Testing the Deep-Time Memory Hypothesis: A Pre-Registered, Multi-Stage Analysis of Mythological Motifs Consistent with Hominin Encounters

Title Testing the Deep-Time Memory Hypothesis: A Pre-Registered, Multi-Stage Analysis of Mythological Motifs Consistent with Hominin Encounters Description This study presents the first pre-registered, quantitative test of the "Deep-Time Memory Hypothesis," which posits that certain global mythological motifs may preserve fragmented cultural memories of interactions between Homo sapiens and archaic, non-sapiens hominin populations during the Late Pleistocene. A two-stage coding schema (v1.6.3) was applied to a corpus of 93 folklore entries (86 experimental, 7 primary control). Control populations were defined using a temporal/isolation framework, specifically targeting populations isolated from the primary Eurasian hominin overlap zone (~50,000–15,000 BP), with the San/Bushman corpus serving as the primary zero-signal control. Experimental entries scored significantly higher on the Hominin Likelihood Scale than controls (mean 2.80 vs. 1.14; Fisher’s exact p = 0.0139; Cohen’s d = 1.44). Crucially, the control group yielded the "Three Zeros": zero entries scored ≥3, zero displayed multiple consistent hominin-like traits, and zero carried any pre-registered pattern flag. To guard against post-hoc selection bias regarding the Australian corpus, an intention-to-treat sensitivity analysis reincorporated all Australian entries into the control group (N = 13). Under this combined model, statistical significance strengthened by two orders of magnitude (Fisher’s exact p = 0.00015; Cohen’s d = 1.45), with the control corpus maintaining zero entries ≥3. Stratified analysis by source credibility demonstrated that while high-credibility (A/B) sources drove the highest scores, low-credibility (C-rated) experimental entries still exhibited a significantly elevated score distribution relative to the all-C control (p < 0.0001), proving the signal is not merely an artifact of source quality or ethnographic attention. These results provide robust, pre-registered evidence that anatomically specific, non-stereotypical hominin motifs cluster in populations with documented Late Pleistocene overlap, and are systematically absent in deeply isolated control populations.