Pre-Columbian rafts voyaged as far as Mexico and introduced metallurgy to the civilizations of that country. Some scholars and adventurers of the 20th and 21st century have asserted that the rafts and their crews journeyed thousands of miles across the Pacific to Polynesia, most notably Thor Heyerdahl who reached Polynesia on the Kon-Tiki raft. Several other people and groups have also built rafts based on prehistoric models and undertaken trans-Pacific voyages. Balsa is the Spanish word for raft. The use of rafts for commerce on the coasts of Peru and Ecuador, from northern Chile to southern Colombia, continued until the late 19th
Thor Heyerdahl excavations at such prominent sites as Orongo and Poike. The expedition published two large volumes of scientific reports ("Reports of the Norwegian Archaeological Expedition to Easter Island and the East Pacific") and Heyerdahl later added a third ("The Art of Easter Island"). Heyerdahl's popular book on the subject, "Aku-Aku" was another international best-seller. In "Easter Island: The Mystery Solved" (Random House, 1989), Heyerdahl offered a more detailed theory of the island's history. Based on native testimony and archaeological research, he claimed the island was originally colonized by Hanau eepe ("Long Ears"), from South America, and that Polynesian Hanau momoko ("Short