Are Troglodytes real? Did they ever exist? Ancient writers described a strange band of cave dwellers living around certain areas of the mid-East. Noted historian Herodotus included them in his writings about Ethiopia as did Greek geographer Strabo, and Aristotle. It’s a puzzling tale, one that CryptoVille had to investigate!

The legend of the “cave dwellers” of Ethiopia starts way back in time, in approximately the 6^th Century BC. Along the western coast of Morocco, the local native population who were called Lixites, welcomed a Carthaginian sailor named Hanno who was exploring the area. They told him about cave dwellers living beyond the mountains and described them as strange people. The Lixites said the cave dwellers, or Troglodytes, could run faster than a horse.

What Ancient Historians Say

The Greek historian Herodotus mentioned them in his writings from the 5^th century, and described them much the same as the Lixites had described them to Hanno. In his writings, Herodotus describes them as living in “inner Africa” and able to run very fast, faster than a man. It was said they ate lizards and other reptiles. Their speech sounded like the screech of an owl, or bat.

Herodotus also described a tribe of inhabitants in Ethiopia called the Garamantes who supposedly chased and hunted the Troglodytes in their 4 horse chariots.

Towards the late 5^th century BC, Strabo mentioned these creatures in his writings, explaining that there were several tribes of them. One tribe supposedly lived in Moesia which is south of the Danube, in the Caucasus country. He states they were more numerous in Africa, especially around Libya over to the Red Sea.

Aristotle’s version of the Troglodytes had them living on the “upper course of the Nile.” They owned horses and Aristotle believed they were actually Pygmies.

What Were They Like

Other depictions of them from other ancient authors had them living by the Red Sea near an area called Berenice. These accounts describe them as living a settled, pastoral life. It’s said they lived by eating their herd animals and a beverage of blood mixed with milk.

The ancient writers wrote that they killed only old or sick cattle. On a more gruesome note, they also supposedly killed the old men (and possibly old women) of the tribe who could no longer follow the herd. They never referred to their parents, instead saving the moniker for their highly valued cattle.

The Troglodytes didn’t wear much clothing and the women wore necklaces they made from shells. Only chiefs married. They practiced circumcision and “mutilation of a more serious kind”.

Their burial rites sound cruel and horrible to us today. They would bind the corpse at the neck and legs with vine from the paliurus shrub, then set it on a mound. There, they hit it with stones until “its face was covered with them.” Onlookers jeered. They then placed a goat’s horn above the corpse and the crowd dispersed.

Strabo differed in his description of the Troglodytes by saying they wore skins, ate meat (not reptiles), and buried their dead under heaps of stones. Similar to what the other authors said, but not quite the same, especially the point about clothing. He also added that they fought with clubs, spears, and bows.

Modern Account

Another publication from today written by Chuck Morgan, describes the Troglodytes as “hairy ape-like” creatures who were no more than fictitious creations of the ancient authors. Now they’re sounding suspiciously like Bigfoot-type creatures.

Morgan makes some interesting point in this excerpt from his article:

“For 2,000 years, most educated men believed that remote areas were inhabited by monstrous hairy races. It was only with the 19^th century that it became clear that there was only one species of living men. When Carl von Linne (Linnaeus) worked out his monumental classification of natural things in the 18^th century, he included the species Homo monstrosus. By Homo monstrosus he meant a species related to Homo sapiens but markedly different in physical appearance. To do Linnaeus full justice, he was quite aware that there were men on all continents who belonged to the species Homo sapiens. He nonetheless believed, as many of his contemporaries and predecessors did, that in remote areas there were manlike creatures with weird characteristics. The belief in the existence of monstrous races had endured in the Western world for at least 2,000 years. During that time a rich assortment of semi human creatures were described by explorers and travelers, whose accounts were probably based largely on malformed individuals and the desire to enhance their own fame at home.”

Hmm. So it sounds like he’s saying these Bigfoot-type creatures are just myths made up from early history, stemming from the legends about the existence of Troglodytes, apart from a few malformed humans who were mistaken for monsters.

According to Morgan, he credits Herodotus as having been mostly objective when writing his accounts of the Egyptians and Persians, saying Herodotus didn’t believe everything he was told. But the farther his subjects got from home, the sketchier the details got. Hence his descriptions of Troglodytes may have been more fictional than fact-based.

Interestingly, back in the 18^th century, Linnaeus asked the Swedish East India Company to search for a Troglodyte in their travels, but they never found any signs of their existence.

Morgan also refers to someone trying to say that a smaller tribe of Troglodyte exists called the Masmukiyya. Morgan proves that this nonsense is a hoax because the name Masmukiyya translates in Arabic to “What is your name?”  Also, look at the picture of it – it looks like a gray alien, not a hairy Troglodyte. So, that’s clearly fiction.

How Reliable was Herodotus

According to Wiki, Herodotus was born in Halicarnassus around 484 BC. This area was part of the Persian Empire. He wrote the famous book, The Histories, and scholars have dubbed him “The Father of History.”

That said, he was criticized by authors over the centuries, starting with Thucydides who accused him of writing some fictional accounts within his history just for entertainment. Herodotus denied these criticisms, of course, and as time went by a “sizable portion” of what he wrote has been confirmed by later historians and archaeologists.

But as I mentioned before, he was far more accurate writing about topics closer to home and areas that he knew. When writing about topics further afield, he was writing based on hearsay of witnesses who may or may not have been reliable. So we can’t say for sure if those accounts are real and true, or just works of fiction.

Real or Not?

I don’t believe any Troglodytes are alive today, that’s for certain. Did they go extinct? Were they alive in the 5^th century BC? There’s no good way to prove it. We’d need fossil evidence like some bones found in a cave. If they did exist, were they early hominids or some kind of ape? No way to tell without some fossil evidence.

Interestingly, one article mentioned that caves with overhangs, called abris, have been found by archaeologists in that part of the world. These scientists theorized that nomads may have used them as temporary shelter, and a place to rest and then hunt some food and find some water.  There’s no mention of Troglodytes in the area, or evidence that the caves were currently in use.

But back in history, maybe they were.

Does the non-existence of Troglodytes mean that Bigfoot doesn’t exist? No, not related. Bigfoot and his kin had plenty of time to evolve into the big hairy creatures that they are today. And we have a lot of tantalizing evidence that they are real.

But in the final analysis, it seems to me that Troglodytes are more a work of fiction, than of fact.

So what do you think about the Troglodyte debate? Are they real, or works of fiction?

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References

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Troglodytae

https://linguistics.osu.edu/herodotosethnonymafrica/ethiopian-troglodytes (Ohio State U, Oxley Hall Department of Linguistics)

https://theodora.com/encyclopedia/t/troglodytes.html

https://nuwaupianism.com/360-questions/the-holy-tablets/453-ask-the-nuwaupians-do-you-believe-in-troglodytes-as-malachi-york-taught

https://www.livius.org/articles/place/garamantes/cave-dwellers/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herodotus