Between Ape and Human

A remarkable investigation into the hominoids of Flores Island, their place on the evolutionary spectrum—andwhether or not they still survive.While doing fieldwork on the remote Indonesian island of Flores, anthropologist Gregory Forth came across people talking about half-apelike, half-humanlike creatures that once lived in a cave on the slopes of a nearby volcano. Over the years he continued to record what locals had to say about these mystery hominoids while searching for ways to explain them as imaginary symbols of the wild or other cultural representations. Then along came the ‘hobbit’. In 2003, several skeletons of a small-statured early human species alongside stone tools and animal remains were excavated in a cave in western Flores. NamedHomo floresiensis, this ancient hominin wasinitially believed to have lived until as recently as 12,000 years ago—possibly overlapping with the appearance ofHomo sapienson Flores. In view of this timing and the striking resemblance offloresiensisto the mystery creatures described by the islanders, Forth began to think about the creatures as possiblyreflecting a real species, either now extinct but retained in ‘culturalmemory’ or even still surviving. He began to investigate reports from the Lio region of the island where locals described 'ape-men' as still living. Dozens claimed to have even seen them. InBetween Ape and Human,we follow Forth on the trail of this mystery hominoid, and the space they occupy in islanders’ culture as bothnatural creatures and as supernatural beings. In a narrative filledwith adventure, Lio culture and language, zoology and natural history,Forth comes to a startling and controversial conclusion. Unique, important, and thought-provoking,this bookwill appeal to anyone interested in human evolution, the survival of species (including ourown) and how humans mightrelate to ‘not-quite-human’ animals.Between Ape and Humanisessential reading for all those interested in cryptozoology, and it isthe only firsthand investigation by a leading anthropologist into the possible survival of a primitive species of human into recent times—and its coexistence with modern humans.