Bigfoot DNA

[Pixel42]

I note the link doesn't say anything about the Channel 4 documentaries. If they only expressed interest once the project was underway that would explain the delay (presumably they wouldn't want the results published until after they'd been broadcast, to maximise ratings).

Maybe Sykes now regards their broadcast as the publication phase, i.e. they are instead of rather than as well as a paper.

 

[MikeG]

....... i.e. they are instead of rather than as well as a paper.

That would be seriously disappointing, because I can see 2 interesting papers emerging from this work. One on the bear thing, and another on the out of place African. I know that he has at least one paper coming out, and I think I am right in saying that it is already with the journal. Once again, I have forgotten how I know this.....

 

[dmaker]

I'm not sure I quite get the importance of the African angle. Slavery existed in that area since it was part of the Ottoman Empire. Why can that not simply be the explanation? Why even mention this other extremely unlikely scenario involving early, unknown migrations out of Africa? I mean sure follow it up as much as you want behind the scenes, but to mention it on TV, well now we have legions of Footers proclaiming this long shot theory as proof positive of Bigfoot. Isn't it far, far more likely that Zana was simply there because she was an escaped slave?

 

[Resume]

. . . well now we have legions of Footers proclaiming this long shot theory as proof positive of Bigfoot. Isn't it far, far more likely that Zana was simply there because she was an escaped slave?

He knows, he knows! The proof is going to be in "the paper." You'll see and then crow will be served.

Or something.

 

[Robrob]

Well there you go. Zana wasn't a Neanderthal, she was just black - perhaps with some unfortunate disabilities - and surrounded by illiterate mountain bigots in some Russian backwater.

You can say that again.

Named Zana (means black in Georgian language) the creature was tied, and fighting back, was hit with cudgels and gagged with a mouth full of felt and finally shackled by her legs to a log. She was eventually put in a ditch, surrounded by a fence of sharpened logs and was living in squalor. There she growled and charged at laughing children who threw sticks and dirt clods at her. After some time she was finally considered somewhat tamed and then made “love” to…even giving birth to live half-breed children…thus, the strange saga of “The Zana Affair.”

 

[LTC8K6]

Or the Zana account is mostly fabricated...?

 

[Robrob]

Or the Zana account is mostly fabricated...?

Based on the limited reading I did, it fits pretty well perfectly into the more plausible "escaped slave with developmental disabilities." Much of the rest is third or fourth hand and likely exaggeration.

 

[dmaker]

^^ I completely agree. Add in stories of hair from head to foot, a propensity for being outdoors in all seasons and, voila, you have Bigfoot.

 

[William Parcher]

Who would sell or buy a slave with such profound and obvious disabilities?

 

[Pixel42]

One possible explanation is that she was the daughter of escaped slaves who lived in the wild to avoid recapture. If they died when she was still fairly young, leaving her to fend for herself, that might explain why she was so "uncivilised" when captured.

 

[Drewbot]

Who is Bigfoot Dan anyway, and why does he always mispell his name?

 

[LTC8K6]

Based on the limited reading I did, it fits pretty well perfectly into the more plausible "escaped slave with developmental disabilities." Much of the rest is third or fourth hand and likely exaggeration.

How about let loose/abandoned when the slave holder couldn't deal with her issues?

 

[The Great God Pan]

I'm not sure why everyone is ignoring the information posted earlier by the Shrike which showed that there were whole villages full of African people about 30-40km from where this unfortunate woman was being held captive. Seems pretty key, and to preclude any need for theorising about where she came from.


en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abkhazians_of_African_descent

 

[Robrob]

I'm not sure why everyone is ignoring the information posted earlier by the Shrike which showed that there were whole villages full of African people about 30-40km from where this unfortunate woman was being held captive. Seems pretty key, and to preclude any need for theorising about where she came from.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abkhazians_of_African_descent

Hm, good point.

 

[LTC8K6]

I'm not sure why everyone is ignoring the information posted earlier by the Shrike which showed that there were whole villages full of African people about 30-40km from where this unfortunate woman was being held captive. Seems pretty key, and to preclude any need for theorising about where she came from.


en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abkhazians_of_African_descent

Did Kvit's DNA match those Africans?

 

[Robrob]

I'm not sure why everyone is ignoring the information posted earlier by the Shrike which showed that there were whole villages full of African people about 30-40km from where this unfortunate woman was being held captive. Seems pretty key, and to preclude any need for theorising about where she came from.


en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abkhazians_of_African_descent

Did Kvit's DNA match those Africans?

I'd say even if not, the simple existence of (multiple) Africans in the region give weight to the escaped slave theory.

 

[The Great God Pan]

Did Kvit's DNA match those Africans?

We're not told whether anybody checked. Presumably because nobody did. It could be ruled out by checking, but until someone does, there's little need for any more speculative theories.

 

[The Great God Pan]

I'd say even if not, the simple existence of (multiple) Africans in the region give weight to the escaped slave theory.

These people clearly were not slaves at the time of Zana's imprisonment, and hadn't been slaves for some time before that, if indeed they ever were. It's more likely she was simply kidnapped from her home than was an escaped slave "living wild". I doubt there was anything more wild about her than you would expect from someone subjected to the sort of treatment she clearly was.

Not a nice story at all.

 

[William Parcher]

It's more likely she was simply kidnapped from her home than was an escaped slave "living wild".

"I'll kidnap the hairy one. That weird one? Yes, the one that acts like an animal and looks all messed up. I'll get her to be my slave and she can do all sorts of things."

Why would anyone want to kidnap her if she was so messed up?

I mean if she was as described then why would she be wanted by anyone for anything?

 

[Tomtomkent]

"I'll kidnap the hairy one. That weird one? Yes, the one that acts like an animal and looks all messed up. I'll get her to be my slave and she can do all sorts of things."

Why would anyone want to kidnap her if she was so messed up?

I mean if she was as described then why would she be wanted by anyone for anything?

1.much of what is described may be the result, not cause of, her ordeal
2. Freakshow mentality is hardly new to the human experience.