WE are tickled and amused by folklore and legends regarding people who are much smaller in size than us. Fairytales speak of many such creatures like Thumbelina, elves, etc. Then there are hobbits; innocent but imparting unique wisdom, hostile but friendly at times and dangerous but helpful when needed. They are creatures of fantasy, tiny people we love to read about or see in movies.

But how much reality is there in these tales of small-sized people? Were they real? Do they still exist in reality or just in the stories and myths of imaginative writers? We have here some very interesting stuff for you guys to look into and come to your own conclusions regarding these tiny humans. First let’s talk about the tiny skeleton found nearly a decade ago in Chile, in the Atacama Desert.

When we say tiny, we mean six inches long. And to top it off, it literally has an elongated skull just like an alien’s cone-shaped head that we see in pictures and movies. Recently, this skeleton has had its DNA tested by the Stanford University and the results show that it is very much a human and that of a six- to eight-year-old girl.

The only difference in its bone structure is that while we have 12 ribs, this skeleton has 10 ribs. Previously, it was believed that it was some kind of a premature baby or mutation, and some sceptics still think some kind of disease was responsible. But scientific evidence, according to experts, states that its strange and the small size is neither due to disease (called ‘Dwarfism) nor any physical deformity. It seems to be one of a kind and a unique species as stated to LiveScience. It has been more than eight years since they were discovered; the little people that once lived on the island named Flores in Indonesia still baffle researchers.

They are actually given the nickname of hobbits due to the very unusual type of body structure that is human-like, yet has its own peculiar features. A species that does not match accepted human evolution nor does it look like it was geographically in the right location where the bones were found.

Here are the facts; they are small humans but with certain body parts of their own. For example, their teeth were canine-like and were large like an animal. They had feet much larger than the appropriate size would have been to match their body-size. They were three feet in size but did not resemble pygmies; only one skull has been found which is the size of a grapefruit which experts estimate had a brain one third that of humans’ but they were skilled enough to make stone tools which were just like the ones found by archaeologists and that were made by humans with larger brain size. After all the research, these species found in 2003 have now been given their own name, “Homo Floresiensis”. They arrived on the island of Flores 880,000 years ago, much before their taller human cousins did!

Now we come to Nimerigar: a legendary race that is said to have lived in the Rocky Mountains in North America. The folktales told by the Native Shoshone tribe speak of an aggressive race of tiny people who shot small but poisoned arrows at anyone who threatened their homes. But where myth met reality was when in 1932 a 14-inch mummy was discovered in a cave is Wyoming in the Pedro Mountain Ranges. Nicknamed ‘Pedro’, this tiny human-like mummy was seven inches in sitting position with his arms crossed and sat on a small ledge in a room-like cave opening and estimated to be 14 inches when standing.

While digging for gold in October 1932 Cecil Mayne and Frank Carr blasted some thick rocks to make their way through only to find, to their utter surprise, that they had opened up a small room. The mummy was x-rayed in 1950 and showed to be that of a fully-grown 65 years old man. His head had been hit with a blunt instrument so was slightly flattened but even the fingernails were well preserved. It spoke of a legendary race that killed the very sick and mummified their remains. Many said it was a hoax till proper analysis was done.

Incidentally, the unique specimen was passed down in the family of the discoverer but is now in some unknown hands. But records of its discovery are available. Were there actual races of smaller versions of the human race? Or were they a people unique to their own separate species? As experts say, “not quite us”. The truth definitely is out there.