Relic Neanderthal Remains?

Some researchers of cryptozoology (the study of unknown animals for which only testimonial or circumstantial evidence, which is considered insufficient by some, is available) such as Ivan Sanderson, Myra Shackley, Dmitri Bayanov, Igor Bourtsev, Bernard Heuvelmans, and others theorize that living Neanderthals may still survive in parts of the world such as Central Asia. Their theory is supported by reports of hairy wild men, footprints that have a striking resemblance to fossil Neanderthal prints, and other evidence such as the strange guttural sounds (said to have been possibly made by a primitive voice box) heard by scientists investigating "Barmanu" sightings. However, there is (or was) also evidence for possible relic Neanderthals in the form of remains! 

Reports of Neanderthal like wild men abound in Central Asia

A photograph that is allegedly of the Spanish Basajun, a wild man that is though to be Neanderthaloid in origin!
Please note that I am not personally endorsing this photograph as real or as that of a relic Neanderthal.

Neanderthals were members of the genus Homo which lived in Pleistocene Europe and southwestern to central Asia. Genetic analysis shows that they were our closest (known) extinct human relative and may have interbred with us. Neanderthals are thought to have averaged about five feet but had a longer skull and face, large brow ridges, a large nose, no jutting chin, and a relatively stockier body. They also had generally stronger bodies and greater musculature (due to a unique hormonal status). While Neanderthals were once thought to have looked like hairy and brutish ape-men, many reconstructions of today look very similar to us!

Reconstruction of a Neanderthal




Reconstruction of a Neanderthal



I have posted an earlier article about why I feel that these reconstructions are a bit inaccurate, due to the fact that Neanderthals lived in an often very cold climate for thousands of years, unlike us Homo Sapiens who had adapted to an active life in the warm temperatures of Africa and Asia. Modern reconstructions show Neanderthals with not only hairless skin, but also little or often no clothing. I theorize that they would need a covering of hair to keep them warm, as evidence suggests that they did not have advanced clothing. Please see my article for more on my argument, (http://www.bizarrezoology.blogspot.com/2012/11/my-hairy-neanderthal-theory.html). The following drawings are, in my opinion, a much better depiction of Neanderthals. Please keep in mind that I fully support modern scientific views of Neanderthal culture.

A drawing that I feel depicts what a Neanderthal likely looked like.
(© Loren Coleman and Patrick Huyghe 1999, 2006; © Harry Trumbore 1999, 2006)

A reconstruction of a hairy Neanderthal that I theorize is quite accurate

So could sightings of Asian Wild Men really be of surviving populations of Neanderthals? Interestingly, depictions of wild men (called Woodwoose) in medieval European art bear a striking resemblance to some depictions of Neanderthals. In fact, Linnaeus himself recognized the European wild man as a species of human that he called Homo Ferus!

A depiction of a European wild man from a bestiary

However, the most interesting evidence is certainly the "remains" which have been claimed to belong to a Neanderthal. One of the most famous of such remains was an alleged body frozen in ice and toured as the "Minnesota Ice-Man". Likely the first scientist to notice the validity of the "creature", that was being shown at fairs and shopping centers as "A Man Left Over From The Ice Age" by Frank Hansen, was zoology major Terry Cullens. He had contacted biologist Ivan Sanderson and French zoologist Bernard Heuvelmans, who spent a large amount of time examining the "specimen. The frozen alleged hominid was six feet tall, had large hands and feet, had "corpse-like white" skin, was covered in dark brown hair that was 3-4 inches long, had gun wounds on its left arm and eye (which was dangling), and apparently had visible genitalia. Due to the smell of putrefaction of flesh from where the ice had melted (and other features), Sanderson and Heuvelmans concluded that the "hominid" was authentic!

A photograph of "The Minnesota Iceman on left, and a drawing of the body on the right

A close up on the head of the Minnesota Iceman through the ice

Some of Sanderson and Heuevelman's drawings depicting the Minnesota Iceman

In fact, they had named the animal 'Homo pongoides' and Heuvelmans went on to theorize that the "creature" was possibly a relict Neanderthal that was killed in the Vietnam War and smuggled to the United States. Heuvelmans speculated that Captain Hansen may have obtained the hominid body in Vietnam and flown it back to America, in the same manner that the bodies of soldiers who were killed in action have been flown. There were (and are) many stories of Vietnamese wild men, and (if they exist) it was likely inevitable that one was accidentally shot during the war in Vietnam. Perhaps this was the fate of the Minnesota Iceman.



A book by French zoologist Bernard Heuvelmans (who is illustrated on the cover with his "Homo Pongoides" Neanderthal), regarding relic Neanderthals and the Minnesota Iceman

However, there are many people who claim that the Minnesota Iceman was too hairy and subhuman looking to be a Neanderthal. In fact, cryptozoologists Loren Coleman and Mark Hall speculate that the Minnesota Iceman was actually a relic Homo Erectus (a more primitive species of hominid than Neanderthals).


Was the Minnesota Iceman actually a form of the more primitive and ape-like Homo Erectus?
(Please click images to enlarge, so you may better view the comparisons)

Although Homo Erectus was a very successful hominid species (and had made it to Asia), it is generally thought that these humans had lost their hairiness to adapt to hotter climates and a more active life. Perhaps, the Asian Homo Erectus had kept their hairiness to adapt to the climate experienced there. However there are still those, such as Dale Drinnon, who argue for a Neanderthaloid origin. He claims that Neanderthal skulls and hand bones neatly match the head and hands of the Minnesota Iceman, and that he was able to make transparencies for lectures that showed how neatly the Neanderthal skull or hands fit over the corresponding parts in the Iceman.

A comparison between observation drawings of the Minnesota Iceman and Neanderthal remains

However, hoax allegations exist regarding the Minnesota Iceman as a model soon appeared. Although the fake body was touted as evidence that the Minnesota Iceman was all a fraud, it appears that the model replaced the original "body". In fact, Sanderson and Heuvelmans have been able to point out at least fifteen technical differences between photographs of the original "hominid body" and the fake replacement model! Hansen himself never confirmed or denied that the original "body" was just a model, but only stated that the creature was really owned by a millionaire. Did this mean that the millionaire had manufactured the fake Minnesota Iceman, or perhaps that he had received and was in ownership the body after it was flown over from Vietnam? One interesting detail is that the FBI was going to investigate the Minnesota Iceman for the reasons that, if this was some kind of prehistoric human, taking a body over state lines was illegal! In my and other people's opinions, the fact that the FBI was going to investigate the "body" was likely the reason that the true Minnesota Iceman disappeared and was replaced by an obviously different model. Sadly, it is possible that what could have been a very important discovery of another species of human living on the same planet was lost forever. However, the Minnesota Iceman is not the only claimed Neanderthal remains (just the most impressive).

The "Pangboche Yeti Hand"

Alleged "yeti" hand bones were first found at a monastery in Pangboche Nepal, in a 1958 expedition. This prized artifact became known as the "Pangboche Hand". In that 1958 expedition (which was funded by Tom Slick), team member Peter Byrne was denied permission from taking the alleged yeti hand. In a 1959 trip to the monastery, Byrne secretly stole some of the bones from the hand and switched them with human bones.

A photograph of the Pangboche Yeti Hand by Peter Byrne



Another image of the Pangboche Hand

A photograph of the Pangboche Hand by a Japanese expedition

Generally, the Yeti reports seem to indicate a large species of ground dwelling orangutan (or some other ape species such as Gigantopithecus). However, this hand does not seem to look ape in origin, but rather very human like. While there have been suggestions that yeti are a primitive species of human, is it possible that the Pangboche Hand belonged to a different species than the "rock-ape" yeti? There has been speculation about more than one species of primate being behind the yeti legends, and it is totally possible that an Asian wild man had made its way into the Nepalese region. In fact, wild men in Siberia and other Asian regions are commonly referred to as Yeti. However, asking whether a Neanderthal could account for Yeti sightings is not the purpose of this article. 

Himalayan Neanderthals?

One recurring result from analysis of the Pangboche Hand was that it likely had strong affinities with Neanderthals or was likely Neanderthal in origin! Primatologist W.C. Osman Hill had originally felt that it was human in origin, but later told Tom Slick and Ivan Sanderson that he no longer felt that it was fully human and was likely from a Neanderthal. Anthropologist George Agogino (and others) had pointed out that the hand had very flat and massive metacarpals, and therefore had very primitive characteristics. According to Ivan Sanderson, Russian scientists had claimed that the Pangboche Hand bone structure was definitely Neanderthaloid in origin! This similarity was also pointed out by Dale Drinnon, who had compared images of Neanderthal hands with the Pangboche Hand. The images below are some comparisons by me. Keep in mind that I have not been able to directly and physically compare the two specimens, and comparisons by images alone may be erroneous.


Neanderthal hand at right; Pangboche Hand at left

Neanderthal hand at right; Pangboche Hand at left

Neanderthal hand at right; Pangboche Hand at left

Sadly, the bones were lost and remained so for a long time. However, in 2008 a finger bone from the Pangboche Hand was rediscovered in Dr. W.C. Osman Hill's collection at London’s Royal College of Surgeons! A tiny sliver of the finger bone was then sent to the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland for DNA analysis.


The Pangboche Hand finger bone which was rediscovered in 2008

On December 27 of 2011, the results were released on a BBC radio program. According to Dr. Rob Jones (senior scientist at the Zoological Society of Scotland): "We have got a very, very strong match to a number of existing reference sequences on human DNA databases. It's very similar to existing human sequences from China and that region of Asia but we don't have enough resolution to be confident of a racial identification."
However, a "human origin" may not mean the end for the Pangboche Yeti hand. Cryptozoologist Loren Coleman points out that those who have been researching the yeti legends and the Pangboche Hand events should know that the hand was already thought to have been "human", in the form of a Neanderthal man. Is it possible that these "human origin" results may actually indicate a Neanderthal origin? According to some geneticists, recent Neanderthal genome testing suggests human and Neanderthal DNA are some 99.5% to nearly 99.9% identical! Also, some scientists have felt that Neanderthals are actually a subspecies of Homo Sapiens and should be referred to as Homo sapiens neanderthalensis. If the finger bone was of a sapiens subspecies origin, is it possible that this is the reason that the results came back as "human"? Contamination by humans during the long journey of the Pangboche Hand could also add to the confusion, and make DNA that is already extremely close to Homo sapiens (as was mentioned earlier) seem an exact match. So did the Pangboche Hand belong to a Neanderthal man, or was it simply that of a Himalayan local? Perhaps we will never know.

A group of Neanderthals attack a Megaloceros deer.

So sadly, the rare times of which remains that are possibly of a cryptozoological animal are found, they disappear or are discarded due to confusion. My personal thoughts on the fate of the Minnesota Iceman are that this hominid was buried in an unmarked grave, after FBI investigations were planned. I think that it is possible (and maybe likely, in my opinion) that the Pangboche Hand really did come from a Neanderthal, and was a case of the "human" label being thrown on a unique specimen which was then forgotten. Perhaps the fact that Neanderthals really are a type of human was the downfall of both specimens; the FBI wanting to investigate a corpse that may be some kind of human, and the DNA of a hand bone being mistaken as Homo sapiens due to similarities in DNA and perhaps a contamination mistake. In the future, if these humans are rediscovered, will research on these amazing creatures be ruined by factors such as discrimination or extreme protection of them to the extent that they are shipped off to reserves (ignoring the fact that they have survived in the wilderness without our help)? Hopefully, if Neanderthals still exist, we will allow them to survive in the wild as they always have and will learn to coexist with these fellow human species!

Works Cited:

• Coleman, Loren, and Jerome Clark. Cryptozoology A to Z: The Encyclopedia of Loch Monsters, Sasquatch, Chupacabras, and Other Authentic Mysteries of Nature. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster, 1999. Print.
• "Frontiers of Zoology: Persisting European Wudewasas." Frontiers of Zoology: Persisting European Wudewasas. N.p., n.d. Web. 31 Dec. 2012. http://frontiersofzoology.blogspot.com/2012/04/persisting-european-wudewasas.html

• "Homo Neanderthalensis." Homo Neanderthalensis. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Dec. 2012. http://humanorigins.si.edu/evidence/human-fossils/species/homo-neanderthalensis.
• "Neanderthal Males Had Popeye-Like Arms." Discovery News. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Nov. 2012. http://news.discovery.com/history/neanderthal-hormones-strong-arms.html.
• "ShukerNature: WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE? IN SEARCH OF THE WOODWOSE, EUROPE'S ELUSIVE MAN-BEAST." ShukerNature: WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE? IN SEARCH OF THE WOODWOSE, EUROPE'S ELUSIVE MAN-BEAST. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Dec. 2012. http://karlshuker.blogspot.com/2012/12/where-wild-things-are-in-search-of.html
• Coleman, Loren, and Patrick Huyghe. The Field Guide to Bigfoot and Other Mystery Primates. San Antonio, TX: Anomalist, 2006. Print.
• "CRYPTOZOOLOGY ONLINE: Still on the Track: DALE DRINNON: Pugnoses Part 2: On the Ice." CRYPTOZOOLOGY ONLINE: Still on the Track: DALE DRINNON: Pugnoses Part 2: On the Ice. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Dec. 2012. http://forteanzoology.blogspot.com/2009/12/dale-drinnon-pugnoses-part-2-on-ice.html.\
• "Bigfoot: The Pangboche Hand 1957." Bigfoot: The Pangboche Hand 1957. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Dec. 2012 http://www.bigfootencounters.com/creatures/pangboche_hand.htm
• "Cryptomundo for Bigfoot, Lake Monsters, Sea Serpents and More." Default Cryptomundo RSS 20. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Dec. 2012. http://www.cryptomundo.com/cryptozoo-news/pangboche-dna2/
• "About Bigfoot Lunch Club." Bigfoot News. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Dec. 2012. http://www.bigfootlunchclub.com/2011/12/bbc-news-pangboche-finger-is-human-not.html