The Machlyes were an ancient Libyan tribe. According to Herodotus

Herodotus

Herodotus was an ancient Greek historian who was born in Halicarnassus, Caria and lived in the 5th century BC . He has been called the "Father of History", and was the first historian known to collect his materials systematically, test their accuracy to a certain extent and arrange them in a...

, their young women held a ritual battle with sticks and stones annually with neighboring Auseans.

In Medieval bestiaries

Bestiary

A bestiary, or Bestiarum vocabulum is a compendium of beasts. Bestiaries were made popular in the Middle Ages in illustrated volumes that described various animals, birds and even rocks. The natural history and illustration of each beast was usually accompanied by a moral lesson...

, they were said to be a race of hermaphroditic humanoids with a male half and a female half, possibly inspired by the martial practices of the females.