The Neanderthal resurrection and the Abominable Snowman legend
Since the 1870s, the image of the ‘prehistoric man’ has spread widely in European and American public imagination. His appearance is reconstructed by paleoanthropologists and anatomists (Schaaffhausen, Solger, Martin); under the guidance of “primitive cultures” specialists (Lubbock, Boule) it is rec...
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Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration. RANEPA
2022-09-01
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| Series: | Шаги |
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| Online Access: | https://steps.ranepa.ru/jour/article/view/72 |
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| author | S. Yu. Nekliudov |
| author_facet | S. Yu. Nekliudov |
| author_sort | S. Yu. Nekliudov |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Since the 1870s, the image of the ‘prehistoric man’ has spread widely in European and American public imagination. His appearance is reconstructed by paleoanthropologists and anatomists (Schaaffhausen, Solger, Martin); under the guidance of “primitive cultures” specialists (Lubbock, Boule) it is recreated by artists (Griset, Philippart, Kupka). From the pages of illustrated magazines (Harper’s Weekly, The Illustrated London News, etc.), the ‘reconstructed’ Neanderthal gazes very much alive — hairy, long-armed, round-shouldered, with a low forehead and sunken eyes. The possibility of a direct encounter with him has been put forward by science-fiction writers (from Jules Verne to Conan Doyle and Obruchev). Such ideas could not have arisen without the influence of Darwinism; they stemmed from the understanding that various biological species that appeared at different stages of evolution coexist in living nature, including relict forms. European explorers of the Himalayas and Tibet — military men, mountaineers, naturalists of the late 19th to early 20th centuries — were readers of these magazines and books, and their worldview included a reconstructed appearance of a Neanderthal. They could easily recognize him when they met, and in that sense they were ready for such encounter. And the meeting took place: the relict hominid was discovered in the legends about the ‘Abominable Snowman’ of the Central Asian highlands. This is how hominology was born, which began to research this creature (essentially, since the 1950s) and gather information about him. Audacious, but never confirmed, paleoanthropological hypotheses have been used as a tool for interpreting local folklore texts: neither the object of research, nor the products of his vital activity, nor his remains have been found, which means that behind these texts there are only local images of ‘lower mythology’, although very specific ones. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-ff23399f29f740e4a23d6e352f476e1e |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 2412-9410 2782-1765 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2022-09-01 |
| publisher | Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration. RANEPA |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Шаги |
| spelling | doaj-art-ff23399f29f740e4a23d6e352f476e1e2025-08-20T03:13:00ZengRussian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration. RANEPAШаги2412-94102782-17652022-09-0183255010.22394/2412-9410-2022-8-3-25-5171The Neanderthal resurrection and the Abominable Snowman legendS. Yu. Nekliudov0Российская академия народного хозяйства и государственной службы при Президенте РФ; Российский государственный гуманитарный университетSince the 1870s, the image of the ‘prehistoric man’ has spread widely in European and American public imagination. His appearance is reconstructed by paleoanthropologists and anatomists (Schaaffhausen, Solger, Martin); under the guidance of “primitive cultures” specialists (Lubbock, Boule) it is recreated by artists (Griset, Philippart, Kupka). From the pages of illustrated magazines (Harper’s Weekly, The Illustrated London News, etc.), the ‘reconstructed’ Neanderthal gazes very much alive — hairy, long-armed, round-shouldered, with a low forehead and sunken eyes. The possibility of a direct encounter with him has been put forward by science-fiction writers (from Jules Verne to Conan Doyle and Obruchev). Such ideas could not have arisen without the influence of Darwinism; they stemmed from the understanding that various biological species that appeared at different stages of evolution coexist in living nature, including relict forms. European explorers of the Himalayas and Tibet — military men, mountaineers, naturalists of the late 19th to early 20th centuries — were readers of these magazines and books, and their worldview included a reconstructed appearance of a Neanderthal. They could easily recognize him when they met, and in that sense they were ready for such encounter. And the meeting took place: the relict hominid was discovered in the legends about the ‘Abominable Snowman’ of the Central Asian highlands. This is how hominology was born, which began to research this creature (essentially, since the 1950s) and gather information about him. Audacious, but never confirmed, paleoanthropological hypotheses have been used as a tool for interpreting local folklore texts: neither the object of research, nor the products of his vital activity, nor his remains have been found, which means that behind these texts there are only local images of ‘lower mythology’, although very specific ones.https://steps.ranepa.ru/jour/article/view/72neanderthalreconstructed appearancepaleoanthropologyhominologyabominable snowmanlegendhimalayastibet |
| spellingShingle | S. Yu. Nekliudov The Neanderthal resurrection and the Abominable Snowman legend Шаги neanderthal reconstructed appearance paleoanthropology hominology abominable snowman legend himalayas tibet |
| title | The Neanderthal resurrection and the Abominable Snowman legend |
| title_full | The Neanderthal resurrection and the Abominable Snowman legend |
| title_fullStr | The Neanderthal resurrection and the Abominable Snowman legend |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Neanderthal resurrection and the Abominable Snowman legend |
| title_short | The Neanderthal resurrection and the Abominable Snowman legend |
| title_sort | neanderthal resurrection and the abominable snowman legend |
| topic | neanderthal reconstructed appearance paleoanthropology hominology abominable snowman legend himalayas tibet |
| url | https://steps.ranepa.ru/jour/article/view/72 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT syunekliudov theneanderthalresurrectionandtheabominablesnowmanlegend AT syunekliudov neanderthalresurrectionandtheabominablesnowmanlegend |