Almas (cryptozoology)
Topic: Unsolved
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| Grouping | Cryptid, Folklore |
|---|---|
| Sub grouping | Hominid |
| Country | Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Mongolia, Russia , Tajikistan |
| Region | Mongolia, Central Asia, Caucasus |
The Almas or Alma (Mongolian: Алмас/Almas, Chechen: Алмазы, Turkish: Albıs), Mongolian for "wild man", is a purported hominid cryptozoological species reputed to inhabit the Caucasus and Pamir Mountains of Central Asia, and the Altai Mountains of western Mongolia.[1] The creature is not currently recognized or cataloged by science. Furthermore, scientists generally reject the possibility that such megafauna cryptids exist, because of the improbably large numbers necessary to maintain a breeding population.[2]
Description
Almas is a singular word in Mongolian; the properly formed Turkic plural would be 'almaslar'.[3] As is typical of similar legendary creatures throughout Central Asia, Russia , Pakistan and the Caucasus, the Almas is generally considered to be more akin to "wild people" in appearance and habits than to apes (in contrast to the Yeti of the Himalayas).
Almases are typically described as human-like bipedal animals, between five and six and a half feet tall, their bodies covered with reddish-brown hair, with anthropomorphic facial features including a pronounced browridge, flat nose, and a weak chin.[citation needed]
Evidence
Folk tales
Almases appear in the legends of local people, who tell stories of sightings and human-Almas interactions dating back several hundred years.
Famous sightings
Sightings recorded in writing go as far back as the 15th century.
In 1420, Hans Schiltberger recorded his personal observation of these creatures in the journal of his trip to Mongolia as a prisoner of the Mongol Khan but described them more as hairy, savage humans than animals:
"On the same mountain there are savages, who are not like other people, and they live there. They are covered all over the body with hair, except the hands and face, and run about like other wild beasts in the mountain, and also eat leaves and grass, and any thing they can find. The lord of the country sent to Edigi, a man and a woman from among these savages, that had been taken in the mountain."[4]
See also
- Tjutjuna
References
- ↑ Living Ape-Men: The Almas of Central Asia
- ↑ Bigfoot hunting and because climate and food supply issues make their survival in reported habitats unlikely Sjögren, Bengt, Berömda vidunder, Settern, 1980, ISBN:91-7586-023-6 (in Swedish)
- ↑ Michael Heaney, "Who were the Arismaspeans", web version with minor additions reproduced from Folklore, volume 104 (1993), pp. 53–66
- ↑ THE BONDAGE AND TRAVELS OF JOHANN SCHILTBERGER,A NATIVE OF BAVARIA, IN EUROPE, ASIA, AND AFRICA, 1396–1427. TRANSLATED FROM THE HEIDELBERG MS. EDITED IN 1859 BY PROFESSOR KARL FRIEDRICH NEUMANN, BY Commander J. BUCHAN TELFER, R.N., F.S.A., F.R.G.S. With Notes by PROFESSOR P. BRUUN, OF THE IMPERIAL UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH RUSSIA, AT ODESSA; AND A PREFACE, INTRODUCTION, AND NOTES BY THE TRANSLATOR AND EDITOR, Ch. 25
- Notes
- Jean-Paul Debenat (2015). Asian Wild Man: The Yeti, Yeren & Almasty: Cultural Aspects & Evidence of Reality. Hancock House. ISBN 978-0888397-195.
- Brian Regal (2013) [2008]. Searching for Sasquatch: Crackpots, Eggheads, and Cryptozoology. Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 142–53. ISBN 978-1137349439.
- Hans Schiltberger's manuscript, Munich municipal library, Sign. 1603, Bl. 210
- Odette Tchernine (1961). The Snowman and Company. Robert Hale Ltd..
- Odette Tchernine (1971). In Pursuit of the Abominable Snowman. Taplinger Publishing. ISBN 0-8008-4187-5. https://archive.org/details/inpursuitofabomi00tche.
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