1901, March 14: Giant Skeleton found in Illinois

The Legend:

On March 15, 1901, the newspaper Daily Review published an article titled "Bones of a Giant" that detailed the remarkable find of a giant human skeleton on the farm of Z.B. Job of East Alton in Illinois, USA, the day before. The bones were of a man, and had been in the ground so long that they crumbled as the workmen touched them... only the skull remained intact.

[Picture sources here.]

Shown here, the skull was taken to Alton to be exhibited. The skeleton had been discovered while a large mound that had been in the area for as long as anyone could remember was being leveled off.

The Real Story

        So, first off... note that the above picture is just a skull. There is nothing that could show it has an unusual size to begin with; not a person's hand, a ruler, or an everyday object that would suggest the scale of the skull. So as photographic evidence of giants, this is useless.

        Secondly, the skull shown did not come from Illinois, does not belong to a man, and is not of gigantic size... it is called the "Minnesota Woman," and is chiefly known by archaeologists for it's estimated age of 8,000 years. The bones of this woman were found on June 16, 1931, near Pelican Rapids in Minnesota, USA, during the construction of a roadway. She was estimated to have been 15-16 years old at death, and was found with items that contained a conch shell that would have come from Florida; so either she or her stuff had traveled a long way. The skull and bones of this woman are of an average size for humans today -- not giant.

        Thirdly, the only source for the legend above is a website called the Nephilim Chronicles, and they are also the source that links the picture to the story... the story appears to be purely their own invention, posted first some time in 2014. Not surprisingly, their website is trying to sell a book on the topic of archaeological giants... I'd give it a miss.