|
NOTE |
Believers in giants cite nineteenth century Smithsonian reports of large skeletons as proof that giants existed. These are the two known Smithsonian reports of so-called giants, often considered in fringe circles to be mistakes that slipped through a conspiracy to suppress the existence of oversized humans by the Smithsonian itself.
|
Annual Report of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution [...] 1874 (1875)
The following report by Augustus Mitchell, M.D. refers to his excavation of a mound on Amelia Island, Florida in 1848.
While in the South during the winter of 1848, pursuing the study and collecting specimens of ornithology, I was impelled by curiosity to examine a mound of a moderate size situated on the southern portion of Amelia Island, Florida, being kindly furnished with colored laborers, and aided by Dr. R. Harrison.
This mound was about 15 feet in height, and 30 feet in diameter at the base, flattened and worn by attrition for ages; there having been two growths of live-oak upon it, as stated by an old Spanish inhabitant of the place. The soil composing the mound was of a light sandy, yellowish loam.
We commenced the examination by cutting a trench 4 feet wide directly through the center, from the apex to the base, and then another trench at right angles to the former. The excavation revealed a number of relics, and the mode of burial of the mound-builders. They must have commenced by digging into the surface of the ground about 2 feet; then, partially filling the excavation with oyster-shells, they placed their dead on these in a sitting posture, their legs bent under them, with their faces to the east, and their arms crossed upon the breast, and next spread over them a stratum of earth. It is evident that in the successive burials the earth was reopened, and the additional bodies were placed close either to the back or side of those which had been previously interred, until the whole of the first layer was complete; then the circumference of the mound was walled in by a compost of marsh-mud; and then another layer of oyster-shells was placed over the heads of the first layer of bodies, and a continuation of the mud wall, until the superincumbent layer completed the mound to its apex.
Full three centuries must have rolled their tempests over this aboriginal repository of the dead. I quite expected to find everything like mortal remains returned to dust. But in this I was in error, as throughout the mound parts or complete portions of the bony structure still remained; those on the southern or sunny side being in a more perfect state of preservation. Counting the remains existing in the different layers of this ancient tumulus, it must have contained about four hundred individuals.
As we proceeded with our work, the interior of the mound presented many objects of interest to the ethnologist. We could not, however, secure many of these, since they crumbled, except the teeth, to dust as soon as exposed to the air. I had therefore to study them mostly in the earth, carefully scraping it away with a knife.
The conformation of the crania found in this mound appears to differ somewhat from that of the present Indians; the facial angle less, with superior depth of the frontal region, and greater capacity for the anterior lobes of the brain; the outer surface of the skull somewhat oval, smooth, and regular; frontal sinuses large; high cheek-bones; cavity of the antrum large; orbital cavity of the eye deep and large; occipital protuberance very large, with a great development of the organs of philoprogenitiveness; superior depth of the base of the inferior maxillary bone; rough serratures and deep depressions for the attachments of powerful muscles of that bone.
The teeth of many of the crania of this mound were, without exceptions, in a perfect state of preservation, the vitrified enamel of these organs being capable of resisting exposure for centuries. These teeth presented distinctive appearances throughout, in the absence of the pointed canines; the incisors, canine, cuspides, and bicuspides all presented flat crowns, worn to smoothness by the attrition of sand and teeth showed the dental nerve to be protected by an unusual thickness on the surface of the crown. Not one carious tooth was found among the hundreds in the mound. Many were entire in the lower jaw, the whole compactly and firmly set. In some the second set was observed; while one jaw had evident signs of a third set, a nucleus of a tooth being seen beneath the neck of a tooth of a very old jaw, whose alveolar process was gone, and the whole lower jaw ossified to a sharp edge; none showing the partial loss of teeth by caries and decay.
Some of the skulls showed evident marks of death by violence, as from the hands of the enemy in war. In one instance the flint arrowhead was seen sticking in the left parietal bone. A number of skulls were broken in, mostly at the vertex, seemingly by that rude weapon, the stone battle-ax, which was so effective on the skulls of the Spaniards in the early periods of their settlement of Florida. It is evident that sanguinary conflicts often took place between tribes of the mainland, in their disputations for those enviable islands of the sea-coast, abounding then in spontaneous productions and surrounded by fish and oysters. No remains of these, much below adult age, were found; the weak and slender frame had returned to dust. All that could be traced of their mortality was a carbonized deposit in the clean sand, with here and there a small fragment of bone.
Pursuing my investigations, and excavating farther toward the southeast face of the mound, I came upon the largest-sized stone ax I have ever seen or that had ever been found in that section of the country. Close to it was the largest and most perfect cranium of the mound, not crushed by the pressure of the earth, complete in its form, quite dry, and no sand in its cavity; together with its inferior maxillary bone, with all the teeth in the upper and lower jaws. Near by the side of this skull were the right femoris, the tibia, the humerus, ulna, and part of the radius, with a portion of the pelvis directly under the skull. All of the other bones of this large skeleton were completely or partially decayed. Contiguous to this was nearly a quart of red ocher, and quite the same quantity of what seemed to be pulverized charcoal, as materials of war-paint. Anticipating a perfect specimen in this skull, I was doomed to disappointment; for, after taking it out of the earth and setting it up, so that I could view the fleshless face of this gigantic savage, in the space of two hours it crumbled to pieces, except small portions. According to the measurement of the bones of this skeleton, its height must have been quite 7 feet.
There were three distinct rude ornaments in this mound. First, the vertebrae of a fish, painted with red ocher, and well preserved. Second, an hexagonal bead, made from the tooth of the alligator, (not painted.) Third, the internal lamina of an oyster-shell, cut into small circular spangles, pierced with a hole in the center, and threaded with the fibrillæ of the tendon of some animal, closely strung, and painted with red ocher.
Coal was freely diffused throughout the mound, which contained but little pottery. Two stone hatchets were found, and a small stone ax, in addition to the large one described. This instrument bore evident marks of fire.
There is one large mound on the eastern end of Amelia Island, Florida, and two mounds on the central portion of Cumberland Island, Georgia, likewise most of the islands on that coast, from which could be obtained large collections of materials for the advancement of ethnological science.
Source: Annual Report of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution Showing the Operations, Expenditures, and Condition of the Institution for the Year 1874 (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1875), 390-393.
While in the South during the winter of 1848, pursuing the study and collecting specimens of ornithology, I was impelled by curiosity to examine a mound of a moderate size situated on the southern portion of Amelia Island, Florida, being kindly furnished with colored laborers, and aided by Dr. R. Harrison.
This mound was about 15 feet in height, and 30 feet in diameter at the base, flattened and worn by attrition for ages; there having been two growths of live-oak upon it, as stated by an old Spanish inhabitant of the place. The soil composing the mound was of a light sandy, yellowish loam.
We commenced the examination by cutting a trench 4 feet wide directly through the center, from the apex to the base, and then another trench at right angles to the former. The excavation revealed a number of relics, and the mode of burial of the mound-builders. They must have commenced by digging into the surface of the ground about 2 feet; then, partially filling the excavation with oyster-shells, they placed their dead on these in a sitting posture, their legs bent under them, with their faces to the east, and their arms crossed upon the breast, and next spread over them a stratum of earth. It is evident that in the successive burials the earth was reopened, and the additional bodies were placed close either to the back or side of those which had been previously interred, until the whole of the first layer was complete; then the circumference of the mound was walled in by a compost of marsh-mud; and then another layer of oyster-shells was placed over the heads of the first layer of bodies, and a continuation of the mud wall, until the superincumbent layer completed the mound to its apex.
Full three centuries must have rolled their tempests over this aboriginal repository of the dead. I quite expected to find everything like mortal remains returned to dust. But in this I was in error, as throughout the mound parts or complete portions of the bony structure still remained; those on the southern or sunny side being in a more perfect state of preservation. Counting the remains existing in the different layers of this ancient tumulus, it must have contained about four hundred individuals.
As we proceeded with our work, the interior of the mound presented many objects of interest to the ethnologist. We could not, however, secure many of these, since they crumbled, except the teeth, to dust as soon as exposed to the air. I had therefore to study them mostly in the earth, carefully scraping it away with a knife.
The conformation of the crania found in this mound appears to differ somewhat from that of the present Indians; the facial angle less, with superior depth of the frontal region, and greater capacity for the anterior lobes of the brain; the outer surface of the skull somewhat oval, smooth, and regular; frontal sinuses large; high cheek-bones; cavity of the antrum large; orbital cavity of the eye deep and large; occipital protuberance very large, with a great development of the organs of philoprogenitiveness; superior depth of the base of the inferior maxillary bone; rough serratures and deep depressions for the attachments of powerful muscles of that bone.
The teeth of many of the crania of this mound were, without exceptions, in a perfect state of preservation, the vitrified enamel of these organs being capable of resisting exposure for centuries. These teeth presented distinctive appearances throughout, in the absence of the pointed canines; the incisors, canine, cuspides, and bicuspides all presented flat crowns, worn to smoothness by the attrition of sand and teeth showed the dental nerve to be protected by an unusual thickness on the surface of the crown. Not one carious tooth was found among the hundreds in the mound. Many were entire in the lower jaw, the whole compactly and firmly set. In some the second set was observed; while one jaw had evident signs of a third set, a nucleus of a tooth being seen beneath the neck of a tooth of a very old jaw, whose alveolar process was gone, and the whole lower jaw ossified to a sharp edge; none showing the partial loss of teeth by caries and decay.
Some of the skulls showed evident marks of death by violence, as from the hands of the enemy in war. In one instance the flint arrowhead was seen sticking in the left parietal bone. A number of skulls were broken in, mostly at the vertex, seemingly by that rude weapon, the stone battle-ax, which was so effective on the skulls of the Spaniards in the early periods of their settlement of Florida. It is evident that sanguinary conflicts often took place between tribes of the mainland, in their disputations for those enviable islands of the sea-coast, abounding then in spontaneous productions and surrounded by fish and oysters. No remains of these, much below adult age, were found; the weak and slender frame had returned to dust. All that could be traced of their mortality was a carbonized deposit in the clean sand, with here and there a small fragment of bone.
Pursuing my investigations, and excavating farther toward the southeast face of the mound, I came upon the largest-sized stone ax I have ever seen or that had ever been found in that section of the country. Close to it was the largest and most perfect cranium of the mound, not crushed by the pressure of the earth, complete in its form, quite dry, and no sand in its cavity; together with its inferior maxillary bone, with all the teeth in the upper and lower jaws. Near by the side of this skull were the right femoris, the tibia, the humerus, ulna, and part of the radius, with a portion of the pelvis directly under the skull. All of the other bones of this large skeleton were completely or partially decayed. Contiguous to this was nearly a quart of red ocher, and quite the same quantity of what seemed to be pulverized charcoal, as materials of war-paint. Anticipating a perfect specimen in this skull, I was doomed to disappointment; for, after taking it out of the earth and setting it up, so that I could view the fleshless face of this gigantic savage, in the space of two hours it crumbled to pieces, except small portions. According to the measurement of the bones of this skeleton, its height must have been quite 7 feet.
There were three distinct rude ornaments in this mound. First, the vertebrae of a fish, painted with red ocher, and well preserved. Second, an hexagonal bead, made from the tooth of the alligator, (not painted.) Third, the internal lamina of an oyster-shell, cut into small circular spangles, pierced with a hole in the center, and threaded with the fibrillæ of the tendon of some animal, closely strung, and painted with red ocher.
Coal was freely diffused throughout the mound, which contained but little pottery. Two stone hatchets were found, and a small stone ax, in addition to the large one described. This instrument bore evident marks of fire.
There is one large mound on the eastern end of Amelia Island, Florida, and two mounds on the central portion of Cumberland Island, Georgia, likewise most of the islands on that coast, from which could be obtained large collections of materials for the advancement of ethnological science.
Source: Annual Report of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution Showing the Operations, Expenditures, and Condition of the Institution for the Year 1874 (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1875), 390-393.
Fifth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology (1887)
The following excerpt refers to the investigation of Mound 5 in John Daviess County, Illinois, in the 1883-4 season:
No. 5, the largest of the group was carefully examined. Two feet below the surface, near the apex, was a skeleton, doubtless an intrusive Indian burial. Near the original surface of the ground, several feet north of the center, were the much decayed skeletons of some 6 or 8 persons, of every size, from the infant to the adult. They were placed horizontally at full length, with the heads toward the south. A few perforated Unio shells and some rude stone skinners and scrapers were found with them. Near the original surface, 10 or 12 feet from the center, on the lower side, lying at full length upon its back, was one of the largest skeletons discovered by the Bureau agents, the length as proved by actual measurement being between 7 and 8 feet. It was all clearly traceable, but crumbled to pieces immediately after removal from the hard earth in which it was encased. With this were three thin, crescent-shaped pieces of roughly hammered, native copper, respectively 6, 8, and 10 inches in length, with small holes along the convex margin; a number of elongate copper beads made by rolling together thin sheets; and a chert lance-head over 11 inches long. Around the neck was a series of bear teeth, which doubtless formed a necklace; there were also several upon the wrists. Lying across the thighs were dozens of small copper beads, which perhaps once adorned the fringe of a hunting shirt. These were formed by rolling slender wire-like strips into small rings.
The report was republished in the Twelfth Annual Report of 1894.
Source: Fifth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1887), 34-35.
No. 5, the largest of the group was carefully examined. Two feet below the surface, near the apex, was a skeleton, doubtless an intrusive Indian burial. Near the original surface of the ground, several feet north of the center, were the much decayed skeletons of some 6 or 8 persons, of every size, from the infant to the adult. They were placed horizontally at full length, with the heads toward the south. A few perforated Unio shells and some rude stone skinners and scrapers were found with them. Near the original surface, 10 or 12 feet from the center, on the lower side, lying at full length upon its back, was one of the largest skeletons discovered by the Bureau agents, the length as proved by actual measurement being between 7 and 8 feet. It was all clearly traceable, but crumbled to pieces immediately after removal from the hard earth in which it was encased. With this were three thin, crescent-shaped pieces of roughly hammered, native copper, respectively 6, 8, and 10 inches in length, with small holes along the convex margin; a number of elongate copper beads made by rolling together thin sheets; and a chert lance-head over 11 inches long. Around the neck was a series of bear teeth, which doubtless formed a necklace; there were also several upon the wrists. Lying across the thighs were dozens of small copper beads, which perhaps once adorned the fringe of a hunting shirt. These were formed by rolling slender wire-like strips into small rings.
The report was republished in the Twelfth Annual Report of 1894.
Source: Fifth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1887), 34-35.
Twelfth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology (1894)
The following excerpt refers to the investigation of Mound 12 in Roane County, Tennessee, in 1889:
Mound 12, measured 52 feet in diameter and 5 feet high, and like the preceding consisted chiefly of red clay closely packed and very hard. In the center, at the depth of 3 feet, was a horizontal layer of mussel shells about 1 foot thick, covering a circular area 6 feet in diameter. The shells composing this layer were packed in dark-colored earth and must have been carefully placed by hand, as they were in tiers, all with the concave side downward. Underneath the layer of shells the earth was very dark and appeared to be mixed with vegetable mold to the depth of 1 foot. At the bottom of this, resting on the original surface of the ground, was a very large skeleton lying horizontally at full length. Although very soft, the bones were sufficiently distinct to allow of careful measurement before attempting to remove them. The length from the base of the skull to the bones of the toes was found to be 7 feet 3 inches. It is probable, therefore, that this individual when living was fully 7½ feet high. At the head lay some small pieces of mica and a green substance, probably the oxide of copper, though no ornament of copper was discovered. This was the only burial in the mound.
Source: Twelfth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1894), 361-362.
Mound 12, measured 52 feet in diameter and 5 feet high, and like the preceding consisted chiefly of red clay closely packed and very hard. In the center, at the depth of 3 feet, was a horizontal layer of mussel shells about 1 foot thick, covering a circular area 6 feet in diameter. The shells composing this layer were packed in dark-colored earth and must have been carefully placed by hand, as they were in tiers, all with the concave side downward. Underneath the layer of shells the earth was very dark and appeared to be mixed with vegetable mold to the depth of 1 foot. At the bottom of this, resting on the original surface of the ground, was a very large skeleton lying horizontally at full length. Although very soft, the bones were sufficiently distinct to allow of careful measurement before attempting to remove them. The length from the base of the skull to the bones of the toes was found to be 7 feet 3 inches. It is probable, therefore, that this individual when living was fully 7½ feet high. At the head lay some small pieces of mica and a green substance, probably the oxide of copper, though no ornament of copper was discovered. This was the only burial in the mound.
Source: Twelfth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1894), 361-362.
Nineteenth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology (1900)
The following excerpt refers to a myth told by a Cherokee informant in 1897 or 1898:
James Wafford, of the western Cherokee, who was born in Georgia in 1806, says that his grandmother, who must have been born about the middle of the last century, told him that she had beard from the old people that long before her time a party of giants had come once to visit the Cherokee. They were nearly twice as tall as common men, and had their eyes set slanting in their heads, so that the Cherokee called them Tsunil’kälû’, “The Slant-eyed people,” because they looked like the giant hunter Tsul’kälû’ (see the story). They said that these giants lived very far away in the direction in which the sun goes down. The Cherokee received them as friends, and they stayed some time, and then returned to their home in the west. The story may be a distorted historical tradition.
Source: Nineteenth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1900), 391.
James Wafford, of the western Cherokee, who was born in Georgia in 1806, says that his grandmother, who must have been born about the middle of the last century, told him that she had beard from the old people that long before her time a party of giants had come once to visit the Cherokee. They were nearly twice as tall as common men, and had their eyes set slanting in their heads, so that the Cherokee called them Tsunil’kälû’, “The Slant-eyed people,” because they looked like the giant hunter Tsul’kälû’ (see the story). They said that these giants lived very far away in the direction in which the sun goes down. The Cherokee received them as friends, and they stayed some time, and then returned to their home in the west. The story may be a distorted historical tradition.
Source: Nineteenth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1900), 391.
