| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | Encyclopedia of Anthropology |
| Editors | James H Birx |
| Place of Publication | Thousand Oaks, California |
| Publisher | Sage Publications Inc |
| Pages | 2354-2355pp |
| Volume | 5 |
| Edition | 1st |
| ISBN (Print) | 0761930299 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 2006 |
Abstract
Yeti is the mysterious giant bipedal creature of the eternal snows of the Himalayas. The yeti (yeh-teh) has always been a part of the cosmology of Lamaistic Buddhist peoples of the Himalayas, who class it as not quite human yet more than human, and keep relics of it in monasteries. As early as the 1830s, westerners in Nepal began to bring back tales of the creature under the name Abominable Snowman, but it was not until 1951 that these really achieved international fame with the publication of a photograph by two mountaineers, Eric Shipton and Michael Ward, of a footprint in the snow, taken on the Menlung Glacier at 5,500 meters (18,000 feet). The footprint was about 50 cm long and 33 cm wide, with a large hallux and second toe, and three small side toes; and a second photo showed a whole trail of footprints leading into the distance.