In pictures: Thor Heyerdahl, adventurer

The Norwegian adventurer and anthropologist Thor Heyerdahl won fame in 1947 by sailing from South America to Polynesia on a balsa raft, the Kon-Tiki.

He died on 18 April 2002, at his home in Colla Michari, Italy.

The Kon-Tiki raft set sail from Peru, braving sharks and other hazards to reach Polynesia

The explorer handles a model of the Kon-Tiki, which carried a six-man crew on its historic voyage

Heyerdahl and his wife in the Moroccan harbour of Safi in front of Ra - a replica of an ancient vessel made of papyrus

After a failed attempt to cross the Atlantic in Ra, Heyerdahl set sail from Morocco again in a new vessel

Last year, he joined an archaeological dig in Russia, hoping to prove that a line of Scandinavian kings originated there

One of the most recent pictures of Thor Heyerdahl, taken in February this year at his office in Tenerife