The cook site is one of many that show that contrary to common belief the Karankawas were not nomads, he said. Remains of one site indicate that more than 350 tons of fish - black drum, redfish, trout and catfish - were prepared at that site, he said. Typical of most primitive tribes, their diet included “everything from wood rats to bison,” he added.
Although it cannot be proven that they used alligator grease, there is evidence that they traded fish oil to north Texas tribes to obtain flint and flint objects.
Smith believes that their pottery smeared with asphaltum was used to carry fish oil.
“Those vessels wouldn’t be suitable to cook in. Water passes right through asphaltum but oil does not.”
As an experiment, Smith processed some oil from black drum and the odor left on his hands was so malodorous that no one would come near him for a week, he said. He was unable to remove the odor even with cleansing preparations of lime juice. None of his colleagues were willing to test whether the oil would repel mosquitoes, he said.
An early 18th Century French sea captain, Jean Beranger, was the only European able to get along well with the Karankawas, Smith said. On one occasions he measured some of the Karankawas aboard his ship at heights ranging from 6 feet 2 inches to 6 feet 6 inches. Given that a French foot was equal to 38 centimeters, the Karankawas measured by Beranger were more than seven feet in height. Skeletal evidence also supports that the Karankawa men were “robust” and weighed 280 to 290 pounds.
The Vancouver Sun - August 18, 1922, P.9
Primitive Man, Ten Feet Tall, Is Unearthed
MEXICO CITY, Aug. 17 - The department of agriculture yesterday received from an agent on Tiburon Island, Gulf of California, the skeleton of a primitive man more than ten feet tall. It was found a few days ago. Other bones of similar size have been encountered.
The Sun - July 21, 1889, P.11
In a Hole in the Ground
The Remarkable Story of a Gold Hunter in the Belt Mountains of Montana
From the St. Paul Pioneer-Press
Every resident of Montana and many visitors to the famous Territory know that the Belt Mountains have always been the seat of mysterious stories, and that in their numerous gulches and canyons have been picked up wonderful relics. Among the most curious are agatized human maxillaries and teeth, all of gigantic size. Gold in quantities has been found in the Belt Mountains, and rubies, sapphires, and even diamonds are shown as products of one or the other portions of the Territory. The Helena correspondent of the Pioneer-Press sends a remarkable story, accompanied by numerous attestations to its truth. It was told by a gold hunter. He said that while prospecting in the Belt Mountains he found a peculiar depression in the ground. After excavating he discovered a mysterious cavern, reached by twenty-three steps.
“At the foot of the stairs,” said he, “on one side of the passage lay the skeleton of a man of immense stature. The skeleton measured exactly nine feet six inches in height. The skull lay a few inches from the trunk, and between the two lay 27 nuggets. They were strung on a fine gold wire, and ranged from one ounce to ten in weight. Around the thigh, arm, and shin bones were other strings of nuggets, none of which weighed more than four ounces. There were about fifteen pieces of gold in the pile. They were of many different shapes. None of them weighed over three ounces, and each piece had a hole through the centre. On each side of the skull I found some sort of precious stones. They lay in a tiny golden basket, and were evidently worn in the ears. I do not know what name to give them, but I believe they are rubies.
“Beside the trunk of the skeleton I found a copper axe, with an edge harder and keener than any steel instrument of the kind I have overseen. On the opposite side was a club made of the same metal as the axe. It was shaped not unlike a baseball bat. Under the trunk was a gold plate ten inches long, six inches wide, and one-eighth of an inch thick. It was covered with strange devices. A little further on lay another skeleton, that of a woman. I picked up a string of nuggets near this skull also. They were perfectly round and exactly the same size. They weighed about three ounces apiece. Every now and then I came to other skeletons, and, although by nearly every one of them I found necklaces, yet strange to say they were made of round copper balls.
“The catacombs, as I have named this passage, are about 300 feet long, fourteen feet wide, and thirty high, and seem to have been cut out of the solid rock. At the end of the gallery is a room sixty feet square and forty high. In the centre of this room stands a block of granite about twelve feet square and four feet high. It seems as though the rock had been hewn out around it. It is perfectly square, and it is exactly the same distance from the walls of the room on every side. There are steps cut in the rock leading to the top of the hall. On the top stands another block of granite, ten feet long, four wide and three high. This is hollowed out in the shape of a human form. I lay down in this and, though I am not a small man by any means, yet the mould was much too large for me. Around the room were scattered vessels of clay, some of which will hold 25 gallons. They are light, yet tougher than wrought iron. I tried to break one of them by dashing it against the granite flooring of the room. I could not even scratch it. Altogether I gathered up 500 ounces of gold in the underground passage.”
Stark County Democrat - May 18, 1900, Weekly Edition, P.7
The State Republican - September 10, 1891, P.1
Further investigation of the Sweeny mounds, near Carthage, IL, resulted in the unearthing of hundreds of human skeletons of giant proportions.
Anaconda Standard - April 29, 1890, P.3
The Pony Express says that one day last week carpenters on the Isdell irrigating ditch unearthed a skeleton of mammoth proportions. By actual measurement it was 13 feet and two inches in length. The circumference of the skull when measured was found to be 37 inches. The feet were 21 inches in length. This is the second discovery of this kind made near Pony during the past year. Ed Sparrel, while sinking a shaft on his mine near Richmond Flats last June, exhumed a skeleton of even larger proportions than the one in question. From the thigh down it measured five feet and three inches and was 17 feet in height. It is supposed that these skeletons are descendants of the historical tribe of giants known as Polos. The curiosity is now on exhibition at Dr. Cooper’s office.
Spokane Daily Chronicle - February 2, 1909, P.1
Fifteen Feet Tall
NEW YORK, Feb 2 - The skeleton of a prehistoric man of large size has been found at a town 10 miles southeast of the City of Mexico, according to news received here yesterday. The discovery was made by a peon, who unearthed a skeleton which measured about 15 feet in height. It probably will be turned over to the National Museum in Mexico. The find has revived the Aztec legend that ages ago a giant race inhabited parts of the Mexican plateau.
St. Petersburg Times - January 26, 1951, P.17
Traces of Ancient Giants Unearthed in Ireland
By Derry Moran, UPS Staff Correspondent
DUBLIN (UP) - Irish archaeologists have unearthed traces of a bygone race of “supermen.”
The findings may provide scientific substantiation for legends of a race of seven-foot giants who inhabited the Island of Hibernia (Ireland) in its golden age, long before the dawn of history.
In a prehistoric burial chamber dating back to 2000 B.C., they found human skeletons which tower head and shoulders over modern man, stretched in slab-topped graves with offerings of food and ornaments beside them.
Most are around 7 feet in height, of extraordinary width of shoulder and massive bone construction.
In the yellowed pages of Irish folklore and mythology, seven-foot giants stride gloriously through a “land of milk and honey,” battling strange monsters and performing fantastic deeds of physical strength and endurance.
LEGENDS PERSIST - In the remote rural areas, old folks still point out where, according to legend, the great Irish warrior Cuchalainn crushed the imprint of his mighty foot in the rocky bank of a river after a colossal leap across a raging tor
rent. Throughout the nation, story tellers relate similar feats by other Irish warriors and heroes of the island’s golden past. Now, for the first time, what may be concrete evidence has come to hand to support the legends of a race of supermen.
The burial chambers, hidden for nearly 4000 years under mounds of overgrown earth, first came to notice some 100 years ago, when local inhabitants began a search for gold but were deterred by mysterious and terrifying rumblings coming from within.
In July of this year, however, the mounds surrendered peacefully and silently their hidden treasures to a team from the National Museum.
The burial chambers at Four Knocks, Clonalvey, County, Meath, are not far from the historic Hill of Tara, scene of the court of the ancient kings of Hibernia.
DATES ESTABLISHED - The date of most of the findings has been established as between 1500 and 2000 B.C., and Dublin archaeologists reckon it to be one of the oldest burial grounds in Europe.
The chamber, which is 15 feet in circumference and 16 feet from floor to roof, is constructed from overlapping flagstones and contains three small alcoves, arranged in cruciform plan.
On the floor of the chamber were found small drilled pebbles believed once to have been beads of primitive necklaces and trinkets.
Large quantities of cremated bones and charcoal testified that the chamber was in use once as the local crematorium.
The graves, which were made of great stone slabs, also contained earthenware urns characteristic of vessels dating from 2000 B.C.
Another mound is already being opened and officials are confident that they will unearth similar graves and even more important finds than already brought to light.
St. Petersburg Times - July 25, 1954, P.110
It is well authenticated colonization attempts sailed up Tampa Bay and met disaster at the hands of fierce Timucan Indians, a tribe of giant sun worshiping heathens who controlled all the land from Sarasota to the Suwanee River. Skeletons dug up on Longboat Key and Terra Ceia Island are seven feet tall - and one eight-foot skeleton was unearthed. Early drawings show them towering over the Spaniards.
St. Paul Daily Globe - February 24, 1891, P.1
Petrified Giant
Discovery of a Body with Legs Eight Feet in Length
Helena, MT, Feb. 23 - Vital Jarcot, a half-breed, who carries mail between Fort McGinnis and Rocky Point, brings the news of the discovery of the petrified remains of a giant in the badland of Choteau county, a few miles below the mouth of the Mussel Shell river. The discovery was made by Lata Dona, another half-breed, who started off to find a purchaser for his curiosity before Jarcot could get a complete description. The remains were not complete, showing the petrifaction had only taken place in a portion of the body, while the remainder had followed the course of nature and returned to dust. One leg was 8 feet long, the thigh being about 4 feet. A rib found measured 2 ½ feet. Petrifaction is no unusual thing in the badlands of Montana and the Dakotas. Wood in that state is frequently found. The petrified body of an Indian was found in North Dakota about a year ago. Jarcot, who brings the story, was perfectly sober.
Sarasota Herald Tribute - June 28, 1933, P.6
Search Reveals Huge Skeletons of Extinct Race
Natchez, MS - Skeletons of Indians estimated to have been more than 7 feet tall have been unearthed by explorers of Catahoula Parish, Louisiana.
A search for locations for study by members of the Smithsonian Institution disclosed from 15 to 20 skeletons in a grave on a mound at Larte Lake.
The discovery was made by Dr. E.A. Beithaupt and E.W. Knight and was regarded as contributing to the theory that the pre-historic mound builder once lived there.
The New York Times - April 9, 1885
Missouri’s Buried City
A Strange Discovery in a Coal Mine Near Moberly
St. Louis, MO, April 8 - The city of Moberly, MO, is stirred up over the discovery of a wonderful buried city, which was discovered at the bottom of a coal shaft, 360 feet deep, which was being sunk near the city. A hard and thick stratum of lava arches in the buried city, the streets of which are regularly laid out and enclosed by walls of stone, which is cut and dressed in a fairly good, although rude, style of masonry. A hall 30 by 100 feet was discovered, wherein were stone benches and tools of all descriptions for mechanical service. Further search disclosed statues and images made of a composition closely resembling bronze, lacking luster. A stone fountain was found, situated in a wide court or street, and from it a stream of perfectly pure water was flowing, which was found to be strongly impregnated with lime. Lying beside the foundation were portions of the skeleton of a human being. The bones of the leg measured, the femur four and one-half feet, the tibia four feet and three inches, showing that when alive the figure was three times the size of an ordinary man, and possessed of a wonderful muscular power and quickness. The head bones had separated in two places, the sagittal and the coronal sutures having been destroyed. The implements found embrace bronze and flint knives, stone and granite hammers, metallic saws of rude workmanship, but proved metal, and others of similar character; they are not so highly polished, no so accurately made, as those now finished by our best mechanics, but they show skill and an evidence of an advanced civilization that are very wonderful. The searching party spent 12 hours in the depths, and only gave up explorations because of the oil in their lamps being low. No end to the wonders of the discovery was reached. The facts above given are vouched for by Mr. David Coates, the Recorder of the city of Moberly, and Mr. George Keating, City Marshal, who were of the exploring party. A further extended search will be made in a day or two.
New Ulm Review - September 12, 1900, P.7
Find Bones of Giant Indian
North Shore Policemen at Chicago Dig Up Remains in the Sand
The skeleton of a giant, who, when he walked the shores of Lake Michigan, stood seven feet and four inches high in his moccasin feet, was discovered in Rogers Park the other day, and upon the discovery hinged an afternoon’s wonderment. Joseph and Charles Everett, boys who live in Ridge Boulevard near Pratt Avenue, made the find and reported it at the Rogers Park police station.
Dr. John Klein, one of the searching party, declared that the skeleton was that of an Indian chief. Further search, among other things, disclosed a copper knife, arrowheads, a quantity of gold and a moccasin. The skeleton was taken in the patrol wagon to the Rogers Park police station. Later is was given to Dr. Klein. The doctor will mount the skeleton and send it to Leipsic University.
Ashburton Guardia, Vol. VIII, Issue 1715, 19 November 1887, P.3
Alleged Discovery of the Skeleton of a Giant
The Oil City (Penn) “Simet” is responsible for the following: While William Thompson, Assisted by Robert R. Smith, was engaged in making an excavation near the house of the former about half a mile north of West Hickory, preparatory to erecting a derrick, 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. Curiosity incited them to enlarge the hole, and after a little time they discovered the bones of two enormous feet. Following up the “lead” they had so unexpectedly struck, in a few hours’ time they had unearthed a well-preserved skeleton of an enormous giant, belonging to a species of the human family which probably inhabited this and other parts of the world at the time of which the Bible speaks, when it says, “and there were giants in those days.” The helmet is said to be in the shape of those found among the ruins of Nineveh. The bones of the skeleton 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 people daily. When his giantship was in the flesh, he must have stood 18 feet in his stockings. These remarkable relics will be forwarded to New York early next week. The joints of the skeleton are now being glued together. These remains were found about 12 feet below the surface of a mound which had been thrown up probably centuries ago and
which was not more than three feet above the level of the ground around it. Here is another nut for antiquarians to crack.
Boston Evening transcript - June 12, 1906, P.2
Our Own Archaeology
A Valuable Relic of a Former Age Found in Nebraska, and What it Tells
Omaha World Herald - A find of the greatest archaeological interest was made some days ago a few feet back of the bungalow of Myron L. Learned, on the very top of the high bluff a half mile north of the village of Florence, by graders preparing for the foundations of an extension of the present building. Under about two feet of vegetable mould and half a foot of loose deposit, of which the bluffs are formed, E. Wicke, the contractor doing the grading, ploughed up what appears to be a stone spearhead. The implement, which is seven and one-quarter inches long from the extreme point of its base to its sharpened end and three inches wide at its widest point, is considered to be the most symmetrical and the best made ever found in the State.
On the Trail of the Nephilim, Volume One Page 3