Dutch sailors hear of little hairy people Options

[tugboatwa]

http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/common/st...5E462%2C00.html

Dutch sailors hear of little hairy people

Oct. 28, 2004

A FORTNIGHT ago University of Wollongong scientist Bert Roberts was on the Indonesian island of Flores with stegodon expert Gert van den Bergh. It was in this home of the new-found human species, Homo floresiensis, that they heard a strange tale of little hairy people called Ebu Gogo.

In Indonesian, van den Bergh says, Ebu translates as "grandmother" and Gogo as "he who eats anything".

And apparently they were a problem on Flores until the Dutch settled on the island in the 19th century, Roberts says.

"A village elder told us that the Ebu Gogo ate everything raw, including vegetables, fruits, meat and, if they got the chance, even human meat," Roberts reports.

"When food was served to them they also ate the plates, made of pumpkin. [They're] the original guests from hell."

According to Roberts, the villagers claimed their ancestors endured the Ebu Gogo's habits until the short, long-haired, long-armed, pot-bellied creatures snatched a baby, taking it back to their cave. The villagers retrieved the baby by offering the Ebu Gogo bales of dry grass.

"A few days later, the villagers said they went back with a burning bale of grass, which they tossed into the cave. Out ran the Ebu Gogo, singed but not fried, and were last seen heading due west, in the direction of Liang Bua cave [where Homo floresiensis was first discovered]," according to Roberts.

Could the Ebu Gogo be a relic of Homo floresiensis? Possibly, argues a sceptical Roberts. He says local legend has it that the Ebu Gogo were capable of limited language and able to mimic Indonesian phrases verbatim.

They are supposed to have been seen climbing trees, but never carrying tools. "That's the inconsistency with the Liang Bua evidence," Roberts notes.

"Interestingly, we did find lumps of dirt with black hair in the cave this year," he says. "We're getting some DNA testing done which we hope will be instructive."

[bipto]

I think this is turing into one of the big stories of the year...at least if you're addicted to bigfoot.

[Jack Shiite]

I was thinking that perhaps there are still some alive in the scandinavian countries where they have troll sightings. Think about small little furry people eh...mabye.it could happen.

[counselor]

I think this is turing into one of the big stories of the year...at least if you're addicted to bigfoot.

It would be amazing if some of them were still alive hiding in the jungle.

[RogerKni]

From a Bigfooter's perspective, the big question is whether the big toe points outward, as it does in footprints of the orang pendak. If it doesn't, and the announcement probably would have said so if it did, then it's quite distinct from the OP.

This post has been edited by RogerKni: Oct 29 2004, 01:37 PM

[Chewy]

I think we should call them "littlefoot" or, as some have done already, "hobbits". Maybe some will be found alive...like pygmies.

[Wildman]

Anyone remember the little pygmy skeleton thingies in "The Mummy Returns" with Brendan Fraser? :willies:

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[wolftrax]

Many native american tribes have stories of little people as well, even contemporary ones.

[Huntster]

It's difficult to accept monsters (non-human) in Europe.

Let me be the among the first to accept the possibility.

One never knows........