In the Land of Giants

Giant skeletons that keep being discovered around the globe are one of the world’s great mysteries. They have been well documented and photographed. But, since no one has been able to explain who or what they once were, they soon get regulated to the back page. But a few persevere in trying to find out.

There were bones of a "giant man" discovered in Russia during 1998 reported to be about 9 to 10 feet tall with a skull 3 times the size of a normal human. Perhaps, but there has been so many hoaxes about giant skeletons being unearthed it’s hard to believe if one is real or not.

For instance, not so long ago stories and photos about the remains of a human giant discovered in Saudi Arabia were making their rounds on the internet. Forwarded E mails were claiming a human of phenomenal size had been found during gas exploration in the Arabian Desert. The story was proven to be a hoax.

But in all fairness, there have been so many discovered some have written entire books on the subject. Author John Haywood wrote The Natural and Aboriginal History of Tennessee in which he reports "very large" bones buried in Williamson County, Tennessee, in 1821. He also described others averaging at least 7 feet in length in White County, Tennessee.

These huge skeletal remains keep popping up around the world with most beginning to be reported during the 1800s.
Giant skeletons were found in the mid-1800s near Rutland, New York. More were found by a medical doctor, which he described as having vertebrae "larger than those of the present type" in Wisconsin mounds during 1876.

In the Indianapolis News issue of Nov 10, 1975 there was an article retelling the story of a nine-foot, eight-inch skeleton dug up from a mound near Brewersville, Indiana. And the list goes on and on. Here are a few more examples:

· 1883-Ten skeletons of gigantic size were found at Warren, Minnesota

· 1885-Mummified remains of woman measuring 6 feet 8 holding an infant in the Yosemite Valley

· 1888- seven skeletons 7 to 8 feet tall found in Minnesota

· 1895-Twenty skeletons in Toledo, Ohio had jaws and teeth twice as large as modern man

· 1911- Several red-haired mummies from 6 ½ half feet to 8 feet tall were discovered in a cave in Lovelock, Nevada

· 1931-Also near Lovelock in the Humboldt lake bed, more were found, the first two measuring at least 8 1/2 feet tall. Several appeared to be wrapped in a gummy fabric similar to that of Egyptian mummies.

· 1965-A skeleton measuring 8 feet and 9 inches was found under a rock ledge along Holly Creek in east-central Kentucky.

Jaw fragments and thousands of teeth have been found in China of and based on their size the owners would have had to be around 10 to12 feet tall.

In the late 1950's during road construction in Homs southeast Turkey, many tombs of Giants were unearthed. Human thigh bones in several of the tombs were measured to be over 47 inches long. It was estimated these people were fourteen to sixteen feet tall. A cast of one of these femurs is on display at the Creationist museum in Texas.

More evidence for giants comes from fossilized foot prints. Many have been found in Australia. A set of 3 huge footprints was discovered near Mulgoa, in the state of New South Wales. These prints, measured 2 ft long and 7 inches across the toes and were 6 feet apart. The person making such a huge stride would have been at least 12 feet tall.

Aborigines who inhabit the area were by no means the first race to reach Australia. Ancient Aborigine folklore tells of giants before their arrival on the continent.
More recently, on August 19, 1973 in the little village of Buffalo Mills, Pennsylvania, a report of a man at least nine feet tall was seen walking down the main street. It was said he was attired in some strange shimmering material. After staring menacingly at the frightened townspeople it was claimed he strode casually off never to be seen again.

It’s difficult to determine whether these accounts are true. Folklore around the planet is remiss with them. But, one has to remember, many of these reports were made long before the advent of computer graphics and faked photos were relatively easy to make.

We must also note there have been real modern day giants such as André René Roussimoff (19 May 1946 – 27 January 1993). He was a famed French wrestler and actor better known as André the Giant and sometimes called “The 8^th wonder of the world.” Andrea stood 7'4" and weighed 500 pounds.

And then there was Robert Pershing Wadlow (February 22, 1918 – July 15, 1940), who was the tallest person in history. Wadlow was sometimes called The Alton Giant or Giant of Illinois, because that’s where he was born and raised. His height was 8 foot 11.1 inches and at the time of his death he weighed 490 pounds. His great size was due to hypertrophy of his pituitary gland, a condition known as Acromegaly which results in an abnormally high level of human growth hormone.

However, cases where people reach this size and weight are extremely rare. But, in any case this could hardly account for the countless number of giant skeletal remains which have been discovered. With biblical accounts and other stories abounding throughout the pages of history, we might assume there were indeed races of giants in the land.