Ebu Gogo

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As Ebu Gogo , a group designated by anthropomorphic creatures, according to a legend on the island of Flores ( Indonesia said to have existed). This legend only became internationally known after Homo floresiensis, which was discovered in 2003 on the eponymous island of Flores . According to reports from the islanders, the Ebu Gogo did not disappear until the beginning of the 19th century.

Locals reported to the Australian archaeologist and co-author of the first description of Homo floresiensis , Richard G. Roberts, in October 2004 about these Ebu Gogo who had met their ancestors: “The Ebu Gogo were tiny as small children, except for completely hairy faces long arms and a round drum belly. They kept mumbling in an incomprehensible language, but also babbled what we said to them. ” The last of these Ebu Gogo is said to have disappeared shortly before the island was colonized by the Dutch . The name Ebu Gogo means something like 'grandmother who eats everything'.

There are discrepancies in the oral tradition, but the accounts show several similarities. There are reports of attempts by the Ua to make contact with the neighbors who acted negatively by being presented with cooked food that they also took. But the Ebu Gogo continued to steal cattle and parts of their crops. But it was not until they stole a baby, said residents Gregory Forth of the University of Alberta , that they were driven into a cave and started a fire by igniting palm fibers that they had given little people as clothing. Gregory Forth suggested that the Ebu Gogo extermination occurred between 1750 and 1810.

However, this tradition about the Ua and the Ebu Gogo comes from the neighboring Nage , who also reported that the Ua invaded their area two or three hundred years ago, which, however, was never inhabited by the Nage. Since there are numerous reports in Indonesia of the destruction of crop pests - in most cases animals - by fire, and the destruction of giants in this way is also widespread, Genesis Marie Sodikoff attaches greater credibility to the unique story of the destruction of small harvest thieves. This does not have to be a one-off act of destruction, but rather the climax of a long-lasting competitive situation. In addition, the Nage not arranged the little people the animal kingdom but that of the people, which is reflected linguistically by classifiers where ga'e in preference to Eko was given, so the human in front of the animal.

Reports of the Ebu Gogo have appeared particularly since the time around the discovery of Homo floresiensis , which made many scientists suspicious. It can no longer be determined whether the English scientist William Marsden, with his description of short people, whom he referred to as "Orang Googoo" in 1783, meant the same group of people. It was later believed that the reports were fancifully embellished reports on macaques . Reports of little people continued to circulate, such as the " Orang Pendek ". To what extent reports by anthropologists influence such reports is still largely unclear.

supporting documents

  1. ^ Villagers speak of the small, hairy Ebu Gogo. quoted from: Daily Telegraph (PDF; 85 kB) , October 28, 2004.
  2. ↑ Dean Falk : The Fossil Chronicles. How two Controversial Discoveries Changed our View of Human Evolution , University of California Press, p. 162.
  3. ↑ Dean Falk: The Fossil Chronicles. How two Controversial Discoveries Changed our View of Human Evolution. University of California Press, p. 163.
  4. ↑ Dean Falk: The Fossil Chronicles. How two Controversial Discoveries Changed our View of Human Evolution. University of California Press, p. 218, note 7.
  5. ↑ genesis Marie Sodikoff: The Anthropology of Extinction. Essays on Culture and Species Death. Indiana University Press 2011, pp. 207f.
  6. ↑ genesis Marie Sodikoff: The Anthropology of Extinction. Essays on Culture and Species Death. Indiana University Press 2011, p. 209.
  7. ^ John H. McWhorter: Linguistic Simplicity and Complexity: Why Do Languages ​​Undress? Walter de Gruyter 2011, p. 259.
  8. ^ William Marsden: The History of Sumatra. Containing An Account of the Government, Laws, Customs and Manners of the Native Inhabitants, with A Description of the Natural Productions, And A Relation of the Ancient Political State Of that Island. 2nd Edition. London 1784, p. 35.
  9. ^ Gregory L. Forth: Images of the wildman in Southeast Asia: an anthropological perspective. New York 2008, p. 118.
  10. ↑ Kate Wong: The Littlest Human. In: Scientific American 292 (February 2005) 56-65, here: p. 65.
  11. ↑ Gregory L. Forth: Flores after floresiensis: Implications of local reaction to recent palaeoanthropological discoveries on an eastern Indonesian island . In: Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde 162,2 / 3 (2006) 336–349.