I remember reading somewhere about some explorer in like the 1600s or so describing a similar creature on I believe it was Flores. But I can't find the reference now.
It also mentioned some other accounts from around the same time that they were an unruly nuisance that couldn't be domesticated and would steal grain, pets and livestock so the locals killed them off.
I believe the ambiguity is whether the bones found on Flores are related to these stories (assuming they are accurate) or if they are describing say some irritating primate (the classic monkey causes very similar headaches for farmers, such as opening gates and letting an an entire herd of sheep wander on to a highway. In many places you can simply shoot troublesome monkeys without consequence)
People didn't really have vast zoological knowledge in the 17th century so it could have just been a fairly common regional creature that somehow made it to the island from a trading ship and was causing issues.
Of course more than the written word should be available as evidence here regardless of the integrity or intention of the source.
Also as an exercise, pretend some group of hominids were alive somewhere; wouldn't we expect them to come around and steal things? If you don't conceive of private property, a grove of evenly spaced easy to access fruit trees would look like an amazing find. I'd sure be excited to stumble across that.
I'd expect a farmer to shoot one of these creatures and a body to come up, right?
I wish I could find it. Google is being useless as usual
Irritating primates: in the town of Simla, in northern India, there are many monkeys - there's a monkey temple at the top of the hill, and monkeys are "revered". Revered or not, though, the locals throw stones at them to make them get out of the path.
I stayed there in a hotel. During the night, there were scratching noises - I assumed it was mice. It turned out to be a big alpha male, and he'd stolen all our chapatis and fruit from under the bed. He was very aggressive - he wouldn't back off when I confronted him, he really seemed to be up for a fight. I certainly wasn't - monkeys in that region carry rabies.
It also mentioned some other accounts from around the same time that they were an unruly nuisance that couldn't be domesticated and would steal grain, pets and livestock so the locals killed them off.
I believe the ambiguity is whether the bones found on Flores are related to these stories (assuming they are accurate) or if they are describing say some irritating primate (the classic monkey causes very similar headaches for farmers, such as opening gates and letting an an entire herd of sheep wander on to a highway. In many places you can simply shoot troublesome monkeys without consequence)
People didn't really have vast zoological knowledge in the 17th century so it could have just been a fairly common regional creature that somehow made it to the island from a trading ship and was causing issues.
Of course more than the written word should be available as evidence here regardless of the integrity or intention of the source.
Also as an exercise, pretend some group of hominids were alive somewhere; wouldn't we expect them to come around and steal things? If you don't conceive of private property, a grove of evenly spaced easy to access fruit trees would look like an amazing find. I'd sure be excited to stumble across that.
I'd expect a farmer to shoot one of these creatures and a body to come up, right?
I wish I could find it. Google is being useless as usual