Thursday, April 27, 2023

The elusive Pygmies

 


There are legends of both giants and dwarfs from all over the world, and while the hard evidence for such creatures existing during “historical times” seems thin to non-existent, both gigantic and diminutive primates are known from the fossil record. Think Gigantopithecus and Homo floresiensis. 

There are also Pygmies (of our species Homo sapiens) still alive today, for instance the Twa in Rwanda, and they must have been more widespread during the Paleolithic and perhaps later. Although unlikely, I wouldn´t be *completely* surprised if the existence of other Pygmy races (or even species) would be confirmed from more recent times.

That being said, the character of the stories collected by Karl Shuker (see links below) is more difficult to gauge. Is it some kind of quasi-anthropology? Or are the dwarfish tribes that supposedly inhabit North America (and play pranks on the American Indians) really a kind of fairies? Some of their antics are surprisingly similar to those of their counterparts from Celtic mythology! Note also the peculiar Dover Demon, seen by two White teenage boys in 1977, which apparently closely resembles little people from local Native folklore…

As usual, make of this content what you wish. 

North America´s elusive Babyfeet - part 1

North America´s elusive Babyfeet - part 2 

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