All continents have their tales of wild men, abominable snowmen, sasquatch, etc. Most anthropologists give little credence to these stories.
Shackley, however, has assembled considerable evidence for the reality of the so-called Almas (plural form: Almasti), primitive men who closely resemble Neanderthal Man, or at least what we think Neanderthal Man looked like.
Abundant, internally consistent data come from an east-west band running from the Caucacus, across the Pamir Mountains, through the Altai Mountains, to Inner Mongolia. Even today, sightings of these creatures are rather common; and several scientists have seen them. One incident occurred in 1917, when the Reds were pursuing White Army forces through the Pamirs. The troops of Major General Mikail Stephanovitch Topilsky shot an Almas as he was emerging from a cave.
“The eyes were dark and the teeth were large and even and shaped like human teeth. The forehead was slanting and the eyebrows were very powerful. The protruding jawbones made the face resemble the Mongol type of face. The nose was very flat …the lower jaws were very massive”
“The body,” continued Topilski, “belonged to a male creature 165-170 cm [about 5 1/2 feet] tall, elderly or even old, judging by the grayish color of the hair in several places.
The chest was covered with brownish hair and the belly with grayish hair. The hair was longer but sparser on the chest and close-cropped and thick on the belly. In general the hair was very thick, without any under fur.
There was least hair on the buttocks, from which fact our doctor deduced that the creature sat like a human being. There was most hair on the hips. The knees were completely bare of hair and had callous growths on them. The whole foot including the sole was quite hairless and was covered by hard brown skin. The hair got thinner near the hand, and the palms had none at all but only callous skin.”
Topilski added: “The color of the face was dark, and the creature had neither beard nor mustache. The temples were bald and the back of the head was covered by thick, matted hair. The dead creature lay with its eyes open and its teeth bared. The eyes were dark and the teeth were large and even and shaped like human teeth.
The forehead was slanting and the eyebrows were very powerful. The protruding jawbones made the face resemble the Mongol type of face. The nose was flat, with a deeply sunk bridge. The ears were hairless and looked a little more pointed than a human being’s with a longer lobe.
The lower jaw was very massive. The creature had a very powerful chest and well developed muscles. The arms were of normal length, the hands were slightly wider and the feet much wider and shorter than man’s.”
In some instances the Almasti have even associated with modern man; and cases of successful interbreeding have been reported.
After reviewing the mountains of evidence, Shackley feels that the Almasti are very likely surviving Neanderthals, because the physical characteristics of the Almasti and reconstructed Neanderthals are basically identical.
This long review article also discusses the many Chuchunaa sightings from northern Russia — perhaps another relict population of Neanderthals.
Karen C
Very interesting article, I feel smarter all ready, HaHa, and well informed…
Knobby
I think he makes a big jump to conclude the Almas is Neanderthal. Most archaic skulls of these other species of man had the pronounced brow ridge, sloping forehead, and protruding jaw like described on the Almas. Neanderthals were not of the great height described for these bigfootlike creatures in that part of the world, and Neanderthals made fire and stone tools. I think this comparison is just wishful thinking that attempts to match these creatures to a species of man that lived fairly recently, 35 to 40,000 years ago, in order to say they still live.
Moreover, as far as sasquatches are concerned, Dr. Ketchum said she looked for both Neanderthal and Denisovan DNA markers in her samples and didn’t find any.
cyndie r
The elderly one referred to in this instance was reported to be just 5-1/2 feet tall.
Lee F
Of course I have zero scientific background, but, I wonder why these scientists seem to gravitate towards the idea that Sasquatch is some offshoot of Neanderthal, hence offshoot of humans, and not a separate species. Granted, the only thing I saw was a fleeting glimpse of the hind end of a creature on all fours (looked to be as wide as a small car) parting the briars & sticker bushes as it disappeared in the brush as easily as one would part wheat, and when one considers the overall behaviors of this creature by the summation of the accumulated stories and anecdotal evidence, I must conclude that this is some type of non-human primate. Mainly because of the similarities in behavior of known non-human primates, and certainly a wild animal.
Perhaps these people cannot wrap their mind around the possibility that there could be a creature so elusive, given its apparent size, yet unknown to them.
Knobby
Asia has two completely different hominids. One is the larger Yeti (Napal) Yerin (China) Almas (Russia), and a much smaller type kin to the Orang Pendek of Indonesia that goes by various other names across Southeast Asia. I wonder if the 5 1/2 foot tall one was an Almas or not, or maybe they mistook it for being old when it was actually young. The Russian Almas Zana was said to be 6’6″ tall.
The article stated this: ” the hands were slightly wider and the feet much wider and shorter than man’s.” That sounds like the Orang Pendek type of creature whose footprints are really wide and short.
https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTPzc97Rqp5zGc8DVtpUB7dwj3klvMYzUWtBYDtwtR_Hq3JqplJdQ
Brett S
Has anyone read Michael Chritons Eaters of the Dead, they made a movie out of it with Antonio Banderas. It was supposedly based on Viking eddas.