns "Tigris" Reed Ship to Protest War - Letter to UN - Bjornar Storfjell, Blair (AI 11.1Winter, 2003)

From Azerbaijan International (8.3) Autumn 2000.
© Azerbaijan International 2000. All rights reserved.

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