Forgotten Accounts of Ancient Giant Skeletons
In 1848, President Abraham Lincoln visited Niagara Falls, and he was so impressed by the beauty of this natural wonder that he wrote down some notes, including the following:
“When Columbus first sought this continent, when Christ suffered on the cross, when Moses led Israel through the Red Sea, nay even when Adam first came from the hand of his maker, then as now, Niagara was roaring here. The eyes of that species of extinct giants, whose bones fill the mounds of America, have gazed on Niagara as ours do now.”
During the 19th century, there were many accounts of unnaturally large skeletal remains discovered in the ancient burial mounds scattered across North America.
Today, not a single news media outlet has ever mentioned anything about ancient giants or past discoveries. If a giant skeleton were discovered somewhere, it would most certainly be classified and hidden from the public.
It wasn’t like that in the 19th and early 20th centuries, though. Almost every year, there were at least a few newspaper headlines stating the discovery of ancient giant skeletons.
Newspaper Reports of Giant Skeletons in America
It seemed to be quite normal to find bones of giants in America when the first settlers dug ancient mounds to prepare for roads, farms, and buildings. The New York Times, in particular, wrote many newspaper articles about the discoveries of giants.
Let’s read through some of them, starting with this one titled “THE BONES OF A GIANT FOUND,” which was published on May 25th, 1882. It reads:
“A skull of heroic size and singular formation has been discovered among the relics of the mound builders in the Red River Valley. The mound was 60 feet in diameter, and 12 feet high. Near the center were found the bones of about a dozen men and women, mixed with the bones of various animals. The skull in question was the only perfect one, and near it were found some abnormally large body bones. The man who bore it was evidently a giant. A thorough investigation of the mound and its contents will be made by the Historical Society.”
Another newspaper from May 5th, 1885, reads:
“Last week, a small mound near Homer was opened by some schoolboys who found a skeleton. Today a further search was made, and several feet below the surface of the earth in a large vault with a stone floor and bark covering, were found four huge skeletons, three being each over seven feet in length, and the other—eight.”
This article from the San Antonio Express describes a giant skull twice the size of a normal human one, accompanied by a photo. It reads:
“Beach Giant’s Skull Unearthed by WPA Workers Near Victoria
Believed to be Largest Ever Found in The World; Normal Head Also Found.”
“That Texas had a giant in the beach, in the long ago, appears probable from the large skull recently unearthed on a mound in Victoria County. Believed to be the largest human skull ever found in the United States and probably in the world. Twice the size of the skull of a normal man, the fragments were dug up by W. Duffet, an archaeologist excavating the mound in Victoria County under a WPA project sponsored by the University of Texas.
In the same mound and at the same level, a normal-sized skull was found. The pieces taken from the mound were reconstructed in the WPA laboratory under the supervision of physical anthropologists. A study is being made to determine whether the huge skull was that of a man belonging to a tribe of extraordinarily large men or whether the skull was that of an abnormal member of a tribe, a case of gigantism. Several large human bones have been unearthed at this site.”
Another New York Times article from 1897 reads:
“One of the three recently discovered mounds in this town has been opened. In it was found the skeleton of a man of gigantic size. The bones measured from head to foot over nine feet and were in a fair state of preservation. The skull was as large as a half-bushel measure. Some finely tempered rods of copper and other relics were lying near the bones. The mound from which these relics were taken is ten feet high and 30 feet long and varies from six to eight feet in width. The two mounds of lesser size will be excavated soon.”
The St. Paul Globe in 1904 reported:
“Bones of a Human Skeleton Eleven Feet High Are Dug Up in Nevada. Workmen engaged in digging gravel here today uncovered at a depth of about 12 feet a lot of bones, part of the skeleton of a gigantic human being. Dr. Samuels examined them and pronounced them to be the bones of a man who must have been nearly 11 feet in height.”
Apparently, these discoveries were something completely normal back in the day, and they weren’t hidden from the public as they are today.
Giants Beyond The USA: Global Discoveries and Legends
The discoveries of giant skeletons weren’t limited to the United States.
This article speaks of giant skeletons found in a cave in Mexico:
“Charles C. Clapp, who has recently returned from Mexico, where he has been in charge of Thomas W. Lawson’s mining interest, has called the attention of Professor Agassis to a remarkable discovery made by him. He found in Mexico a cave containing some 200 skeletons of men, each above 8 feet in height. The cave was evidently the burial place of a race of giants who antedated the Aztecs. Mr. Clapp arranged the bones of one of these skeletons and found the total length to be 8 feet 11 inches.”
Other articles mention discoveries of giants in Europe. The London Globe in 1892 reported:
“In the year 1890, some human bones of enormous size, double the ordinary in fact, were found in the tumulus of Castelnau and have since been carefully examined by Professor Kioner, who, while admitting that the bones are those of a very tall race, nevertheless finds them abnormal in dimensions and apparently of morbid growth. They undoubtedly reopened the question of the ‘giants’ of antiquity but do not furnish evidence to decide it.”
The newspaper articles we discovered were countless. There were discoveries of giants all across the Earth, and today, scientists and archaeologists pretend this never even happened.
This article titled “When Giants Roamed Earth” discusses numerous historical discoveries of colossal human remains—from the time of the Roman Empire through the 19th century.
“The past was more prolific in the production of giants than the present. In 1830, one of these giants who is exhibited at Rouen, was 10 feet high, and the giant Galabra, brought from Arabia to Rome, in the time of Claudius Caesar, was the same height. Fantom, who lived in the time of Eugene II, was 11 and 1/2 feet in height. The Chevalier Scrog, in his journey to the Peak Tenerife, found in one of the caverns of that mountain the head of a giant who had 60 teeth and who was not less than 15 feet high. The giant Feragus, slain by Orlando, the nephew of Charlemagne, according to reports, was 28 feet high. In 1814, near St. Gernad, was found the tomb of the giant Isolent, who was not less than 30 feet high. In 1590, near Rouen, was found a skeleton whose head held a bushel of corn and which was 19 feet in hight. The giant Bacrt, was 22 feet high. In 1623, near the castle in Dauphine, a tomb was found 30 feet long, 16 feet wide, and 8 feet high, on which were cut in gravestone the words “Kentoloucas Rex”. The skeleton was found entire and measured 25 and 1/4 beat high, 10 feet across the shoulders and 5 feet from breastbone to the back. But France is not the only country where giant skeletons have been unearthed. Near Palermo, Sicily, in 1516, was found the skeleton of a giant 30 feet high. Near Magrino, on the same island, in 1816, was found the skeleton of a giant of 30 feet, whose head was the size of a hogshead, and each tooth weighed 5 ounces.”
The article continues by noting that although these discoveries were openly shared with the public at the time, the moment such skeletons were handed over to museums or academic institutions, they disappeared from view—never to be displayed or discussed again.
The Smithsonian and the Disappearance of Giant Skeletons
A map documenting the locations of these reports across North America reveals an astonishing number of such findings. Nearly all were reportedly sent to the Smithsonian Institution, an organization frequently accused by researchers of concealing major archaeological discoveries.
There are multiple claims that the Smithsonian acquired large skeletons unearthed by citizens—only for those remains to vanish entirely. It’s even been said that the institution once had a dedicated department focused on excavating ancient mounds and investigating supposed giant burial sites.
One of the most widely discussed cases is the San Diego Giant of 1895, a mummified body standing 8 feet 4 inches tall. Contemporary newspapers published photographs and accounts describing scientists examining the specimen. Following its authentication, the Smithsonian purchased it for study.
Thirteen years later, in 1908, when the mummy was exhibited again, the Smithsonian abruptly declared it a fabrication—claiming it was “made of gelatin.” The sudden reclassification after years of expert inspection and the considerable expense of acquisition has long fueled suspicion. Such contradictions raise questions about whether the dismissal was based on science or an effort to suppress inconvenient evidence.
Giants in Ancient Civilizations and Religious Records
Is it just a coincidence that every culture and faith across the globe preserves stories of giant beings who once ruled or walked among humankind?
The Sumerian civilization, which emerged around 6000 BC, recounts a lineage of towering rulers who governed the early city-states. Their records mention a giant monarch named Gilgamesh, said to have reigned for 126 years. Archaeological inscriptions confirm the existence of several figures associated with him, suggesting that his story may rest upon real history rather than myth.
Ancient Egyptian writings and reliefs are also filled with depictions of abnormally tall pharaohs. Many early dynasties describe their kings as physically imposing giants. Archaeologists have unearthed hundreds of oversized sarcophagi—long since emptied by looters—further deepening the mystery.
One remarkable 19th-century report titled “Prehistoric Egyptian Giants” described the discovery of entire tomb rows containing gigantic skeletons:
“In 1881, when professor Timmerman was engaged in exploring the ruins of an ancient temple of Isis, on the banks of the Nile, 16 miles below Najar Jafar, he opened a row of tombs, in which some prehistoric race of giants had been buried. The smallest skeleton, out of some 60-odd, which were examined during the time Timmerman was excavating at Najar Jafar, measured seven feet and eight inches in length, and the largest – 11 feet 1 inch… It is believed that the tombs date back to the year 1043 BC.”
The story doesn’t end there. In 1988, German entrepreneur Gregor Spory reportedly photographed a 14-inch-long mummified finger in Egypt. Its owner, a retired tomb robber, possessed documentation verifying its authenticity, along with an X-ray image.
Based on its proportions, the finger would have belonged to a being between 15 and 16 feet tall. When Spory later returned to buy the specimen, the man had disappeared, leaving only the photographs behind.
Legends of Nephilim Giants and Gigantic Megaliths
The Book of Genesis, the opening text of the Hebrew Bible, introduces an ancient race known as the Nephilim—giants said to be the offspring of divine beings and human women. Their story continues in the Book of Enoch, which expands on how the “Watchers,” fallen angels, interbred with humans before the great flood described in both scripture and geology.
If that deluge truly occurred—as scientific evidence of a global flood event suggests—could these giant offspring have been real as well?
Native American oral traditions also speak of ages when enormous humanoids roamed North America. Tribes tell of bloody wars against red-haired cannibal giants, united only after the indigenous peoples formed alliances to exterminate them.
Such tales may even connect to the world’s unexplained megalithic architecture. The Stone of the South at Baalbek in Lebanon weighs an astounding 1,242 tons, while in southern Siberia’s Mount Shoria, researchers discovered a granite wall composed of blocks weighing over 3,000 tons—more than twice as heavy.
Even the famed Stonehenge was originally called “The Giants’ Dance” or “The Giants’ Ring,” suggesting an ancient association between these beings and massive stone monuments.
Historical Accounts of Nephilim Giants
Giants are not confined to one region or religion. They appear in Celtic, Greek, Roman, Hindu, Buddhist, Norse, and Shinto lore. Remarkably, photographic footage from a Japanese Imperial military parade allegedly shows an enormous man displayed alongside soldiers—said to be the last surviving member of a tribe called Cha Cha, from the island of Hahashima.
Ancient writers also recorded encounters with beings of extraordinary size. Flavius Josephus, the first-century Jewish historian, wrote:
“For which reason, they removed their camp to Hebron; and when they had taken it, they slew all the inhabitants. There were till then left the race of giants, who had bodies so large and countenances so entirely different from other men that they were surprising to the sight and terrible to the hearing. The bones of these men are still shown to this very day, unlike to any credible relations of other men.”
During the Age of Exploration, similar reports emerged from European sailors. Spanish and English captains—including Sir Francis Drake, Captain John Smith, and others—described meeting tribes of extraordinarily tall natives. Smith wrote:
“The Sasquesahanougs are a giant-like people. They measured the calf of the largest man’s leg and found it three-quarters of a yard about, and all the rest of his limbs were in proportion.”
In 1519, Spanish explorer Alonzo Alvarez de Pineda charted the Gulf Coast and reported encountering
“… a race of giants, from ten to eleven palms in height, and a race of pygmies, only five or six palms high.”
Perhaps the most famous historical testimony of living giants comes from Ferdinand Magellan’s circumnavigation of the globe between 1519 and 1522. While wintering in Patagonia, his crew encountered a massive, friendly native described by the expedition’s official chronicler:
“One day, we suddenly saw a naked man of giant stature on the shore… He was so tall that we reached only to his waist, and he was well-proportioned.”
Because this account comes directly from the journal of the expedition’s appointed historian, it carries exceptional credibility. This individual was responsible not only to Magellan himself but to the Spanish crown, recording events faithfully for posterity. His description of giants, therefore, cannot be dismissed as sailor’s myth.
Years later, Hernando de Soto’s expedition through the southeastern United States recorded encounters with native tribes ruled by gigantic leaders, including Chief Tuscaloosa of Alabama, described as towering above his people.
Conquistadors such as Hernando de Alarcón and Francisco Coronado also mentioned meeting tribes of giants during their journeys across the American Southwest and along the Colorado River.
Similarly, Bernal Díaz del Castillo, a soldier under Hernán Cortés, chronicled native stories of a race of enormous beings exterminated long ago. He described being shown the leg bone of one such creature, “as tall as I am,” from hip to knee.
Even the earth itself seems to bear silent testimony. In South Africa, a colossal footprint imprinted in granite—known locally as “Goliath’s Footprint”—has drawn decades of debate. Discovered in 1931 by a farmer named Stoffel Katzie, it measures about four feet long, implying a creature between 24 and 27 feet tall.
While skeptics claim it formed through erosion, Professor Peter Wagoner of the University of Port Elizabeth disagrees:
“There is a higher probability of little green men arriving from space and licking it out with their tongues, than being created by natural erosion.”
Similar impressions exist elsewhere, such as the Pingyuan footprint in Asia, though none are as distinctly shaped or proportionally human as the South African example.
The Kandahar Giant of Afghanistan
Among more recent claims is the story of the Afghanistan cave encounter of 2002, revealed through interviews on the radio program Coast to Coast AM.
According to alleged witnesses, a U.S. Special Forces unit searching for a missing squad stumbled upon a cave strewn with destroyed equipment and bloodied remains. Suddenly, a 13-foot-tall, red-haired humanoid with double rows of teeth charged from the darkness, killing one soldier with a spear before being shot dead after a prolonged firefight.
The body, said to weigh around 500 kilograms, was reportedly airlifted to an undisclosed American facility. Witnesses described its footwear as crude moccasins made of hide or canvas.
If this creature truly existed and remained undetected for so long, it raises the question—could others like it still survive in remote corners of the world?
Considering how many colossal species have existed—giant reptiles, birds, fish, and trees—it might not be so far-fetched to believe that giant humanoids once walked the earth as well.
Were the countless discoveries, myths, and eyewitness accounts exaggerated? Or do they preserve fragments of an extraordinary truth about our planet’s forgotten past?
Perhaps, as Mark Twain once mused:
“Truth is stranger than fiction, but it is, because fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities; Truth isn’t.”