The slave story simply
does not fly on the basis of the full coat of hair and the oddities in
morphology certainly not seen in Africa except as rare oddities
themselves. Thus assigning these
characteristics to Rhodesian man or DNA to work with when we find strange
DNA. Perhaps the Almasty hybridized with
humanity or the Neanderthal to produce the Sasquatch. At the same time this does not exclude even a
third unknown hominid.
This material came by
way of Dale Drinnon’s site and he made the Rhodesian conjecture.
What it happening is
that DNA research is now beginning to succeed.
It is producing surprises and also confirming that hominids interbred
across pretty serious divergence to allow larger populations to aggressively
subsume smaller populations. In the case
of Zana, she was captured and made a sex slave of several of her captors almost
as a matter of course. This led to
several children and a presently living population of descendants.
This is why the many
subspecies of humanity have all largely disappeared as well while the
associated genetic material remains abroad in the land.
Sykes
on Almas Zana's DNA: Yes....and NO
The story of ‘Zana’ the Wild Woman, as Explained
by DNA analysis
The following news story is reproduced under the
terms of the definition of Fair Use. Thank You.,
Published: 01/11/2013
Bryan Sykes, Professor of Human Genetics at the
University of Oxford, has carried out DNA tests on saliva samples taken from
descendants of Zana – a so-called ‘wild woman’ captured in the late 19th
century in southern Russia, who local people believe was an ‘Almasty’.
Professor Sykes’ research (part of a worldwide analysis of alleged Bigfoot samples), has yielded a remarkable result: that Zana’s ancestry was 100% Sub-Saharan African and that she was most probably a slave brought to the region by the ruling Ottomans.
Professor Sykes’ research (part of a worldwide analysis of alleged Bigfoot samples), has yielded a remarkable result: that Zana’s ancestry was 100% Sub-Saharan African and that she was most probably a slave brought to the region by the ruling Ottomans.
To answer the riddle and establish what species she belonged to, Professor Sykes has tested samples from six of Zana’s living descendants. He has also recovered DNA from a tooth taken from the skull of one of her sons, Khwit. Such work is highly specialized and Sykes was the first geneticist ever to extract DNA from ancient bone.
But the big surprise in Sykes’ results was that Zana’s DNA is not Caucasian at all, but African. Khwit’s tooth sample confirms her maternal African ancestry and the saliva tests on the six living descendants show that they all contain African DNA in the right proportions for Zana to have been genetically 100% sub-Saharan African.
“The most obvious solution that springs to mind is
that Zana or her ancestors were brought from Africa to Abkhazia as slaves, when
it was part of the slave trading Ottoman Empire, to work as servants or
labourers,” says Professor Sykes. “While the Russians ended slavery when they
took over the region in the late 1850s, some Africans remained behind. Was Zana
one of them, who was living wild in the forest when she was captured?“
But that theory would not explain her extraordinary features, described by reliable eyewitnesses. There is an even more intriguing alternative theory. Having carefully studied the skull of Zana's son, Khwit, Professor Sykes believes there are some unusual morphological skull features – such as very wide eye sockets, an elevated brow ridge and what appears to be an additional bone at the back of the skull – that could suggest ancient, as opposed to modern, human origins.
And Sykes has raised the bold theoretical possibility that Zana could be a remnant of an earlier human migration out of Africa, perhaps tens of thousands, of years ago. If correct, Zana could be evidence of a hitherto unknown human 'tribe', dating from a distant time when the human species was still evolving and whose ancestors were forced into remote regions, like the Caucasus mountains, by later waves of modern humans coming out of Africa.
One of the Russian Almasty hunters, Dr Igor Burtsev, offers testimony in the Channel 4 documentary that may back this theory up. He unearthed Khwit's skull in 1971 and a few years later, showed it to a group of anthropologists in Moscow. They were, he says 'amazed', and identified a mix of 'primitive' and 'progressive' (modern) features in the skull. Lacking the scientific tools at Sykes' disposal, they could take it no further. Now Sykes is able to propose the theory with some confidence.
It is only a theory at this stage - and a bold and speculative one at that. But Professor Sykes intends to study it much further before reaching his final conclusions.
Zana’s story will feature in Bigfoot Files on Channel 4 on Sunday, November 3rd at 8.00pm. In the programme Mark Evans also meets former heavyweight boxing champion of the world, seven foot tall Nikolai Valuev, who admits to having a bit of a Neanderthal look himself. He is now Duma Deputy (the equivalent of an MP) for Kemerovo in Siberia and fascinated in Almasty. The programme also investigates some of the other claimed sightings of the creatures in Russia.
The series, made by Icon Films, examines the stories behind famous Bigfoot sightings and Mark Evans meets people who believe passionately that other species of hominid exist. A book by Professor Sykes about his research The Yeti Enigma: A DNA Detective Story will be published by Coronet in Spring 2014.\
The programme is available to view and there are images available.
Tip: Matthew Robinson
Zana’s son Khwit
[CRITICISM: The
definite statement that the DNA was Not Caucasian at all but was Sub-Saharan
African carries a somewhat different interpretation than Sykes has stated.
Recently there have been several news stories about the DNA series which is
unique to Africans and NOT shared with the Out of Africa crowd (especially
Cauasians) at all. Such stories have been reprinted at Frontiers of
Anthropology recently.
The gist of the
theory is that the Africans inside Africa were breeding with a local distinct
(and now extinct) variety of humans unknown outside of Africa and the inference
has been made that this was "Rhodesian Man" or the local variety
of H. heidelbergensis /H. sapiens heidelbergensis instead of having
anything to do with the Neanderthals or Denisovans.
Saying that
Zana's DNA was of a special kind of DNA NOT found in Caucasians might well
imply the exact oppositre of what he is claimimg: Zana could be a relic
"Rhodesian man" and the structure of Khvit's head and face definitely
has that appearance.-DD]
Additional Report
Published: 01/11/2013
A leading British geneticist, who recently found the
DNA key that could answer the mystery of the ‘Yeti’, has now solved the riddle
of Russia’s own Bigfoot, ‘Zana’.
Bryan Sykes, Professor of Human Genetics at the
University of Oxford, has carried out DNA tests on saliva samples taken from
descendants of Zana - a so-called ‘wild woman’ captured in the late
19th century in southern Russia, who local people believe was an
‘Almasty’.
Professor Sykes’ research (part of a worldwide
analysis of alleged Bigfoot samples), has yielded a remarkable result: that
Zana's ancestry was 100% Sub-Saharan African and that she was most probably a
slave brought to the region by the ruling Ottomans.
His findings feature in a new Channel 4 documentary
series, Bigfoot Files (November 3rd), presented by Mark Evans, who is
on a global quest to unlock the real story of Bigfoot.
Zana’s story is extraordinary. She is said to have
been captured in the forests of Abkhazia, a remote part of Russia’s Caucasus
region, in the 1870s. Imprisoned, it's said, for two decades by a local
landowner, she was described by eyewitnesses as being ‘very big, strong, her
whole body covered with hair’. Chillingly, Zana had four children with local
men.
Russia's 'Almasty Hunters' have been obsessed with
her story for over half a century and have always believed that Zana could be a
surviving Neanderthal, the human-like species that is thought to have died out
tens of thousands of years ago.
To answer the riddle and establish what species she
belonged to, Professor Sykes has tested samples from six of Zana's living
descendants. He has also recovered DNA from a tooth taken from the skull of one
of her sons, Khwit. Such work is highly specialized and Sykes was the first
geneticist ever to extract DNA from ancient bone.
The results are complex and fascinating. First, they
show that Zana was, in fact, no more Neanderthal than many of the rest of
modern humans. When the Neanderthal genome was sequenced in 2010 it became
clear that Europeans and Asians contain around 2 to 4% of Neanderthal DNA;
almost certainly the result of interbreeding.
But the big surprise in Sykes' results was that
Zana's DNA is not Caucasian at all, but African. Khwit's tooth sample confirms
her maternal African ancestry and the saliva tests on the six living
descendants show that they all contain African DNA in the right proportions for
Zana to have been genetically 100% sub-Saharan African.
“The most obvious solution that springs to mind is
that Zana or her ancestors were brought from Africa to Abkhazia as slaves, when
it was part of the slave trading Ottoman Empire, to work as servants or
labourers,” says Professor Sykes. “While the Russians ended slavery when they
took over the region in the late 1850s, some Africans remained behind. Was Zana
one of them, who was living wild in the forest when she was captured?“
But that theory would not explain her extraordinary
features, described by reliable eyewitnesses. There is an even more intriguing
alternative theory. Having carefully studied the skull of Zana's son, Khwit,
Professor Sykes believes there are some unusual morphological skull features –
such as very wide eye sockets, an elevated brow ridge and what appears to be an
additional bone at the back of the skull – that could suggest ancient, as
opposed to modern, human origins.
And Sykes has raised the bold theoretical
possibility that Zana could be a remnant of an earlier human migration out of
Africa, perhaps tens of thousands, of years ago. If correct, Zana could be
evidence of a hitherto unknown human 'tribe', dating from a distant time when
the human species was still evolving and whose ancestors were forced into
remote regions, like the Caucasus mountains, by later waves of modern humans
coming out of Africa.
One of the Russian Almasty hunters, Dr Igor Burtsev,
offers testimony in the Channel 4 documentary that may back this theory up. He
unearthed Khwit's skull in 1971 and a few years later, showed it to a group of
anthropologists in Moscow. They were, he says 'amazed', and identified a mix of
'primitive' and 'progressive' (modern) features in the skull. Lacking the
scientific tools at Sykes' disposal, they could take it no further. Now Sykes
is able to propose the theory with some confidence.
It is only a theory at this stage - and a bold and
speculative one at that. But Professor Sykes intends to study it much further
before reaching his final conclusions.
Zana’s story will feature in Bigfoot
Files on Channel 4 on Sunday, November 3rd at 8.00pm. In the programme
Mark Evans also meets former heavyweight boxing champion of the world, seven
foot tall Nikolai Valuev, who admits to having a bit of a Neanderthal look
himself. He is now Duma Deputy (the equivalent of an MP) for Kemerovo in
Siberia and fascinated in Almasty. The programme also investigates some of the
other claimed sightings of the creatures in Russia.
The series, made by Icon Films, examines the stories
behind famous Bigfoot sightings and Mark Evans meets people who believe
passionately that other species of hominid exist. A book by Professor Sykes
about his research The Yeti Enigma: A DNA Detective Story will be
published by Coronet in Spring 2014.
The programme is available to view and there are
images available.
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