User:Auric/List of reported discoveries of tall humans

This article presents a list of reported discoveries of tall humans and includes famous observations. Entries must include at least one reference to a reliable source. Hoaxes or unclear discoveries must be labeled as such.

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Introduction

A number of discoveries of the remains of humans of tall stature (labelled giants) have been reported in during the 19th century and earlier. Most have proven to be either misidentified animal bones or newspaper hoaxes.

North America

Date and circumstances of discovery and item

• "In an excavation made by William Thompson and Robert Smith half a mile north of West Hickory they exhumed an enormous helmet of iron which was corroded with rust. Further digging brought to light a sword which measured nine feet in length and after some little time they discovered the bones of two very large feet. Following up the lead in a few hours time they unearthed a well preserved skeleton of an enormous giant. The helmet is said to be of the shape of those found among the ruins of Nineveh. The bones are remarkably white the teeth are all in their places and all of them are double and of extraordinary size. These relics have been taken to Tionesta where they are visited by large numbers of persons daily. The giant must have stood eighteen feet in his stockings".^[1][2] The whole discovery was later exposed as a hoax.^[3]

• In 1908, 14 skeletons that measured over nine feet tall were discovered in Santa Monica Beach, California.^[4]

• A skeleton was discovered by tourists in 1908 in an Indian mound near Pelican Lake, Wisconsin. The skeleton was about 8 ft tall. ^[5]

• Workmen in St. Louis digging a foundation near Second and St. Clair Avenues unearthed a 7 ft tall skeleton buried upright in a stone crypt, with 14 other skeletons of normal stature buried around it. Most of the skeletons crumbled after excavation or were stolen.^[6][7]

• In 1895 at the Atlantic exposition, a mummy purporting to be the "tallest human giant who over lived". A group of scientists from the Smithsonian measured it as eight feet four inches tall. According to the exhibitor, it had been found in a cave near San Diego, by a party of prospectors.^[8] The exhibitor agreed to sell it for US$ 500 (equivalent to $18,898 in 2024) to the Smithsonian, which dispatched two men to examine the body. When a piece of the giant's dried skin was removed and tested at the Smithsonian, it was found to be gelatine.^[9]

• In 1912, William Altmann discovered the skeleton of a man 7 feet 4 inches tall near Concord, California.^[10]

• A crew of workers excavating gravel to repair a pike in 1893 near Claridon, Ohio discovered a 7 ft tall skeleton. Most of the skeleton crumbled after being exposed.^[11]

• In 1883, a skeleton that was measured 12 ft high was unearthed from a stream bank near Barnard, Missouri. The skeleton was presumed to be human, despite the proportions.^[12]

• In 1883, a 7 ft tall skeleton was uncovered in a mound in South Charleston.^[13]

• In 1936, a group of skeletons, of heights of 7 ft tall were discovered on Sea Island, Georgia by Preston Holder.^[14]

Mexico

• In 1908, Charles C. Clapp discovered a burial cave containing a large number of skeletons, one more than 8 ft tall.^[15]

• In 1935, Paxton C. Hayes, an ethnologist, discovered caves containing 34 skeletons, some over 8 ft tall. ^[16]

Europe

Century of discovery and item

France

• 19th century France - Giant of Castelnau

• The Chevalier Scory in his journey to the Peak of Teneriffe, Teide, found in one of the caverns there the head of a Gunich who had 80 teeth and who was not less than 15 feet long.
• The giant Ferregus, slain by Orlando, the nephew of Charlemagne, according to the reports, was 18 feet high. (Legendary)
• In 1814 near St. Germain was found the tomb of the giant Isorent, who was not less than 20 feet high.
• In 1509 near Rouen was found in a tomb a skeleton whose skull could hold a bushel of corn. The shin bone was 4 feet long.
• The giant Bucart, tyrant of the Vivarais, was 22 1/2 feet high. His thigh bones were found in 1705 near the river Moderi.

• Fannum who lived in the time of Eugene II of Scotland measured 11 1/2 feet tall.

• In 1623 near the castle of Dauphine, a tomb was found thirty feet long, sixteen feet wide and eight feet high, on which were cut in gray stone the words, "Teutobochus Rex." The skeleton was found entire and measured twenty-five and one-fourth feet high, ten feet across the shoulders and five feet from breastbone to back. (misidentified elephant bones) ^[17][18]

• A prehistoric family was discovered in a grotto near Nice in 1892. The skeleton of the man was 7 ft 9 in, without the head, which was missing.^[19]

Britain

• The skeleton of an Abbot Isaac was discovered during excavations in 1924 at Titchfield Abbey. He was about 7 ft tall and was supposedly buried about 1400.^[20]

Sicily

• Near Palermo in 1516 was found the skeleton of a giant 34-foot-high (10 m). The skeleton was burned by a mob in 1662, who believed it was connected with the Black Death. A stone ax was found with it and is in the St. Isorent museum in Palermo. The ax is 2 feet 8 inches long by 1 foot broad and 9 inches through in the thickest place.^[21]

• In 1559 another 44-foot-high (13 m) was unearthed.
• Near Mazarino in 1815 was found the skeleton of a giant thirty feet high. The head was the size of a hogshead and each of his teeth weighed 5 ounces (140 g).^[2]