Polynesian navigation snow. In the mid-20th century, Thor Heyerdahl proposed a new theory of Polynesian origins (one which did not win general acceptance), arguing that the Polynesians had migrated from South America on balsa-log boats. The presence in the Cook Islands of sweet potato that is a plant native to the Americas (called "kūmara" in Māori), which have been radiocarbon-dated to 1000 CE, has been cited as evidence that Americans could have traveled to Oceania. The current thinking is that sweet potato was brought to central Polynesia circa 700 CE and spread across Polynesia from there, possibly by Polynesians who had traveled
Thor Heyerdahl Upper Secondary School national upper secondary courses of study or programmes, only agriculture is instead taught at another upper secondary school, "Melsom videregående skole" in Stokke. The school building covers an area square and has of instructional space, including 320 classrooms, of workshops, a six-hall arena space seating 4,000, three auditoria seating 45–180 people, and a professional kitchen. The library is named Fatu Hiva after the Polynesian island on which Thor Heyerdahl spent his honeymoon in the 1930s. 11% of Thor Heyerdahl Upper Secondary School students speak a language other than Norwegian at home. The school is a focus school for the "Nasjonalt