There are few creatures surrounded by more mystery, wonder, and fascination than unicorns. Some say they existed and then died out. Others insist unicorns are nothing more than a myth; a creation of human imagination.
So, what exactly is the truth? Did unicorns once walk the planet? Well, kind of.
Back in 2016, the scientific world was abuzz with the discovery of a fossilized remain found in Siberia. As the Washington Postreported at the time:
“According to a study published last month in the American Journal of Applied Science, a species called Elasmotherium sibiricum — the ‘Siberian unicorn’ — went extinct much later than previously thought. Researchers from Tomsk State University believe they’ve found fossil evidence of a Siberian unicorn prancing around just 29,000 years ago — more than 300,000 years after they were thought to have gone extinct.”
Granted, what you see above looks more like a rhino than a unicorn, but he does have one heck of a horn sprouting from his head, which makes him a form of unicorn. As Ancient Origins notes, the Siberian unicorn was a massive animal:
“The E. sibiricum , was the size of a mammoth, covered in hair, and is thought to have had a large horn protruding from its forehead, hence the title ‘Siberian Unicorn.’ According to early estimated descriptions, the beast stood around 2 meters (6.56 ft.) tall, 4.5 meters (14.76 ft.) long, and weighted an impressive 4 tons.”
For hundreds of years, the only evidence to prove that such a creature existed was a jawbone unearthed in 1808 by Johan Fischer von Waldheim, the Dirécteur Perpétuel of the Natural History Museum at Moscow University. This allowed for the species to be named.
The search for more proof took place in vain until March of 2016, when an entire fossilized skull was found:
“In March 2016, a beautifully preserved skull was found in the Pavlodar region of Kazakhstan proving that the animal lived until the Pleistocene era, some 29,000 years ago, instead of the previously held belief that they had died out 350,000 years ago. Based on the size and condition of the skull, it has been suggested that it was a very old male, but it is uncertain how the beast died.”
Fossil of Elasmotherium head on display at the Natural History Museum, London (Via Wikipedia)
Unicorn Legends
Throughout history, in nearly every culture, the idea of unicorns has existed:
“Legends of the unicorn, or a beast with a single horn, have been around for millennia in China and Eastern Europe. The Chinese ‘K’i-lin,’referring to some sort of beast, was translated into Turkish and Mongolic languages and lore. While the writers in all these languages did not know how to describe the beast, one common theme was the single horn, along with their vast stature.”
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And it appears that the Siberian unicorn may well have been the creature that piqued the interest of mankind over the centuries.
In 1866, Vasily Radlov was told about a legend among the Yakut people of Siberia of a “huge black bull” that had been felled by a single spear. The creature was said to be so massive that its body had to be transported on a sled. And there are similar legends in the area which include “a large white or blue woolly bull” that had a horn protruding from its forehead.
Many cultures have had a legend of the unicorn that fits the description of the Siberian creature (Public Domain)
In Russia, ballads were written about the Siberian unicorn:
“From medieval Northern Russia comes a collection of ballads, called ‘Golubinaia kniga’ or ‘The Book of the Dove,’ coming from Zoroastrianism, but with Christian overtones. These ballads show a righteous unicorn battling a lion, representing lies. The unicorn of these tales lived in a Holy mountain, and it was believed to be the mother and father of all animals. This creature saved the world from drought by digging springs of pure and clean water with its horn. At night, it wandered the plains and forged a path with that very same horn.”
The same creature also makes an appearance in other religious texts, but usually in a symbolic fashion instead of as a real entity.:
“The Arabo-Persian word for unicorn actually conflates unicorn and rhinoceros, looking to the rhinoceros as a bringer of truth and good in the world. In Christianity, the single horn is seen as a symbol of monotheism.”
Maiden with Unicorn, 15th-century tapestry (Public Domain)
What Became of the Siberian Unicorn?
Since we have fossil evidence that proves a large beast with a single horn was indeed real, that begs the question: What happened to these creatures. Unfortunately, answers to that question are as shrouded in mystery as unicorns themselves:
“Residue findings show a long habitation of these ancient rhinos in the southeast of the West Siberian Plain. However, there is no clear reason why the final Siberian unicorns died out. Researchers have been looking into the specific environmental factors that may have caused the extinction of this species, as it may lead to answers to the extinction facing various species today.”
More research and more discoveries are necessary if we are to ever fully understand and appreciate the one unicorn that did likely make an appearance on Earth.
An excavation in a cave occupied by Neanderthals in Spain has uncovered what is considered to be the last necklace ever made by our distant cousins, which features eagle talons that had symbolic meaning and value.
Around 40,000 years ago, Neanderthals roamed the Iberian peninsula and occupied caves near the Mediterranean coast. One such cave, known as Foradada Cave, is located in the Province of Valencia just over two miles from the sea.
Foradada Cave in Spain, where Neanderthals lived and where the team found eagle talons used to make the last Neanderthal necklaces. Image via Science Advances.Foradada Cave from the inside. Image via Science Advances.
Excavations there have been ongoing since the 1970s. But in 2010, researchers uncovered something extraordinary. They found a complete Neanderthal skeleton, the most complete ever discovered on the Iberian peninsula.
Near the end of their existence, the last Neanderthals in Europe were part of châtelperronian culture (CP), a time when the hominid species made distinctive cutting tools and came into contact with Homo sapiens, also known as modern humans.
Neanderthal cutting tools distinctive of the Châtelperronian culture. Image via Science Advances.
During a recent excavation, researchers made yet another fascinating discovery that sheds even more light on this period of Neanderthal history and culture in the form of eagle talons, which may have been used to make jewelry or ornaments to symbolize status.
Evidence for the symbolic behavior of Neanderthals in the use of personal ornaments is relatively scarce. Among the few ornaments documented, eagle talons, which were presumably used as pendants, are the most frequently recorded.
This phenomenon appears concentrated in a specific area of southern Europe during a span of 80 thousand years. Here, we present the analysis of one eagle pedal phalange recovered from the Châtelperronian layer of Foradada Cave (Spain).
Our research broadens the known geographical and temporal range of this symbolic behavior, providing the first documentation of its use among the Iberian populations, as well as of its oldest use in the peninsula.
The recurrent appearance of large raptor talons throughout the Middle Paleolithic time frame, including their presence among the last Neanderthal populations, raises the question of the survival of some cultural elements of the Middle Paleolithic into the transitional Middle to Upper Paleolithic assemblages and beyond.
Based on the marks made on the bones, the researchers believe that the eagle talons were arranged as a necklace, making it one of the final pieces of jewelry made by Neanderthals before they went extinct.
Marks cut into eagle talons by Neanderthals can be seen prominently in this series of images. Image via Science Advances.
“This would be the last necklace made by the Neanderthals,” Institute of Evolution in Africa researcher Antonio Rodríguez-Hidalgo said in a press release by the University of Barcelona. “Neanderthals used eagle talons as symbolic elements, probably as necklace pendants, from the beginnings of the mid Palaeolithic.”
The study details the markings found on several eagle talons.
The phalange presents 12 cut marks on the dorsal side of the diaphysis, appearing along approximately two-thirds of the phalanx’s total length. Most of the cuts are oriented obliquely to the principal axis of the bone, ranging from the proximal epiphysis to distal extremity of the bone.
These striae are found oriented parallel among themselves. All these oblique cuts are deep and present both composed striae and associated shoulder effect as deep as the principal groove like those produced by retouched stone tools. An additional incision can be observed, presented obliquely oriented with a longitudinal tendency.
This last mark is more superficial than the previous marks and superimposes all other incisions. The 12 incisions observed present an average length of 3.67 mm and width of 0.23 mm. A general increase in the opening angle of each groove can be observed, while a similar pattern is observed through a decrease in depth of each profile along the groove.
Past findings of eagle talons in southern Europe, such as those found in Mandrin cave, support this new discovery at Foradada cave, as does a previous study in 2015 of several polished eagle talons found at the turn of the 20th century.
Cutting marks on eagle talons found in Mandrin cave in southern Europe back up the recent finding. Image via Wikimedia.
The researchers also agree that eagle talons, along with talons of different bird species, were used as a form of communication.
Current inferences regarding talons interpreted as ornaments highlight them to be “surviving traces of ancient human communication”, and precisely because of this, talons of different birds with different appearances and behaviors could transmit different messages about the identity of the bearer. In contrast, these archaic populations might not have needed to taxonomically differentiate between large raptor species, regardless of whether they could or not.
However, the team pointed out that the hypothesis that these talons were used as ornaments has been investigated with caution because it’s hard to know for sure exactly what these talons meant to the Neanderthals or what they were used for. But they argue that their research makes it clear the symbolic use of eagle talons by Neanderthals was a tradition for thousands of years, and different sizes may have helped separate groups recognize each other. It’s similar to how early humans used seashells as ornaments and necklaces, only Neanderthal use of eagle talons predates human use of seashells in Africa and the Levant.
Although researchers tend to agree on the symbolic nature of talons, their definition of these elements as personal ornaments has been explored with prudence. Most have advocated defining the talons as “supposed ornaments,” while others have opted to refer to these finds directly as an example of “Neanderthal jewelry”.
In accepting the use of talons as personal ornaments, this can be considered a tradition that predates any other manifestation of symbolism among Neanderthals, especially those in which seashells play a central role. If not, this manifestation also entails important implications for the emergence of symbolism and behavioral modernity, although further investigation is necessary to establish the functionality behind these objects.
Regardless of whether the talons were hanging “beads,” part of necklaces, earrings, or any other elements for which there are no current parallels, the case of Foradada indicates the symbolic use of talons to be a well-rooted tradition among the Neanderthals of southern Europe for more than 80 millennia.
Furthermore, our research suggests the presence of a common cultural territory in which the meaning conveyed by these large-raptor talons could probably be recognized by individuals from different groups. To date, the total absence of raptor talon exploitation in the African Paleolithic record forces us to ask ourselves for the direction of cultural interactions between Neanderthals and modern humans.
The team was also able to identify the talons as belonging to the Iberian or Spanish Imperial Eagle or a close relative, thus contributing to the evolutionary history of the eagle as well.
Foradada specimens can contribute to our knowledge of the evolutionary history of imperial eagles. If the specimens presented in this paper belong to A. adalberti or their ancestor, then they would be the oldest recorded find of the species so far. If these remains belong to the species A. heliaca, then it would be the first occurrence of this species in the fossil record of Iberia (for the whole of the Quaternary, Pleistocene, or Holocene periods).
The Spanish Imperial Eagle was valued by Neanderthals for its talons. Image via Wikimedia.
And it’s not just Neanderthals who made necklaces out of eagle talons. Humans continued this Neanderthal tradition by making jewelry using talons, but also with bear claws and the teeth and claws of many different animals. Some of the best examples of this are found in Native American culture.
Needless to say, this is an extraordinary find that only adds to the evidence that Neanderthal culture is more complex than we have previously believed, all while providing new information about them with the added bonus of new knowledge about the evolution of imperial eagles. It’s the kind of find that scientists dream of making.
Mysterious carvings from the time of the Aztecs were recently discovered in Mexico City in a very unlikely place: In a tunnel that dates back to the 17th century, according to IFL Science:
“Archaeologists in Mexico have unearthed an intriguing tunnel that dates back to the 17th century adorned with 11 drawings. It is thought the images were created before the Spanish conquistadors arrived, but were incorporated into the walls of the tunnel when it was built centuries later. That means they were likely created by the Aztecs, an empire famed for their beautiful temples, hieroglyphic writing system, and gruesome penchant for sacrificing children.”
The head of a bird of prey drawn on the rock in the Mexico City tunnel (Via INAH)
Among the most interesting of the images were “the carvings of a chimalli or war shield … the head of a bird of prey, a flint point and an element that archaeologist Alfonso Caso identified as (a) ‘paper ornament.’”
Empire of the Aztecs
In the 15th century, according to historians and archaeologists, the Aztec emperor Moctezuma I decreed construction of a dike system in what is now Mexico City for the purpose of controlling flooding from lakes in the area around what is now the capital of Mexico.
However, shortly after construction began, Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés arrived with troops and decimated the Aztec empire, destroying what had been built of the dike system, which lay dormant until it was rebuilt in the 17th century. Today, the system is known as the Albarradon de Ecatepec.
The arch of the tunnel, which is adorned with various Aztec carvings (Via INAH)
Recycling the Past
So how exactly did the ancient Aztec carvings wind up being a part of a water system built three centuries after the Aztec empire was destroyed? By repurposing stone that had been put in place by Aztec workmen some 300 years earlier:
“The stone used in the initial construction was likely repurposed when the dikes were rebuilt, explaining the Aztec symbols etched into the sides of the tunnel. It is believed they were drawn by locals from the nearby towns of Chiconautla and Ecatepec prior to Spanish invasion.”
The remains of statues were also found in the tunnel (Via INAH)
God of Rain
Along the arch of the main tunnel is an etching of a temple that was dedicated to Tlaloc, who was the Aztec god of rain, earthly fertility, and water. Tlaloc was revered by the Aztecs as a provider of life and sustenance.
And there were other fascinating discoveries made by a team from INAH, Mexico’s National Institute of Anthropology and History:
“Hidden within the 8-meter (27-foot) tunnel also lay various artifacts made from glass, porcelain, and a type of pottery called majolica, along with a statue of a seated person that appears to be missing its head and the lone feet of a larger statue.”
The depiction of a temple dedicated to the Aztec god of rain (Via INAH)
Other symbols also seem to be a tribute to the god of rain, Live Science notes:
“Raindrop symbols were found on the upper part of the keystone — the top stone that holds the arch together — also on the east end of the tunnel where the water exited … On the west side, where the water once entered the tunnel, the researchers found one more petroglyph which they are currently studying. They also found four iron nails and two 21-foot-long (6.5 m) wooden beams.”
The Aztecs made countless drawings that have been discovered centuries later (Via YouTube)
A Massive Construction Project
When the Albarradon de Ecatepec was built, it took years and the labor of thousands of native people:
“Three thousand indigenous people are thought to have constructed this dike under the supervision of the Spanish friars Jeronimo de Aguilar and Juan de Torquemada, Chávez said. While the newfound carvings and stucco reliefs show influences from indigenous people, some of the construction techniques, such as the arches of the tunnel, more closely resemble European methods, according to the statement.”
Pre-Hispanic petroglyphs may have been the work of the indigenous people who built the colonial dike, experts say. (Via INAH)
For now, the main concern is to protect this valuable piece of history, INAH archaeologist Juan Manuel Toxtle said:
“It has always been essential that these types of elements remain in the best conditions and best protected.
“I think it is important that Mexicans realize that this is everyone’s heritage and that we have to take care of it.”
Here’s video shot of the discovery by Mexican archaeologists
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All across the world, there are stories about people of giant stature, and also of relatively small people. In the mainstream, these stories are almost always called myths, and the proof is elusive. Conspiracy theories abound, suggesting giant skeletons have been a carefully guarded secret. However, there are many reasons to believe there is more than a mere myth to these tales of giants and dwarves.
In Hawaiin tradition, there are many stories of the Menehune, elusive small-statured people, a “pygmy tribe” who lived in the deep forests of the Hawaiian Islands. Today, local people point to the structures these people left behind as evidence that the Menehune were quite real, and the first settlers of the islands before the Polynesians arrived.
Below, watch Bradda Roy tell the legend of the Menehune Fishpond on the Kauai island, which locals say appeared after just one moonlit night 1,000 years ago. The pond, an engineering marvel, was constructed with a stone wall that is 900 feet long and five feet high. Legend says the Menehune created the wall, passing carefully squared lava rocks to each other over a distance of many miles to a quarry. (see video below)
“They call [the fish pond] the ‘invisible hands that built the fish pond.’ They say that they came back one day, and the fish pond was built,” says Roy. “Legend has it that the Menehune built this pond. Menehune are mythical people that lived in Hawaii long before the Hawaiians came here.”
“The legend that surrounds the fishpond is based on the mythical Menehune, Hawaii’s mischievous little people who performed legendary engineering feats. The Menehune lived in the forest and hid from humans. According to Hawaiian legends, the Menehune built this entire fishpond in one night. They managed this amazing task by lining up from the village of Makaweli for 25 miles, passing stones hand-to-hand to build the pond. Though Menehune legends abound, some say the word may have derived from the Tahitian word Manahune meaning commoner, or small in social standing, not in physical size.”
Another structure that the Menehune may have constructed in the ancient past is the Menehune or Kīkīaola Ditch at Waimea. The irrigation ditch was constructed of 120 carved basalt blocks running for 200 feet.
On the show, Finding Bigfoot, the team takes a detour and explores the legends of the Menehune. They visit the Kauai Museum, where the curator, Chucky Boy Chock tells them myths about different species of Menehune, including Menehunia musclaris, boloheadus, kokee, and commercialls. (see video below)
“The word Menehune comes from Tahitian for Manahune, which is Tahitian for ‘cast of commoners,’” says Chock. “The question that is always asked is, ‘Are they real stories?’ There is some evidence of that.’”
Chock points to the Menehune River also called the Alekoko River, as well as the Fishpond. The name of the river comes from another part of the legend according to other Hawaiian sources.
“The fishpond is said to have been built at the request of a chief named ʻAlekoko who requested one pond for himself and another for his sister Hāhālua. The Menehune agreed, but, as was their custom, they insisted that no one watch them while they do their work.
However, that night ʻAlekoko could not help himself, and he looked to see how the fishpond construction work was going. The Menehune immediately halted their efforts, and then they all washed their bloody hands in the river. This is how the fishpond acquired its name ʻAlekoko which means ‘Bloody Ripples.’”
Additional evidence that the Menehune were real people and not myth, comes from the fact that they were counted in a population census.
According to the University of Hawaii at Manoa Library:
“Sometime around A.D. 1500, Umi, king of the Big Island, supposedly conducted a census of his realm. Collecting all his people on a plain near Hualalai, he instructed each person to deposit a stone on a pile representing his district.
The first population census in historical times was undertaken in Wainiha Valley, Kauaʻi, near the beginning of the nineteenth century. A careful census of the valley counted more than 2,000 people, sixty-five of whom were described as Menehune. Menehune were the legendary race of small people who worked at night building fish ponds, roads, and temples.”
Other sources suggest the census from 1820 counted 65 people as Menehune.
Ancient Code meme by Corbin Black
Diverse stories of the Menehune remain popular throughout the Hawaiian Islands today. Some stories say they were like elves; others say they were ordinary average-stature indigenous people, while other stories claim they were stocky and highly-skilled people who were about two feet tall. Their numbers may have been in the many hundreds of thousands at one time across the islands. (see video below)
Below, get the fascinating story straight from Historian Aletha Ka’Ohi as she shares the background of the “Mythical Menehune” for the Kaua’i Historical Society. She believes the Menehune were given their name from the Tahitians as a way to label them as socially inferior and were the descendants of Hawaii’s first settlers.
Rather than having a dwarf stature, they were instead imagined that way by westerners who later arrived. According to witnesses that share their stories, the Menehune descendants still exist today, across the islands, and Menehune was a “common slave name.”
“In reality, the Menehune were distinct people of an ancient time,” says Ka’Ohi.
The historian and librarian believes they were real people and describes unique stone implements they once used called poi pounders. A similar stone implement was found at Ua Huka, in the Marquesas Islands, of French Polynesia. The two islands are around 3,650 kilometers (2268 miles) apart.
“This type of pounder has only been found on the island of Ua Huka and the island of Kaua’i,” says Ka’Ohi.
Aletha Ka’Ohi also notes differences in language pronunciation and spelling that suggest ties to French Polynesia and the Menehune. In fact, she traces her lineage to the Marquesas, and thus considers herself a descendant of the Menehune.
Poi pounder found on Kauai island and on Ua Huka, in the Marquesas Islands, screenshot via YouTube
Other stories suggest the Menehune may have retreated to nearby Necker Island. According to Ancient Origins, these people may have constructed the ancient ceremonial standing stones found there.
“Many anthropologists believe that the island was a ceremonial and religious site. According to the myths and legends of the people of Kauai, which lies to the southeast, Necker Island was the last known refuge for the Menehune. According to the legend, the Menehune settled on Necker after being chased off Kaua’i by the stronger Polynesians and subsequently built the various stone structures there. Visits to the island are said to have started a few hundred years after the main Hawaiian Islands were inhabited, and ended a few hundred years before European contact.”
Relatively nearby the Marquesas Islands on the Island of Flores, Indonesia, archaeologists recently discovered an early human species, Homo floresiensis in 2003. Thespecies has been nicknamed “the Hobbit” and could date back to 190,000 years old. A female skeleton came from a small person who stood 3 ft 6 in tall and weighed around 66 lbs.
Could these known small people be connected to the Menehune in some way?
“H. floresiensis individuals stood approximately 3 feet 6 inches tall, had tiny brains, large teeth for their small size, shrugged-forward shoulders, no chins, receding foreheads, and relatively large feet due to their short legs. Despite their small body and brain size, H. floresiensis made and used stone tools, hunted small elephants and large rodents, coped with predators such as giant Komodo dragons, and may have used fire.”
It seems very likely that the Menehune were real people and their descendants live on today on Hawaii. The myths continue to entertain new generations. Ka’Ohi says children are told to keep their ears open for the sounds of the Menehune building walls. In reality, they may only need to listen to their Hawaiian neighbors.
“Children love stories about Menehune, and the best time for these stories are at night because the Menehune work only at night,” says Ka’Ohi.
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