Academic and Honorary degrees
- Retzius Medal Royal Swedish Soc. for Anthrop. And Geogr. 1950;
- Mungo Park Medal Royal Scottish Soc. for Geogr. 1951;
- Bonaparte-Wyse Gold Medal Société de Geogr. de Paris 1951;
- Elish Kent Kane Gold Medal Geogr. Soc. of Philadelphia 1952;
- Hon. Member Geogr. Soc. Norway 1953, Peru 1953, Brazil 1954.
- Elected Member Norwegian Academy of Sciences, 1958;
- Fellow New York Academy of Science, 1960.
- Doctor Honoris Causa Oslo University, 1961;
- Vega Gold Medal Swedish Soc. for Anthrop. And Geogr., 1962;
- Lomonosov Medal Moscow University, 1962;
- Royal Geographical Society Gold Medal London, 1964;
- Member American Anthrop. Assoc. 1966;
- Kiril i Metodi Award Geog. Soc. Bulgaria, 1972;
- Hon. Prof. Inst. Politec. Univ. Nacional, Mexico 1972;
- Internat. Pahlavi Environment Prize, United Nations 1978;
- Doctor Honoris Causa USSR Academy of Science 1980;
- Bradford Washburn Award, Boston Mus. of Sience, USA, 1982;
- Doctor Honoris Causa Univ. San Martin, Lima, 1991;
- Doctor Honoris Causa Univ. of Havana, 1992;
- Doctor Honoris Causa Univ. of Kiev, Ukraine, 1993;
- Doctor Honoris Causa Univ. of Maine, USA, 1998;
- Doctor Honoris Causa Univ. of Hartford, Connecticut, USA, 1998;
- Doctor Honoris Causa Latvian Academy of Sciences, 1998;
- International Prize of the Spanish Geographical Society 1998;
- Doctor Honoris Causa D. Mendeleyev University of Chemical Technology of Russia, 1999.
National Decorations
Thor Heyerdahl was appointed Commander of the Order of St. Olav in 1951, Commander with Star of the Order of St. Olav in 1970, and received the order's highest degree, the Grand Cross of the Order of St. Olav in 1987. He was also a state scholar from 1984.
- Commander of the Order of St . Olav, Norway 1951, and with Star in 1970;
- Officer of El Orden por Méritos Distinguidos, Peru, 1953;
- Grand Officer Orden Al Mérito della Republica Italiana, 1968;
- Commander American Knights of Malta,1970;
- Order of Merit, Egypt,1971;
- Grand Officer Royal Alaouites Order, Morocco, 1971;
- Order of Golden Ark, Netherland, 1980;
- Officer La Orden El Sol del Perú, 1975.