Archaeology & History

Legends revisited: the city of little people

By T.K. Randall
July 7, 2014 ·  16 comments

Iran has a rich archaeological history. Image Credit: CC BY 2.0 Jeanne Menj The mummy, which was found in the ancient Persian village of Makhunik ( modern day Iran ), caused quite a stir when it was first revealed almost 10 years ago.

Its size, coupled with the alleged discovery of architecture that seemed to have been built by a people of a smaller stature, lead to rumors of an ancient city populated entirely by little people.As time passed however the claims became embroiled in controversy as experts questioned many aspects of the discoveries. The excavation that uncovered the mummy and the ruins turned out to have been part of an illegal operation and everything from the date of the discoveries to the age of the mummy was called in to question.

Upon further investigation no evidence of the abnormally small buildings could be found and the mummy, far from being an adult, turned out to be little more than a baby. Anthropological studies also dated the mummy to just 400 years ago, putting to rest the concept of a 5,000-year-old dwarven city.

In the end the incident turned out to be little more than a prime example of media sensationalism based on false information, rumor and misrepresentation.

Source: The Epoch Times | Comments (16)

Tags: Dwarf, Little People, Iran, Makhunik