The concept that dwarves walked the Earth in ancient times should not be unexpected. There is a lot of evidence that very comparatively tiny beings existed in various parts of the ancient world.
Before we dive in, we have a quick quiz question for you: “How long could the bandages of an ancient Egyptian mummy stretch?”
Let us know your answer below and make sure to watch till the end of the video to find out if your guess was correct!
We know that many ancient Native American legends describe a race of beings known as the Little People. Depending on the tribe's original folklore, these small beings are described as spirits, magicians, ferocious dwarves, fairies, or devils.
The physical remains of tiny people have been discovered in several locations across the western United States, most notably in Montana and Wyoming. The majority of these small beings were discovered in caves. The small bodies have been examined, but the findings of the studies have not always been made public.
Current archaeological evidence from Palau in western Micronesia suggests that the archipelago was settled by normal-sized populations around 3000-3300 BP; contrary to recent claims, they did not succumb to insular dwarfism.
Previous and ongoing archaeological research of both human burial and occupation sites across the Palauan archipelago over the last 50 years has produced a robust data set to test hypotheses about initial colonization and subsequent adaptations over the last three millennia.
A close examination of human burials at the early (ca. 3000 BP) and stratified site of Chelechol ra Orrak reveals that these were average-sized people. This contradicts the claim of contemporaneous "small-bodied" individuals discovered at two cave sites (2008).
As their analyses are flawed on multiple analytical levels. For starters, their sample size is too small and fragmented to adequately address the variation inherent in modern humans both within and outside of Palau.
Second, all other prehistoric (both older and contemporaneous) skeletal assemblages discovered in Palau fall within the normal parameters of modern human variation in the region, indicating that this was not a case of insular dwarfism or a separate migratory group.
Third, while measurements on several skeletal elements appear to be from smaller-bodied individuals, their sizes compare favorably with samples from Chelechol ra Orrak.
Finally, archaeological, linguistic, and historical evidence show that Palau has maintained a high level of cultural continuity over time, as would be expected if the archipelago was inhabited by the same people.
