Ep. 31 Giant Skeletons: How Newspapers Reported An Ancient Race of Giants and Then Went Silent
- Author
- Shea LaFountaine
- Published
- Sun 15 Oct 2023
- Episode Link
- None
“Skeleton of a Giant Found,” “Reported Discovery of a Huge Skeleton,” “Monstrous Skulls and Bones,” “A Race of Indian Giants,” “Giant Skeleton Unearthed at Buzzards Bay,” “Skeleton Found of a Man Over 9 Feet High With An Enormous Skull,” “New Mexico Discovery: 12 Foot Giant Found,” These are newspaper headlines and they’re not from the National Enquirer or any other disreputable tabloid like that, they’re all from the New York Times. These are just a few examples of hundreds of similar newspaper articles about giant skeletons that were published throughout the 19th century and into the early 20th century. These articles were published in newspapers and magazines all over the United States, many of them quite credible, written by all different authors, and reported by unrelated people, mostly workmen - well-diggers, miners, quarrymen. But did you know, despite all this press, there are no actual giant skeletons on display anywhere and no follow up stories to explain what happened to these amazing discoveries? Let’s fix that.
Sources:
- Unexplained Mysteries podcast episode "Giant Skeletons"
- Smithsonian National Museum of Natural Historty "What does it mean to be human?"
- Livestrong.com "The Average Height of Humans Over Time"
- CNN "10 years. 180 school shootings. 356 victims"
- Simon and Schuster "Richard J. Dewhurst"
- Simon and Schuster "The Giants Who Ruled America"
- Ancient Origins "Top 10 Giant Discoveries in North America"
- The Columbus Dispatch "Archaeology: Newspapers have been debunking giant hoaxes for a long time"
- jasoncolavito.com "Newspaper Accounts of Giants"
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