"Hobbits" In Sardinia

[DaleCoz]

This is the Alternate History background for my novel "All Timelines Lead to Rome", due out September 30th of this year:

Most of you have heard about the Flores "Hobbits"--tiny, primitive sort of humans that supposedly survived on the Indonesian island of Flores until around 12,000 years ago. The AH for "All Timelines" has a similar species of primitive humans arising on one of the Mediterranean islands, probably Sardinia. That part is pretty plausible and may have actually happened.

I'll get back to that in a bit, but now comes the hard part: All of the big Mediterranean islands were settled by Neolithic farmers from the Middle East around 9,000 to 10,000 years ago. In the real world, any primitive humans that may have existed on those islands were either wiped out or absorbed by the influx of farmers. However, some smart Neolithic farmers might well have decided that the primitive little people they found on one of the islands (call it Sardinia for reasons that I'll talk about later) would make really good slaves.

"Hobbit" slaves become commonplace in the interior of the island, but have little impact outside of it for the next several thousand years. Historically, the interior of Sardinia developed its own distinctive culture from the initial Neolithic farmers and that culture remained in control of the island until Carthage took at least partial control not long before the first Punic War. In this alternate time-line, not much other than a little population of semi-human slaves changed before Rome took over Sardinia after the first Punic war. Carthage might export a few of the 'hobbits' to North Africa, but not much else would change.

At this point I can see the "Butterfly posse" mounting up and getting ready to charge in. I'm agnostic on indirect butterflies, at least in terms of their ability to change major things about a culture with no direct contact--ie they could almost certainly change the genetic composition of the players but I'm not convinced that they would necessarily change the big patterns of history. More to the point, I don't feel they should be used as a club to cut off otherwise interesting lines of alternate history speculation, which is often how they are used in this and similar forums. If you want to mentally substitute "entities that play approximately the same roles as Carthage and Rome" in when I say Carthage and Rome, feel free.

In any case, Rome takes over Sardinia and gradually finds more and more uses for the Hobbits, until they become a major factor in Roman life, displacing human slaves for many functions. A few hundred years later, hobbits spread across the ancient world, across the middle east, to India, China and even Japan and the Indonesian islands.

[Elfwine]

Wouldn't there being a race of "hobbits" on Sardinia that were found to make good slaves have an impact beyond Sardinia?

Not by mere butterflies but simply because something like that would be well, something useful to the Sardinians, and influence those who dealt with them?

Trying to sort out how this would matter, and that's the first step, at least to me.

Also: Posse, not not pose.

[Faeelin]

I'm a little unclear on why these slaves would be more useful than humans. They'd be homo erectus, and so probably a little dumber, and weaker, because they can't perform as much manual labor as a human, right?

[Monty Burns]

Originally Posted by Elfwine

Wouldn't there being a race of "hobbits" on Sardinia that were found to make good slaves have an impact beyond Sardinia?

Not by mere butterflies but simply because something like that would be well, something useful to the Sardinians, and influence those who dealt with them?

I'm not sure whether those slaves would be that useful. They are weaker than ordinary humans and would need special installations from housing to tools and everything. Probably they are also less intelligent. And I'm not even sure whether supplying them would be cheaper - smaller "animals" often have comparably higher energy needs thus decreasing the relative advantage. Rather than have them as slaves, what about assigning them some religious purpose (traditional temple servants or the like) or having them as status symbols of the rich (showing that you're rich by having a slave that's valuable since he's from a small population but still of less use than ordinary slaves).

Another problem: to keep them surviving, they must be distinct enough a species to not be able to interbred with ordinary humans (no matter how they look, sombody will try...). Otherwise, they'd just vanish genetically in the population of Homo sapiens. Given your POD probably long before alt-Rome or alt-Carthago come up.

[Lysandros Aikiedes]

Given their diminutive size, some might view them as pets rather than as a source of labour. Although they would have to be abducted at a young age to tame them.

[DaleCoz]

For fiction it would probably be okay to hand-wave Sardinian "Hobbits" into existence as my one suspension of disbelief, but they're actually surprisingly feasible.

The requirements for primitive humans surviving on an island: (1) It needs to be an "oceanic island", which basically means it stays isolated from the mainland during the peak of the ice ages. Otherwise whatever humans were on the mainland would flood in whenever the ocean went down enough that the island reattached to the mainland. Sardinia fits that criteria, as does Crete and (I think) Cyprus. (2) Humans had to be in the vicinity early enough to get to the island at a primitive stage. Humans have been in Europe (at least in Spain) for around a million years, possibly a bit longer. That puts them in the H. erectus stage, though fairly late in that species' reign. Human fossils from very early H. erectus have been found in ex-Soviet Georgia and if they got to Europe at that stage they would be better candidates for becoming "hobbits." (3) The island needs to be big enough to sustain a breeding population of humans through changing climates and minor catastrophes. The bigger the island, the better the odds of survival. Sardinia is a good-sized island and may connect with Corsica during Ice Ages(4) It needs to be close enough to the mainland that humans can reach it with very primitive technology. Sardinia is probably barely visible from the mainland when Ice Ages are at their height and the oceans are at their lowest point.

Is there any evidence that pre-modern humans reached any of the Mediterranean islands historically? Some. Neanderthal-type tools have been found on Crete, dating back about a hundred-thousand years. Primitive tools of an odd design have been found on Sardinia. I'm not sure of the date there.

Another piece of indirect evidence humans might have been in Sardinia early on: On most islands that aren't attached to the mainland at times, the animals are a hodgepodge of types that somehow accidentally made it there. Large predators generally either don't make it to the island or die out because they can't keep a breeding population. As a result, normal prey animals like deer don't have to be able to run fast and they lose the ability to do so in favor of a slower but more energy-efficient gait. That happened on most of the oceanic Mediterranean islands, but not on Sardinia. Something was apparently hunting deer there, and apparently no known predator on the island was big enough to do that. Primitive humans would be a logical candidate. They would be able to survive when pure carnivores couldn't because they're omnivorous, smart and adaptable.

Several decades ago scientists found two pieces of a jawbone on Sardinia from the 10k-15k years ago ranges and claimed that they were outside the range of variation of modern humans. They speculated that the jawbones were from some kind of local human variant--Neanderthals or some kind of highly adapted off-shoot of modern humans. The people involved later withdrew the claim that the jawbones were outside the range of modern humans, and as far as I know, no further human bones from before the Neolithic have been found in Sardinia.

I wouldn't be at all surprised to see science follow science fiction here, and discover remains of "hobbit-like" critters on one or several of the Mediterranean islands.

[Elfwine]

Originally Posted by Monty Burns

I'm not sure whether those slaves would be that useful. (snip.)

The other half of the problem.

I think this is an interesting idea, but it may be one of those interesting-but-not-entirely-workable kind of interesting ideas.

DaleCoz: All very interesting, but I'm not sure what you're trying to say here beyond what you said in the first post.

[DaleCoz]

Originally Posted by Elfwine

Wouldn't there being a race of "hobbits" on Sardinia that were found to make good slaves have an impact beyond Sardinia?

Not by mere butterflies but simply because something like that would be well, something useful to the Sardinians, and influence those who dealt with them?

Trying to sort out how this would matter, and that's the first step, at least to me.

I'm visualizing them gradually becoming more useful due to selective breeding, with keeping them initially being a quaint tradition, maybe even partly religious, but gradually becoming economically important with the development of new and more useful breeds.

Originally Posted by Elfwine

Also: Posse, not not pose.

Fixed. I don't know if I was subconsciously thinking 'poser' or if I was just sleepy. Probably sleepy.

[DaleCoz]

Originally Posted by Elfwine

The other half of the problem.

I think this is an interesting idea, but it may be one of those interesting-but-not-entirely-workable kind of interesting ideas.

DaleCoz: All very interesting, but I'm not sure what you're trying to say here beyond what you said in the first post.

That was supposed to be post two, but it took longer to enter than expected, so it came after a lot of other posts and looked unresponsive.

[DaleCoz]

Originally Posted by Faeelin

I'm a little unclear on why these slaves would be more useful than humans. They'd be homo erectus, and so probably a little dumber, and weaker, because they can't perform as much manual labor as a human, right?

Dumber, yes. Weaker, almost certainly no. If anything they would be considerably stronger on a pound-for-pound basis.

A couple of advantages: (1) Probable shorter generations, so faster breeding of desirable characteristics (2) More control over their reproduction.

I'm visualizing them being functionally more like extra-intelligent dogs than like human slaves, though their semi-humanity makes that morally very ambiguous.

[DaleCoz]

Originally Posted by Monty Burns

I'm not sure whether those slaves would be that useful. They are weaker than ordinary humans and would need special installations from housing to tools and everything. Probably they are also less intelligent. And I'm not even sure whether supplying them would be cheaper - smaller "animals" often have comparably higher energy needs thus decreasing the relative advantage. Rather than have them as slaves, what about assigning them some religious purpose (traditional temple servants or the like) or having them as status symbols of the rich (showing that you're rich by having a slave that's valuable since he's from a small population but still of less use than ordinary slaves).

I don't visualize them as weaker. Probably the opposite on a pound for pound basis even initially, and with selective breeding they would become far stronger than modern humans. They would be less intelligent, closer to chimp than man. The Romans eventually develop a wide range of breeds, including some that function as status symbols.

Originally Posted by Monty Burns

Another problem: to keep them surviving, they must be distinct enough a species to not be able to interbred with ordinary humans (no matter how they look, sombody will try...). Otherwise, they'd just vanish genetically in the population of Homo sapiens. Given your POD probably long before alt-Rome or alt-Carthago come up.

Yes, they would have to be genetically distinct, with no fertile off-spring possible between them and humans, or at least much reduced chance of fertile off-spring. I have them being totally incapable of conceiving with humans, though Romans have a breed who are functionally prostitutes. Again with the moral repugnance.

[The Kiat]

Why hobbits? With the exception of Kender, all halflings are dorks. Why not something cool, like dwarves?

[Elfwine]

Pound per pound they may be stronger, but their size relative to what we think of as "normal humans" may still put them at quite a disadvantage.

[DaleCoz]

Originally Posted by Elfwine

Pound per pound they may be stronger, but their size relative to what we think of as "normal humans" may still put them at quite a disadvantage.

Modern studies show that chimpanzees average around twice as strong pound for pound as modern humans. If the Sardinia hobbits were on the chimp side of the set of mutations that made us weaker, an 80 pound "hobbit" would be as strong as a 160 pound man--and that's before ten thousand years of selective breeding for the 'hobbits'. He wouldn't be able to run as far, a fact that plays a role at one point in the novel.

[DaleCoz]

Here is a brief excerpt from the novel that gives some idea how I see the "hobbits" functioning in pseudo-Roman society. The group of our-timeline people visiting Rome have nicknamed the near-humans "pixies", though some breeds are five feet tall and weigh well over a hundred pounds.


----



The next morning Jeni went into the city with Adam, Bernhardt and three of his men. Their host, Severus, insisted that they ride in elaborate gold-encrusted chairs carried by pixies. Two short burly pixies almost as wide in the shoulders as they were tall hoisted each end of the two poles, moving so smoothly that the chairs almost floated. Physically comfortable. Morally? Not so much. At least the chair gave her a good view of the city.
The raw sewage odor of the harbor faded as they rode inland. The houses became larger and more ornate as the sewer odor faded, replaced by that of unwashed bodies with a distinctive but not unpleasant odor. The pixies smelled different, with a vague hint of spices to them.Throngs of pixies packed the streets, making up more than half of the crowd. The streets grew cleaner but more jammed and noisier as the harbor odor faded.


“They breed pixies for different hair and skin colors,” Adam said. “Though I haven’t seen anything darker than light brown in the skin color department. About as dark as you.”


Jeni noticed quite a few pixies with red hair and green eyes along with a high percentage of albinos. The breeding seemed to be for varying amounts of hair too, from entirely hairless to thick hair of various colors all over the visible part of their bodies.


Pixie prostitutes, both male and female, lounged in front of a temple Jeni recognized.


Still worshipping the old Roman Gods.

Another breed of pixies, almost five feet tall and muscular, bustled along effortlessly carrying seemingly impossible loads on their backs. Others carried chairs like the ones Jeni and the men rode, bearing men and women wearing elaborate togas. Troops of taller, slightly less robust but even tougher-looking security pixies surrounded the chairs, accompanied by stern-faced middle-aged men in togas, men who reminded Jeni of Bernhardt.


The number of security pixies in a retinue seemed to be a sign of status. By that measure, Severus was high in the local hierarchy. His security detail forced pedestrians to the brick sidewalks and made other big retinues move aside to let him pass; not exactly winning him friends, judging from the glares they got.


One of Bernhardt’s men gestured at the security detail. “Man, I’d hate to have to fight those suckers. You can almost smell the testosterone from here. I’d so like to see a couple of them in the NFL. Just for the Eagles though.”


Jeni said, “They’re not that big. Maybe five feet tall.”


“A pit bull isn’t that big either. Any one of those guys, or whatever you call them, could probably make your average NFL linebacker cry like a baby.”

[Flashman]

Pretty good, though half the crowd consisting of Pixies? Seems like a bit much. Also, im not so sure about the name pixie... It is a celtic naem and probably wont make it down to the Empire.... Maybe something like Nymph?

[mrmandias]

I'm not sure about security pixies and a bunch of that other stuff.

If animals are too intelligent, they probably can't be domesticated very well. If pixies are bright enough to wander around loose and to work security, they are too bright to be controlled effectively, imho. Dogs are probably at a sweet spot. But if the *mediterranean humans have developed techniques adequate to domesticate creatures with near-human intelligence, the same techniques would probably work to some extent on regular humans. Human slavery and social control in general would probably be much more effective than OTL. Which would cause vast, vast quantities of social change (none of it desirable).

If pixies are on the chimp side of the muscular split, they are probably too aggressive to be domesticated. My suspicion is that the greater density of musculature is closely connected to greater aggressiveness and diminished sociability.

Finally, if pixie breeds are aggressive enough to work security, can they really be tame enough to be domesticated? I have my doubts. OTL, very aggressive dog breeds are hard to control and require a lot of specialized techniques--plus their aggression is managed using pack and territorial modules that don't seem to exist in humanoids--and these dog breeds are less dangerous than armed near-human intelligences with super strength.

[edvardas]

khoisards

I once read something from an old National Geographic map. "Sardonic comes from the way the Sards laughed as they shot you with their poisoned arrows. They used poisoned arrows like Khoi and their clicks would sound like laughing.

[DaleCoz]

Originally Posted by mrmandias

I'm not sure about security pixies and a bunch of that other stuff.

If animals are too intelligent, they probably can't be domesticated very well. If pixies are bright enough to wander around loose and to work security, they are too bright to be controlled effectively, imho. Dogs are probably at a sweet spot.

A wolf is plenty smart enough and powerful enough to be dangerous. The key to domesticating them was to select for individuals who became sexually mature but remained socially immature--essentially grown-up puppies that are less likely to challenge their master for the alpha role. The key is to do that while still retaining aggressiveness and strength. Not easy with dogs. Not easy with "hobbits", but I don't consider it impossible or even harder than with dogs. The key isn't intelligence. It's the instinct for dominance.

Originally Posted by mrmandias

But if the *mediterranean humans have developed techniques adequate to domesticate creatures with near-human intelligence, the same techniques would probably work to some extent on regular humans. Human slavery and social control in general would probably be much more effective than OTL. Which would cause vast, vast quantities of social change (none of it desirable).

Ability to domesticate regular humans would indeed be a very bad thing. Actually domesticating these semi-humans also turns out to be very bad also. The difference is in the ability to control breeding and the shorter generations of the semi-humans.

Originally Posted by mrmandias

If pixies are on the chimp side of the muscular split, they are probably too aggressive to be domesticated. My suspicion is that the greater density of musculature is closely connected to greater aggressiveness and diminished sociability.

My understanding is that our wimpy musculature is an adaptation that made our ancestors better at endurance hunting--basically chasing an animal with a team of hunters until it became exhausted. If the strength was linked to aggressiveness it wouldn't occur in the laid-back pygmy chimps, and it does.

Originally Posted by mrmandias

Finally, if pixie breeds are aggressive enough to work security, can they really be tame enough to be domesticated? I have my doubts. OTL, very aggressive dog breeds are hard to control and require a lot of specialized techniques--plus their aggression is managed using pack and territorial modules that don't seem to exist in humanoids--and these dog breeds are less dangerous than armed near-human intelligences with super strength.

The key thing is breeding the drive to become alpha out of them without breeding out the willingness to defend those they perceive as being in their social group. Tame wolves are dangerous because they'll eventually try to become alpha. Breeds with a lot of wolf in them are less dangerous, but still somewhat dangerous. Samoyeds will challenge you unless you keep them busy and tired, for example.

In dogs, ironically, little breeds are far more likely to attack because there aren't the strict controls to keep aggressive animals from breeding.

[DaleCoz]

Another excerpt that gives some other views of how Romans use the "hobbits":

The only sign of imperial or provincial interest that Jeni saw was the quiet presence in Severus’s compound of a thin man accompanied by a frail old pixie in a plain black tunic with an eagle standard prominent on back and front. The man occasionally pointed at some part of the compound and the pixie immediately drew a sketch of the scene the man had pointed to. Jeni caught a glimpse of one of the drawings and was stunned at the detail the pixie was able to achieve in a few minutes. She had Adam ask Severus about the sketches and was rewarded with a startled look and a comment about not looking into the eyes of the emperor.

Adam was able to buy a few sketches of a somewhat lesser but still stunning quality from his host. The Eyes appeared to be a separate breed of pixie, available to anyone with enough money, but with the most capable reserved for the emperor and his court. Eyes were one of many breeds they saw around the city. Some of the breeds were utilitarian—guards, beasts of burden, prostitutes, scribes, messengers, or more rarely, helpers for blind or lame Romans. Others seemed to be purely status symbols—the Roman equivalent of lapdogs. Jeni also heard whispers of illegal breeds used by the Roman underworld as stealthy thieves and assassins, but saw no evidence of their existence.

In the evenings, Severus brought in singers and other musicians, all pixies. Female pixies hit inhumanly high notes while male pixies hit high pure notes with a power that no human male could have matched. One evening one of the sailors leaned over to Jeni and said, “I can’t imagine any guy hitting notes that high.”

Adam grinned. “I’m guessing that they aren’t quite male. Not anymore anyway.”

“Oh, that’s not good. At least they’re not human.”

“They used to do it to human boys back in the Middle Ages,” Adam said. “Catch them before they hit puberty and snip. The voices got stronger but they never got deep like normal guy voices. That supposedly made for voices like nothing you’ve ever heard—like nothing we would have ever heard if we hadn’t come here.” Adam unobtrusively made video and audio recordings of the performances.