When scholars examine ancient legends, they may try to find logical explanations for seemingly impossible actions. On the other hand, some accounts are dismissed as fantastic stories lacking any basis in reality. Modern thinkers debate over the existence of divine entities and mythological creatures. Meanwhile, indigenous cultural tales could provide some important clues to real-life events.
Ancient Aliens or Human Ingenuity?
National Geographic’s Nadia Drake mentions several landmarks that some propose were constructed by extraterrestrials. Frequently discussed sites include Egypt’s pyramids, Stonehenge, the Mesoamerican city of Teotihuacán, and Easter Island’s colossal statues. These sites were built using massively large stones, sophisticated mathematics, and advanced engineering techniques.
One common misconception is that our ancestors lacked the skills, methods, or equipment to construct these edifices. The Rapa Nui, the original Polynesian civilization of Easter Island, told visiting Europeans about “statues that walked.” As LiveScience explains, they probably did not mean that the statues literally came to life and walked. A National Geographic video demonstrates one way in which they may have transported the large stone moai statues. Using ropes wrapped around the moai’s head, the Rapa Nui’s forebears tugged on the statue from four sides to create a carefully controlled walking motion.
Megafauna Mysteries Throughout the World
Many societies’ stories describe giant animals: Leviathan, Bigfoot, and dragons, to name a few. Our planet’s fossil record contains the remains of large creatures. Some, such as the wooly mammoth and saber-toothed cats, existed at the same time as early humans. Smithsonian Magazine explains that our distant ancestors, including Australopithecus africanus, could have faced formidable hunters like giant eagles and crocodiles. That’s no surprise, given that Africa was home to many megafauna species. Some, such as elephants and giraffes, still inhabit the continent today.
Could our folklore hold evidence of more creatures like these? Writing for JSTOR Daily, Matthew Wills points to myths about large entities such as the “Ancient of Beavers.” As described in Iroquois myths, this enormous rodent was present during the world’s creation. The Illinois State Museum also mentions giant beavers that went extinct around 10,000 years ago. During their lifetimes, they would have roamed North America’s Great Lakes region.
Could Australian Mythology Hold the Key?
While megafauna lived on every continent, the clearest evidence for connections between their existence and the creatures of ancient legends may be found in Australia. A January 2017 article in The Conversation discusses fossils possibly proving that Indigenous Australians lived alongside gargantuan reptiles, birds, and mammals. Remnant memories of these animals could have made it into their stories set during Dreamtime, a period “out of time” or in the distant past when they say the world was first created.
Blogger M.H. Monroe explores myths about giant emus, potentially reflecting the existence of large flightless prehistoric birds known as Genyornis. Stone art and cave paintings throughout the continent depicts magnificent animals. These illustrations may depict prehistoric fauna such as Genyornis, marsupial lions, and giant long-beaked echidnae. These creatures went extinct during the Pleistocene era, which spanned from 2.6 million years ago until around 13,700 BCE. Considering that these artworks may be up to 40,000 years old, they and the Dreamtime legends could represent the oldest human memories in existence.
Giants From Our Distant Past
Human narratives originated thousands of years ago in the form of oral histories passed down over generations. Scholars still debate whether any linkages exist between the fanciful creatures and events of folklore and ancient megafauna and cultural developments from our earliest times. Even so, stories about walking statues, oversized birds, and colossal monuments from around the world could have some real historical basis. Theories about ancient aliens persist, but our ancestors deserve much more credit than they’re given for their insight, perceptiveness, and ingenuity.