Proof of Giants on Earth
Were There Giants on Earth?
Humans have long expressed a mixture of fascination and fear around the question, “Were there giants on Earth?” Whether in legends or life, giants have been worshipped, reviled, ostracized, and celebrated. While the existence of dinosaurs is largely accepted, and millions of people travel across continents to marvel at majestic, larger than life monuments, the facts about human giants, or giant races, are much debated. Regardless of whether they are dismissed as myth or accepted as fact, giants represent important aspects of our individual and collective psyche. They capture our imagination, appear in religious texts, and drive scientific endeavor. But the question still remains — did giants once roam the Earth?
What Are Giants? A Brief Look at Gigantism
Merriam-Webster defines a giant as being a “legendary humanlike being of great stature and strength,” as well as “a living being of great size.” In physical terms, a giant is a person over seven feet tall with a condition known as “gigantism.” The tallest person documented modern history was Robert Wadlow (1918-1940), known as the “Alton Giant,” or the “Giant of Illinois,” who stood 8 feet 11 inches tall.
Robert Wadlow, the Alton Giant
Wadlow intended to study law, but lived as a celebrity after traveling with the Ringling Brothers Circus and as a spokesman for giant-sized shoes. He died at a young age, an all too common end for those with gigantism — their weight and size puts constant strain on the heart and skeletal system.
Today genetic giants are gaining acceptance because overall, humans have evolved into a taller species. According to Max Roser, an economist studying global standards of living conditions, between 1810 and 1980 European male height grew from an average of 160 centimeters to 185 centimeters. But despite this acceptance, giants can still find life in a normal-sized world stressful and lonely, and like Wadlow, are treated as an oddity. This contradiction mirrors the way in which giant races have been regarded throughout history.
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New Evidence Ties Younger Dryas Impact With Gobekli Tepe
What could have triggered a sudden ice age 13,000 years ago, causing massive global destruction and dramatic cultural change? A new survey of decades of compelling scientific evidence strongly indicates that it came from the sky and gave rise to the very origins of civilization.
The Younger Dryas is the name given to a geological period that took place between 12,800 and 11,500 years ago. Marked by a suddenly occurring mini-ice age, this time was one of environmental catastrophe, worldwide animal extinctions, and major changes in human culture and population. While researchers have, for decades, been debating various explanations for these cataclysmic events, one controversial hypothesis now appears to be supported by evidence.
Dr. Martin Sweatman is a scientist at the University of Edinburgh who recently completed a thorough survey of this Younger Dryas Impact Hypothesis.
“There is now this impact hypothesis, which was developed and first stated in 2007, and it suggested that this geological period—this mini-ice age that lasted for 1,300 years—was triggered by a cosmic impact with fragments of a comet,” he said.
“And so since then, since 2007, there’s been a lot of research published, some for and some against this idea.”
