Apr 14, 2023

206: The Pennsylvania Giant

This the earliest recorded instance of a giant skeleton - whether true or not. The date is almost 50 years before the newspapers ran regular stories of such finds as mounds began to be excavated.

This skeleton was not excessive as it measured 8′2″ in length. It was found by General Mckean in 1822 while digging a cellar came upon a rock surface, this was some 6' below ground level. When he struck the rock it gave forth a hollow sound. The cap stone, or coverstone broke and fell into a vault. It was a stone tomb that was 9 feet in length and 2 and a half feet in width and two feet deep and a careful examination of the sarcophagus revealed it flagged at the bottom, the sides artistically built up, and a flat stone laid on the top. It was found in Bradford County and was measured by Dr Williams from Troy, Pennsylvania. The bones were soft and crumbled easily, but the teeth were sound and flawless.

*****

The thing about this story is a Dr examined it, they describe its length which is very plausible as even the femur we at tangatawhenua16 have comes from an 8'2" human. The bones crumbled, (an interesting observation) and there is more detail about the burial chamber in which it lay. Why it was so deep can only be put down to a very ancient age of burial. Plus this story occurred long before these skeletons were being found regularly... long before.