QUOTE
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."
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."