What the termite mound ‘snowmen’ of the Northern Territory can tell us about human behaviour

While they are special, the snowmen of the NT are not unique. They are simply another example of a human need to reinvent the world in our own image.The urge to humanise inanimate objects is a global phenomenon – through both time and space. For thousands of years, humans have had a penchant for making animals and things look like people. This is most clearly shown in a style of rock art known as therianthropes, which depicts beings that have both human and animal characteristics. It also manifests in depictions of mermaids, centaurs and other mythical creatures.