WEBVTT - Were Unicorns Always Sweet?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain stuff from how stuff works, Hey, brain

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<v Speaker 1>Stuff lorn vogelbamb here. In the nineteen twenties, archaeologists in

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<v Speaker 1>South Asia unearthed remnants of the Indus Valley civilization. It

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<v Speaker 1>was a thriving advanced culture in present day Pakistan and

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<v Speaker 1>India that disappeared around nine b c. E. Among its

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<v Speaker 1>artifacts are seal stones, which are tablets inscribed with symbols

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<v Speaker 1>and drawings. The Indus Script, which has yet to be cracked,

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<v Speaker 1>but least one etching, is easily identified. A four legged

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<v Speaker 1>animal with a single spiral horn protruding from its forehead,

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<v Speaker 1>The Indus unicorn isn't the creature of modern fairy tales.

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<v Speaker 1>It looks a lot like a single horned bulb that

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<v Speaker 1>some suggest it's actually a regular two horned bull. Depicted

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<v Speaker 1>in profile, the horn is usually curved to some degree,

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<v Speaker 1>and the hoofs and tail are bovine. The carvings show

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<v Speaker 1>folds of skin along the face and throat, and a

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<v Speaker 1>snout that is sometimes shortened square and other times almost

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<v Speaker 1>lama like, and it does slightly resemble an extinct bull

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<v Speaker 1>like single horned creature called the Siberian unicorn, but whether

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<v Speaker 1>it's based in myth or reality the last unicorn, it

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<v Speaker 1>is not, but neither is it the least graceful unicorn

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<v Speaker 1>in history. Around three, Italian explorer Marco Polo described seeing

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<v Speaker 1>an animal with the head of a wild boar, the

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<v Speaker 1>hair of a buffalo, the feet of an elephant, and

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<v Speaker 1>a long black horn. A few early versions of the

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<v Speaker 1>unicorn resemble the luminous horse like beings of modern myth.

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<v Speaker 1>Descriptions of the creature go back thousands of years in folklore,

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<v Speaker 1>both Asian and European, as well as in naturalist catalogs

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<v Speaker 1>and by some Christian translations the Bible. All of these

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<v Speaker 1>unicorns have a single horn, four legs, and a tail,

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<v Speaker 1>and that's about it for universal characteristics or near universal.

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<v Speaker 1>One Indian myth tells of a unicorn boy, the son

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<v Speaker 1>of a human, and a one horned antelope, but that's

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<v Speaker 1>now liar. The unicorn myth may have originated in sightings

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<v Speaker 1>or reports of exotic animals like the rhinoceros or Narwall's,

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<v Speaker 1>or of typically two horned animals that were just missing one.

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<v Speaker 1>The American Museum of Natural History hypothesizes that Marco Polo's

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<v Speaker 1>unicorn was a Sumatran rhinoceros native to Southeast Asia. A

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<v Speaker 1>Roman naturalist planted the Elder who described unicorns around sev

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<v Speaker 1>may have been describing the Indian rhinoceros. Early Asian unicorns

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<v Speaker 1>varied widely in physical appearance. In Chinese and Japanese folklore,

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<v Speaker 1>the unicorn often has a scaly or multicolored coat, a

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<v Speaker 1>flesh covered horn, the body of a deer, and the

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<v Speaker 1>tail of an ox. The head was sometimes dragon like.

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<v Speaker 1>In some myths, it's a harmless, solitary creature whose presence

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<v Speaker 1>portends good. In others, it portends death, and the Japanese

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<v Speaker 1>unicorn has the mystical ability to detect evil doers, and

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<v Speaker 1>upon detection, drives its horn through their hearts. Persian myths

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<v Speaker 1>describe a unicorn with three hooves on each leg, varying legends,

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<v Speaker 1>painted as a shape shifter, a ferocious warrior resembling a rhinoceros,

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<v Speaker 1>or a peaceful deer like creature. It can purify water

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<v Speaker 1>by dipping its horn into the liquid, at which point

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<v Speaker 1>all female creatures in the vicinity become pregnant. Versions of

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<v Speaker 1>European unicorns have a similar purification ability. Their horns were

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<v Speaker 1>said to detect and counteract poisons by contact. The no

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<v Speaker 1>resulting pregnancies are reported there. The horn was also thought

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<v Speaker 1>to heal and protect from disease. Beliefs like this led

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<v Speaker 1>to a strong European market for unicorn horns, and in

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<v Speaker 1>the Middle Ages, opportunistic sailors started selling narwhal tusks as

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<v Speaker 1>unicorn horns. Before that, according to the American Museum of

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<v Speaker 1>Natural History, European unicorns often had stubby or colored horns,

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<v Speaker 1>but after that the horns were long, white and spiraled

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<v Speaker 1>like a narwhal tusk. Western unicorn mythology brings us somewhat

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<v Speaker 1>closer to the modern myth. European unicorns often have white coats,

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<v Speaker 1>a horse's body, the hoofs and beard of a goat,

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<v Speaker 1>and the tail of a lion. These unicorns are nearly

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<v Speaker 1>impossible to catch, a trait credited to strength or general lusiveness,

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<v Speaker 1>but they do have a weakness. A virgin woman can

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<v Speaker 1>lower the European unicorn into the open. She seems to

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<v Speaker 1>entrance the creature, who may lay its head in her

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<v Speaker 1>lap by some accounts, suckle at her breast, leaving itself

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<v Speaker 1>vulnerable to capture by hunters waiting out of sight. This

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<v Speaker 1>association with the Virgin, along with reported biblical mentions and

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<v Speaker 1>the abilities to heal and counteract poison, led the medieval

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<v Speaker 1>Christian Church to cast the unicorn as a christ figure.

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<v Speaker 1>The creature thus increasingly came to represent purity and nobility,

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<v Speaker 1>likely contributing to modern representations of the unicorn as benevolent, regal, graceful,

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<v Speaker 1>and white. How it became the sparkly, smiling creature of

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<v Speaker 1>popular culture, as seen in the works of Lisa Frank

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<v Speaker 1>My Little Pony and the Whole Unicorns Farting Rainbows meme

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<v Speaker 1>thing is not entirely clear, but it probably has to

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<v Speaker 1>do with commercial value. Kids are drawn to unicorns, their

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<v Speaker 1>parents buy them unicorns. Single horned cameras that impale bad

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<v Speaker 1>people with their horns likely wouldn't fly with the six

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<v Speaker 1>year old set, or at least their parents might object.

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<v Speaker 1>Where the Indus Valley unicorn fits into known unicorn legend

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<v Speaker 1>remains a mystery. That its image appears on more than

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<v Speaker 1>a thousand seals recovered by archaeologists suggests that it was

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<v Speaker 1>highly valued. It may have been sacred, It may have

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<v Speaker 1>even been real, But the Indus unicorn will keep its

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<v Speaker 1>secrets until science finds the key to this ancient code.

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<v Speaker 1>Today's episode was written by Julia Layton and produced by

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<v Speaker 1>Tyler Clang. For more on this and lots of other

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<v Speaker 1>mythic topics, visit our home planet, has Stuff works dot com.