00:00.00 Alex And we're back with archeo animals. This is up so 62 the creatures of medieval maps and beastiearies and right before we hit up the beastieries. We will take a look at one last sea creature the ichthyocentaur. 00:17.94 Cpt Granarius Um, yes, um, he's living his best life. 00:20.53 Alex Yeah, um I mean dudes rock you know, like there's luck going on again I didn't notice the first time like I just noticed now he's got like like like chicken claws or something. 00:26.75 Cpt Granarius Count. 00:37.60 Cpt Granarius Yes, I guess he's got like 2 sets of arms. He's got his human arms and then when the I guess the animal sort of body starts from the waist down. He's also got some ah talents. Ah and then the rest of him is sort of seaserpent like but he's got a wonderful Garland of nice greenery on his head and he's playing a. 00:37.89 Alex Ah, the front. 00:56.86 Cpt Granarius Violl something um the reference this is depicted in the theatra or bierraum ah map which is a near scandinavia let's say and yes he is playing a vi vile sixteenth century string instrument. 01:13.18 Alex So as we kind of implied Ichthyos centaurs and I guess as the name implies they were hybrid creatures consisting of the upper half of a human the lower half of a horse which to be fair I don't think the example we're looking at really is not really a horse is it's kind of like ah like I said it's like a chicken or something. 01:19.29 Cpt Granarius Us. 01:31.76 Alex And a fish tail and they were also considered tritons or mermen in ancient Greek and Roman mythologies. And yeah. 01:37.96 Cpt Granarius Yeah, but I guess it's in the name because I mean it's a centa but of the sea. 01:44.46 Alex Yeah I guess so and as Map indicators The ichthyocentaur was viewed as a peaceful creature and potentially indicated places of safe passage as we said it just looks like a chill dude which is I guess nice in comparison to some of the other ones that we will be looking at as we move on to so. Um, of the the valley and if not completely ridiculous attempts at depicting animals within Medieval beastciaries. Although we won't be going too far away from the sea because our first one is a whale and I mean it's a fish. It's a big fish and I mean. 02:15.68 Cpt Granarius Um, night it's a fish. 02:23.96 Alex If you explain how a whale is to someone I guess you would just be like oh it's a big fish right? A little more interested in this. Um the the figurehead on the ship I don't know what that is it looks like. 02:36.60 Cpt Granarius Ah, the figure to be kind like it doesn't look that the simul sort of for the figure heads that you see sort of in I Guess popular culture depictions of sort of like Scandinavian ships. 02:48.84 Alex Yeah, yeah, true, it's just it's kind of funny the way it looks like but the the the depiction of a whale. We're looking at actually depicts. What was apparently the very common occurrence of sailors mistaking a whale a belua here specifically. For an island and trying to make camp on its back before getting thrown off after making a fire ain't that just something we can all relate to folks. Yeah, this was unsprisingly an allegory for the devil deceiving people and let's be real. You. 03:16.34 Cpt Granarius Only on tuesdays. 03:25.63 Alex For most of these you can kind of assume they're all allegories for the devil deceiving people. 03:30.29 Cpt Granarius Yeah, because so like they they got this camp set up so they got the ship. They're sort of were not parked docked on the whale but then they also they got a fire going with what seems like it was probably going to be a lovely stew. But what's the right. 03:38.20 Alex Just yeah. 03:44.23 Alex Yes. 03:48.24 Cpt Granarius Um, if they put some flowers down or something just give get give a dash a color. 03:52.56 Alex I was trying to think and I'm thinking either. It's either It's kind of like just like see flora that's would be on there. Or even just maybe like a weird depiction of barnacles or when I first looked at it I was like oh is that supposed to be like the water coming out of its blowhole I mean it's also a big fish and they're saying it's a whale so you know we're not really going for accuracy here. Are we. 04:14.30 Cpt Granarius But in 2 different places. 04:25.20 Cpt Granarius To fair. That's the case for most of medieval beast Jerry I mean you find out whales are mostly just just big fish. Um. 04:26.39 Alex Yeah, also just notice. It's got a mouthful of fish as well. 04:36.41 Cpt Granarius Yeah, just just having this dinner and then you know like don't you hate it when you're trying to have your dinner and someone just docks their shef on you and tries to set up camp and cook a stew in your back. 04:45.50 Alex Oh actually I can answer that question. You had about what those things were with my next note that I meant to say which is that you know whales were just big fish to authors Medieval beastiearies and they but were believed to be able to oit a sweet odor to a track fish for eating So that's what you're looking at it's. 05:02.38 Cpt Granarius Like this. 05:04.26 Alex Supposed to be showing the odor coming off of the whale. 05:07.32 Cpt Granarius I see. 05:09.95 Alex Ah, they weren't so ridiculous after all huh Yeah, let's see how smart they are when we go to Dragons and I guess technically elephants. 05:14.46 Cpt Granarius Ah, they got me. Ah. 05:20.88 Cpt Granarius Right? Which check is as as good an excuse as I need to talk about this incredible illustration. So it's a dragon fighting an elephant as they often do on thursdays. 05:28.12 Alex It's one of the best. It's so good. Yes, yes, it's so good right? Like it's so Good. It's I don't know what's the best part The the the position they're in the face that the Elephant's making of just like gosh now again like just everything about it. It's perfect I Kind of want to get this tattooed on me. It's so funny. 05:48.59 Cpt Granarius Are. 05:56.65 Cpt Granarius It just like it seems like 1 of those like this sounded better in my head. 06:02.46 Alex Yeah, so basically this depiction is showing how one of the only things that could conceivably take on a dragon was an elephant apparently Dragons would ambush an elephant by tacking their legs and so. 06:14.94 Cpt Granarius So. 06:20.68 Alex Vacating them and the elephant is just not having it. It's got the most despondent look on his face. 06:31.20 Cpt Granarius It's just I am that elephant just just there like just why the dude why? dude stop. 06:34.40 Alex Ah, we all are the elephant. 06:42.26 Alex So dragons are often depicted as basically giant serpents with legs and wings and again unsurprisingly could sometimes be an allegory for the wall and elephants. Ah oh actually no sorry strange. Enough they would actually rarely be shown breathing fire. So yeah, and elephants were unsurprisingly drawn likely based on word of Mouth. So emphasis was placed on the big ears. The long trunk and the huge tusks. 07:01.90 Cpt Granarius I can see the way that probably came quite a bit later. Didn't it. 07:10.98 Cpt Granarius Ah, right. 07:17.97 Alex Which I mean yeah, that makes an elephant I Guess the main parts of an elephant. 07:21.39 Cpt Granarius Be fair as far as elephants go you know compared to like the camel that we were looking at earlier or the that this is pretty realistic immigrant either things. 07:29.10 Alex So yeah I mean there's some other beliefs about elephants that weren't as you know, entirely realistic. So elephants were believed to have no knee joints so medieval people believe that if you made an elephant fall down. It would not be able to get. Up. Ah, also their skin and their bones could be burned to driveway serpents and they could live for up to 300 years yeah a course of course, but that is that is what people believed. 07:58.15 Cpt Granarius Unless they go to a foreign land. 08:08.45 Alex Um, so. 08:09.00 Cpt Granarius Um, no ah will find an other enemy of the dragon as the the very nonpl Blast Elephant. We also have the panther. 08:20.84 Cpt Granarius Ah, which in this depiction ah is ah leaving its cave after three days specifically and emitting a sweet smelling odor which seems to be a trend here while roaring and causing a dragon to hide deep in the earth. Yes. 08:40.15 Alex Now I think it's the odor I think it could be 2 things actually I DC the blue one that's like right. 08:41.79 Cpt Granarius Are the shoots coming of its mouth the roar or the odor. Ah the dragon. Just yeah dragons done. It's just done. 08:58.59 Alex To the right of that. That's me has just got like a strip human face. 09:05.89 Cpt Granarius So the yes the some have got dog faces the wander right? at the top I could buy that fee line could buy a sort of tiger like and then yeah, then it's dog and then it's a person with that is ah what. 09:20.64 Alex So panthers were actually seen as gentle creatures that would immediately hibernate in a cave for three days after eating afterwards they would leave the cave roar out this very sweet smell which attracts the other animals except for dragons which are obviously scared of panthers duh and. Boy would you know that this is an allegory for Jesus Christ who is able to repel the dragon aka the devil and draw all animals and humans to him and he also went into a cave for a bit before returning to the world. So yeah, the logic. Ah. 09:51.79 Cpt Granarius Um, ah fit and like 3 ends the three days specifically 09:57.81 Alex Yeah, no, the logic's there. Yeah yeah I mean I've heard worse logic. It kind of makes sense now. 10:01.20 Cpt Granarius Okay. 10:10.27 Cpt Granarius Okay. 10:13.53 Alex Next one is you know I feel like we can't really talk about um B Series particular Medieval Bee series. We're not talking about a unicorn and the image we're looking at depicts a virgin tricking a unicorn into laying its head on her lap so that the nearby hunter. 10:24.38 Cpt Granarius Ooh. 10:32.95 Alex Can kill it which is I mean it's also an allegory for the vulnerability of Jesus while Mary was still pregnant with him. obviously obviously I mean yeah, it. 10:32.96 Cpt Granarius This are very nice. 10:41.11 Cpt Granarius And how also like what it looks like. It's small hippo. 10:51.70 Alex You know what it does look like a hippo. It's yeah, it's okay so folks is is not really a horse. We're looking at with a horn. It's more like yeah, it's like a tape beer or something with a with a horn again. So you know that point is. 10:52.40 Cpt Granarius Yeah, well like a tapier thing. Um. 11:11.13 Alex Accurate but it's not very majestic looking like I kind of don't blame the hunter for wanting to to get that thing. It's a it's not nice to look at actually. 11:16.12 Cpt Granarius Smooth. 11:30.32 Alex Second. 11:30.40 Cpt Granarius And um, do fair. They would also get them because their horns were prized for the power to purify water baly. 11:37.67 Alex And also you know they were actually considered although we you know today we consider your unicorns to be beautiful pure fantasy creatures medieval times. They're actually known to be incredibly dangerous animals. So the reason why this. Image we're looking at depicts a virgin tricking the unicorn so that a nearby hunter can kill it is because that's what a lotaries utilize unicorns for to kind of describe the clever ways in which you could slay them again usually involving a virgin one because they they just attract unicorns. Obviously. 12:18.21 Cpt Granarius The dar. Okay, ah, but despite being vicious creatures unicorns were also used as an allegory for Jesus Christ 12:27.57 Alex Which is very weird isn't it. 12:33.35 Cpt Granarius Yes, because if the um, ah yes, okay. 12:36.45 Alex Yeah, like we' we're not going get into a ah you know theological debate but that it just seems like ah an odd thing and the other thing is that in B series. They were either horselike like we would imagine unicorns today. Or they were more goatlike and let's be honest, neither of those things are depicted in the image we're looking at that's not Goat. No I don't know what that is. 12:55.32 Cpt Granarius No, that that's ah like a take a Tapia tap type thing hippo with a horn. 13:02.33 Alex Yeah, well we'll we'll move on to something a bit more normal and definitely very accurate which is a crocodile nasmon I want you to look at these images and try to figure out which one's the crocodile. 13:16.45 Cpt Granarius Um, um, okay I Want to know what's the one on the ride because I'm pretty sure that's not it I think the one that's eating something That's basically a dog. 13:22.79 Alex Yeah, and. 13:35.68 Cpt Granarius With talons at a weird sort of spiny back and tail I think that might be our crocodile the red the resting. 13:45.20 Alex So that yes, so actually so the thing on the right is actually a Hydra Ah the the thing on the left is indeed a a crocodile even though it looks like a red dog. Um, so it's actually eating. 13:49.93 Cpt Granarius Um, sure. 14:02.43 Alex Hydris Winged snake which is as you might be able to see is actually escaping out of its belly. So there's a lot going on. We are going to focus on the crocodile. 14:10.70 Cpt Granarius Ah, oh well, there be a dragon. He was very wormlike with wings and then the depiction of the panthers carrying away the dragon. He looked very much like a worm with wings. So was that also a hydra. 14:24.66 Alex I mean I think I mean I think consistency isn't really the most pressing thing this is true. Yes I guess there is precedence for this. 14:26.34 Cpt Granarius Ah, was it a dragon masquerading as a hydra. 14:33.53 Cpt Granarius You know, remember that I remember the the camels musquerading us elephants. 14:43.74 Alex So you're right I apologize. 14:47.81 Cpt Granarius For those who are not aware. Um, but the ah camels buss grading as elephants is in our previous episode on animals in warfare. You have a great time. Check it out. 14:56.57 Alex So The depictions of crocodiles were so wildly inconsistent to the point that the only consistent thing about them was that they would depict the crocodile having 4 legs for some reason they were almost. Always either shown as either a dog or a lion and sometimes the head would be upside down. So. 15:24.57 Cpt Granarius Ah I mean you could get that because um, um, so like it was known as being the only animal that can move the upper part of his jaw while keeping the lower parts still so that might be why his head was depicted upside down. Um, yeah. Was also known for his hard outer skin which though exactly portrayed in this particular example, but you know. 15:51.89 Alex Yeah, which could repel rocks and it was also as you said it was you know the only animal that could move the upper part of its jaw while keeping the lower part still um so there was some accuracy there I Guess ah of course what may not be as. Accurate is the idea that only 2 animals could kill a crocodile a sawfish also known as this as a serra and a hydris because both of them could kill it from the inside. 16:19.94 Cpt Granarius Do you think they also release a sweet-smelling odor. 16:23.70 Alex I Mean here's the thing though maybe but the crocodile's dung was known to be a beauty enhancer So you know. And the other thing about crocodiles that everyone knew in the Medieval period was that it always cried after killing a human being. 16:43.93 Cpt Granarius Well like do you do you have the expression of crocodile tears. Okay, so guess some kill that that's where it might come from crocodile tears. 16:47.52 Alex Yes. 16:59.39 Alex I guess yeah, so yeah, anyway, um, as we reach the end of the episode I do want to end on. Ah you know a very. Familiar creature to all of us that we all know about and it is probably very accurately depicted in this beast Jerry which is the bonacom. 17:20.64 Cpt Granarius Um, room which and okay. 17:22.16 Alex So Simona what you're looking at is a bonicon spraying poop on some soldiers. It's very straightforward. 17:30.33 Cpt Granarius I Mean it's It's a good defense mechanism like you're going to confuse the heck out of them and that will give you your opening to run away like it's a sound tactic if it wasn't for the factor that they're ready. So. Put a spear through its neck. Yeah it he almost got away with it. 17:49.48 Alex Yeah, it's a bit last minuteute isn't it. But you know? yeah so it's a mythical creature also known as the bonasus or the bonaco taken from the Greek bonasus which means bison. Ah, unsurprisingly, it's often depicted as a bull or a bison-like creature with a horse's mane now its curled horns make it incredibly vulnerable to attack. So its defense mechanism is to poop on its enemies and when I say poop I mean it's a huge fecal spray of about 3 Acres that causes burns again, big mood. 18:27.46 Cpt Granarius Ah, lets set sound defense tactic you will confuse the enemy and that that that gives you the opening that you need to either countertack runway. 18:40.39 Alex Yeah, real leftos intolerance mood there I guess oversharing is a good place to stop this episode. Ah. 18:47.17 Cpt Granarius Um. 18:50.15 Cpt Granarius Possibly. 18:52.83 Alex So as always, you can find us online at the archaeology podcast network website or wherever you get your podcasts where on. It's not Twitter anymore. It's called x so you can find us there at archaeo animals for as long as that website exists let us know about any other episodes. Ah, tell your friends about us subscribe like all that other fun stuff I'm gonna think about my life choices after that one anything else you want to do simona. 19:19.83 Cpt Granarius Just just go reflect on the sea pig. 19:23.90 Alex Yeah, do like that see you Vig see you next time folks I e. 19:29.55 Cpt Granarius They. 19:32.33 archpodnet And.