Giant Bones and Vast Underground Caverns - The 19th Century Mysteries of France's Giants
Bizarre/Strange
Tuesday 23rd, January 2024
In 1889, the Pall Mall Gazette published a sensational article about the discovery of giant human bones in Vimoutiers, France. According to the report, a peasant accidentally unearthed a subterranean chamber containing partially petrified human bones of exceptionally large dimensions. The underground vault was reported to be constructed in a circular form, which has been used to hint at the possibility of a race of giants.
The report stated, "The persons who have studied the case on the spot are of the opinion that the bodies must have been interred in this burial place at a very remote period". Further excavations were temporarily halted due to subsidence, raising expectations for potentially significant discoveries.
French newspapers, including La Petit Presse, also covered the findings, referring to them as "ossements humains d’une taille étonnante" ("human bones of amazingly large size"). Additional details emerged, including the accidental fall of two horses into the expansive underground chamber and the existence of an 18 metre tunnel connecting two larger chambers.
However, despite the initial buzz generated by the reports, subsequent investigations yielded no further information or corroboration from credible scientific sources. The promised "highly interesting discoveries" seemingly faded into silence.
The Vimoutiers case was not isolated, as similar stories emerged from different regions of France. In June 1890, Monsieur Lapouge claimed to have discovered fragments of abnormally large human bones in Castelnau, near Montpellier, calculating a staggering height of 3.3 metres (11 feet) for the individual. Lapouge's findings were published in the French periodical La Nature and gained international attention.
The Castelnau valley had long been referred to by locals as the "cave of giants", adding a mythical touch to the discovery. The story made its way into newspapers worldwide, including the New York Times and Popular Science News. Yet, similar to the Vimoutiers case, the reports were not followed by rigorous scientific investigation or documentation.
In 1894, another claim emerged from Montpellier, where workers excavating a reservoir reportedly found human skulls of "gigantic proportions". The skulls, with circumferences of 28 to 32 inches, were said to belong to a race of people 3 to 4.5 metres in height. However, like their giant counterparts from Vimoutiers and Castelnau, these skulls vanished from historical records without leaving a trace.
The lack of subsequent scientific documentation, inconsistencies in the reported details, and the absence of modern evidence raises skepticism about the authenticity of these 19th century discoveries. While these tales of giant human bones captured the imagination of readers at the time, they now stand as mysterious footnotes in the history of sensationalised archaeological claims.
The report stated, "The persons who have studied the case on the spot are of the opinion that the bodies must have been interred in this burial place at a very remote period". Further excavations were temporarily halted due to subsidence, raising expectations for potentially significant discoveries.
French newspapers, including La Petit Presse, also covered the findings, referring to them as "ossements humains d’une taille étonnante" ("human bones of amazingly large size"). Additional details emerged, including the accidental fall of two horses into the expansive underground chamber and the existence of an 18 metre tunnel connecting two larger chambers.
However, despite the initial buzz generated by the reports, subsequent investigations yielded no further information or corroboration from credible scientific sources. The promised "highly interesting discoveries" seemingly faded into silence.
The Vimoutiers case was not isolated, as similar stories emerged from different regions of France. In June 1890, Monsieur Lapouge claimed to have discovered fragments of abnormally large human bones in Castelnau, near Montpellier, calculating a staggering height of 3.3 metres (11 feet) for the individual. Lapouge's findings were published in the French periodical La Nature and gained international attention.
The Castelnau valley had long been referred to by locals as the "cave of giants", adding a mythical touch to the discovery. The story made its way into newspapers worldwide, including the New York Times and Popular Science News. Yet, similar to the Vimoutiers case, the reports were not followed by rigorous scientific investigation or documentation.
In 1894, another claim emerged from Montpellier, where workers excavating a reservoir reportedly found human skulls of "gigantic proportions". The skulls, with circumferences of 28 to 32 inches, were said to belong to a race of people 3 to 4.5 metres in height. However, like their giant counterparts from Vimoutiers and Castelnau, these skulls vanished from historical records without leaving a trace.
The lack of subsequent scientific documentation, inconsistencies in the reported details, and the absence of modern evidence raises skepticism about the authenticity of these 19th century discoveries. While these tales of giant human bones captured the imagination of readers at the time, they now stand as mysterious footnotes in the history of sensationalised archaeological claims.
