The Mythology and Folklore Database
I16 - Physical abnormalities of the first humans.
Please log on to view the narratives.
Motif Summary - Motifs with Simlar Dispersals - Map of Myth Distribution - List of Traditions - Myths |
Source Data from Berezkin's Analytics Catalogue, if using this data please acknowledge and link to it here:
Ю.Е. Березкин, Е.Н. Дувакин. Тематическая классификация и распределение фольклорно-мифологических мотивов по ареалам. Аналитический каталог.
Summary of Motif
Early humans have no mouth, anus, or genitals, and their women are unable to give birth.Berezkin category: Supernatural objects, objects and creatures
This is of motif type Cosmology and etiology and is part group 5, Origin of human beings, ethnic groups, etiology of human anatomy, strange body configuration, ways of behavior, marriages before the establishment of the present norms
Top 10 Motifs with similar dispersal patterns
| Motif | Similarity | Motif Summary |
|---|---|---|
| L13 | 93.41% | People feed a dangerous creature, or it grows on its own in a man-made enclosure. Once it becomes big and strong, it starts to destroy people. |
| L14 | 93.08% | People bring a small creature (usually a worm or reptile) into their home and raise it, or it settles into a man-made dwelling on its own. The creature turns into something terrifying or magnificent. See motif L13 (raised monster attacks people). |
| A11A | 92.96% | The visible sun or moon are their eyes; if the eyes of the luminaries were not damaged, it would be much brighter and hotter. |
| I17 | 91.06% | Creatures without mouths, anuses, or genitals, unable to give birth, live underground, in the sky, across the sea, or in certain areas. (Traditions describing women unable to give birth are marked with an asterisk*). |
| E1A | 90.63% | The first humans are made of fragile materials (clay, wax, fire, honey, etc.) and prove to be unviable. |
| I43A | 90.63% | A giant reptile, serpent, fish, or chain of fish stretches across the earth and/or supports the sky. Usually associated with the Milky Way, sometimes with a rainbow. |
| G13B | 90.60% | Before the advent of cultivated plants, people ate mushrooms. Creatures of a non-human nature feed on mushrooms. Mushrooms are imaginary, inferior food. |
| I14 | 90.26% | Creatures without an anal opening are described. |
| I31 | 89.71% | In the afterlife, the souls of the dead are met by a pair of mythological characters – a man and a woman, or the master of the dead appears to women in female form and to men in male form. |
| I43B | 89.63% | The Milky Way is a reptile, fish or chain of fish. |
See more...
Please log on to view the narratives.
Map of Motif Dispersal
Click here for a Buckminster Fuller Airocean / Dymaxion Projection map
Drag the map around by clicking and using the mouse, use the wheel to zoom.
Click on an option below for one of three map textures available:
This motif has been recorded in 35 traditions: Bemba (Wemba, Babemba; incl Ambo, Lala, Lamba, Bisa), Holoholo, Kaonde, Papua-NewGuinea Highland Papuans:Trans New Guinea & unclassified:Chimbu,Gimi,KaugelHuli,Gadsup,Kuman,Kutubu,Foi (Foe),Kyaka,Kamano (Kafe),Mawatta,Kukukuku (=Anga,=Sambia;Manki,Nauti,Ejuti),Baruya,Kewa,Tembregak,Menya,Melpa,Wiru,Pondoma, Sepik-Ramu stock: Abelam, Yatmul, Aibom, Ayom (incl Tembregak, Asai-river pygmies), Tangu, Porapora (Ambakich), Rao and other groups of Middle Ramu and Upper Keram River tribes; Kwanga, Watam, Kaian, Gamei, Awar; Kire (Lower Ramu), Tikopia, Bellona, Rennell, partly Aneytium, Futuna (=Erronan, not to be mixed with Futuna in Western Polynesia), Vaeaka-Taumato, incl Matema, Nifeloli, Nukapu, Nupani, Pileni, Hawaii, Marshall Islands, incl Ailinglapalap, Arno, Jaluit, Kili, Lae, Maloelap, Majuro, Ratak, Wotho, Ujae, Jaluit (=Jalooj), Namdrik, Kayan, Bahau, Kenja, Aoheng, Punan (Bukat, Basap, Oloh Ot, etc); "Klemantan", Khmer, Sora (Savara, Saora), Parenga, Eastern Arunachal Pradesh: Abor (incl Minyong, Shimong, Padam, Pasi, Panggi), Apa Tani (Apatani), Bori, Bugun, Dafla (=Nyishi, Nisi, Nishing, incl Tagin), Gallong (=Galo, Adi), Mishmi, Maria, Muria, and other South-Central Dravidians: Binjhwar, Bacop, Bhattra, Bom, Jhoria (=Jhodia), Gadaba (in Koraput, neighbors of Munda-speaking Gadaba), Duruwa (Parji), Mehtar; Pardhan, Southern Selkups, Chukchi, Tahltan, Tanana, Blackfoot, Nez Perce, Karok, Yurok, Aztec; Aztec and Teotihuacan iconography, Tzotzil, Sibundoy: Kamsa, Ingano (Inga), Guajiro, Yabarana, Sanema, Pemon: Arekuna (incl. Kamarakoto), Taulipang (Taurepan), Waorani, Shuar, Achuar (Shiwiar), Aguaruna, Huambiza, Urarina, Urubu (Urubu-Kaapor), Amahuaca, Cashinahua, Sharanahua, Yaminahua, Yawanahua, Capanahua), Tupari, Makurap, Sakirap, Ajuru (Wayoro), Botocudo, Lele, Tobanga