Comments on: Abductions by Modern Neandertals?

By: Mnynames

Mnynames — Wed, 08 Nov 2006 00:30:29 +0000

The great apes aren’t so similar to us that you’d mistake one of them for us if he were walking down the street, shaven or no. On the other hand, most good reconstructions of Neanderthals that I’ve seen look a lot like my High School Gym teacher or say, Pete Rose.

Could they have been furry? Sure, the possibility exists, I won’t deny it. I just find it very unlikely.

Since you brought up iconic images of cavemen, it is also worth noting that historically they have been depicted as swarthy or even dark-skinned, in keeping with 19th century racist ideas. The reality is that, being northerners, their skin colour would have been quite pale, while the invading Cro Magnons from out of Africa would not yet have adapted and would thus be quite dark-skinned.

By: kittenz

kittenz — Tue, 07 Nov 2006 22:47:16 +0000

We have no proof at all that Neanderthals wore animal skins. We PRESUME that they did, because the idea of a skin-clad caveman is so ingrained in our modern consciousness, and because we do know that prehistoric Homo sapiens wore skins.

What we DO know about Neanderthals is that they survived not one, but many Ice Ages. They had many physical adaptations to cold. Why wouldn’t they have fur too?

“They were similar to us, so they probably weren’t furry?” Chimps are similar to us, and they are furry. So are gorillas, bonobos and orangs. And THEY live in the tropics.

By: asabragr

asabragr — Tue, 07 Nov 2006 21:34:52 +0000

Since I live in Sweden,and study folklore much of my time,a few comments maybe is in place.The Skogsrå is certainly not a hairy hominid.She is never described as such in stories,but as a beutiful woman,sometimes with a tail,sometimes a hollow back instead.She usually were clothes,she can speak,and interract with people.Instead of “abductions”,she do take human lovers who when falls under her spell,and in the end go mad or die.This due to the loss of his soul.Even if the spell is broken,he is likely to remain “different” than before,and prone to being melancholic.These affairs usually begins with her trying to get in bed with a lonely man,a lumberjack,a hunter etc,while posing as a fully human woman.Not abducing him in the shape of a hairy ape-like thing.
She is 100% a spirit,a local godess more,who rules over the animals and plants of the forest.She is not alone in that,for a set of very similar spirits inhabits the local lake,the sea,the mine etc.None of them are described as ape-like either.
The court cases,which I know of since before,are real.However,both the victim and the judge believed that it was the Skogsrå,but it could just be a lone mans sexual fantasy,or even a sexual encounter with an unknown woman.Nothing unusual,but the whole episode was interpreted as such by all since that was common “knowlege” of the day.
As for trolls,they are described as both big and small,or just as humans in hight.Rarely are they described as monsterous besides in ballads.And ballads are a form of litterature,not folklore,that took big liberties with traditional beliefs.Mostly trolls were described as fully human,even extraordinary beutiful.I know a village not long from were I grew up where people is said to have claimed to be descendants of a farmer boy and a troll-girl.That caused these villagers to become more beutiful than others the story says.And I have been there plenty of times,and this is certainly not the case.This is rather a form of joke-story,told between villages as a half-serious village-competition and conflict.
Trolls are in fact usually described as human,but different.Everything is topsyturvy with them.They steal,change shape,go invisible,do magic,live in mountains or rocks,appear as shades,they are “heathen”,they are stinking rich in gold etc.In short,they are everything that “honest people” are not.But they are never ever described as animals.Not ape-like,nor neanderthaloid in appearance.Trolls were generally seen with caution,but they were neither very evil or very good.Mostly their behaviour was the result of how people had treated them.
In short,as candidates for being a Scandinavian kind of Bigfoot they are as likely as elfs or fairies.

By: shumway10973

shumway10973 — Tue, 07 Nov 2006 01:13:40 +0000

The last report I read on Neanderthals said that they were fully human, but just stronger and possibly riddled with arthritis. Remember, (from what I understood from this article I read) humans are the only animal that cannot breathe while drinking. The reason for this is so that we can talk like we do, allows the voice box to work like it does. The Neanderthals have the exact same configuration in the throat. Couple that with the fact that they have the same skeletal structure it is difficult to see the “difference”. The only difference would be the forehead, and that could simply be due to inbreeding. It would be cool to think that the Neanderthals are still around today. Settle the mystery once and for all. If the child mentioned above was a product of such a creature as claimed, then the “father” would have to be closer to human than ape. Most people don’t know that the Nazis tried to breed an ape with people (usually male apes with human females). Though the ape was interested, the humans usually didn’t survive the attempt at mating, and those that did never got pregnant.

By: Craig Woolheater

Craig Woolheater — Mon, 06 Nov 2006 19:48:25 +0000

Alaska-boy,

I believe that the B.C. is referring to British Columbia, the Canadian province where Ostman’s abduction supposedly took place.

By: Alaska-boy

Alaska-boy — Mon, 06 Nov 2006 19:43:49 +0000

Fascinating, Loren! One nit-picky point though: Ostman was allegedly abducted in 1924 A.D–not B.C.

By: bill green

bill green — Mon, 06 Nov 2006 18:25:00 +0000

hey loren interesting new informative article here. thanks bill

By: moky99

moky99 — Mon, 06 Nov 2006 18:05:47 +0000

My question is :

- do you think that it’s possible to find clues of occupation by hominids in caves where they were sighted a century ago ?

Best regards

By: Dolouren

Dolouren — Mon, 06 Nov 2006 17:58:16 +0000

Hi Crypto Friends!
I live in Hungary and my country is near the Carpathians, but I have never heard of any BF sightings in the area. Here in Hungary are some weird tales and legends with many beasts from the old times. I don’t know about legends or folklore that speaks of Bigfoot like creatures, but how knows what awaits you in the next corner, because in our world everything is possible.

By: busterggi

busterggi — Mon, 06 Nov 2006 14:46:14 +0000

It seems likely to me that Neanderthals have gone extinct. The wudewassa and similar reported hominids seem more primitive than they were and therefore less in direct competition with modern humans for resources.

I think Shackley (sp?) did a good job with her book even though I don’t completely agree with her conclusions.