The Maldive Mystery [Hardcover]

Thor Heyerdahl (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

When the Maldive Islanders converted to Islam in the 12th century, they discarded or destroyed all traces of earlier cultures, thus denying their past. Recent archeological discoveries prompted the government to invite Heyerdahl to examine the artifacts and attempt a reconstruction of pre-Islamic history. Located in the Indian Ocean southwest of India and west of Sri Lanka, the Maldives encompass two broad, reefless sea passages ("One-and-Half" and Equatorial Channels) well-known to ancient mariners. Heyerdahl, an authority on primitive sea travel (Kon-Tiki, The Ra Expeditions, unravels a mystery that reaches into the vanished civilizations of Sumer and the Indus Valley. The Maldivan artifacts showed that temples were built around A.D. 550; that the original settlers had been sun-worshipers. An important export of the Maldives in ancient times was cowrie shells, found only in the Islands and used as moneythese shells were unearthed in pre-Viking tombs (A.D. 550800) in Sweden! This is heady material for cultural diffusionists. Photos not seen by PW.
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

This latest Heyerdahl adventure focuses on the Maldives, a group of atolls scattered across the equatorial Indian Ocean. Again, Heyerdahl is following the trail of the "long-ears" (this time without benefit of ancient reconstructed ship), whose traces he found in cultures from the Indus Valley to Easter Island and pre-Columbian Central America. They have apparently surfaced again as primogenitors of the Maldivians. Though digs have only just begun, the Maldive evidence adds to the author's theories concerning the origins and migrations of Neolithic seafarers. The book is standard Heyerdahlalternately repetitive and sketchybut imparting nonetheless a sense of both the thrill and the tedium of archaeological exploration. Jo-Ann D. Suleiman, NASA/Goddard Space Flight Ctr. Lib., Greenbelt, Md.
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 319 pages
• Publisher: Woodbine House; First Am edition edition (September 1986)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0917561198
• ISBN-13: 978-0917561191
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.3 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,066,492 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #9 in Books > History > Asia > Maldives

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3.0 out of 5 stars intriguing investigation, weaker analysis, December 16, 2011

By 

Carno Polo "adventure traveler" (Rome, Italy) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Maldive Mystery (Mass Market Paperback)

This is typical Heyerdal of Kontiki memory. Entrepreneurial, enthusiastic, hyperactive, resourceful, but not necessarily on the mark when it comes to conclusions.

He spent considerable time in the Maldives, which is commendable. In a state that does not allow any symbols of religions other than Islam to be displayed (I have seen little Buddhas being confiscated at the airport) he was able to persuade the president to allow for diggings in Buddhist sites and most of that stuff is now on display at the Male museum. This alone justifies buying the book.

However his conclusions about the role of Hinduism and Buddhism in pre-Islam Maldives are less than watertight, just as his conclusions after the Kontiki expeditions were. He pretty much acknowledges as much at the very end of the book. Finally, he also spends too many pages writing about himself.