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Now confirmed by the university records!

A newspaper article from 1940 tells that a giant- sized skull was fund in Texas. I have now received confirmation from the University of Texas that a large skull was found in the Morhiss mound in 1939 but that the skull has been missing from the collection for a long time.



The article from 1940:

Beach Giant Skull Unearthed By WPA Workers Near Victoria

Believed to Be Largest Ever Found in World; Normal Head Also Found

That Texas "had a giant in the beach" in the long ago appears probable from the large skull recently unearthed on a mound in Victoria County, believed to be the largest human skull ever found in the United Estates and probably in the world.

Twice the size of the skull of a normal man, the fragments were dug up by W. Duffen, archeologist who is excavating the mound in Victoria County under a WPA project sponsored by the University of Texas. In the same mound and at the same level, a normal sized skull was found. The peices taken from the mound were reconstructed in the WPA laboratory under the supervision of physical anthopologists.

A study is being made to determine whether the huge skull was that of a man belonging to a tribe of extraordinary large men, or whether the skull was that of an abnormal member of a tribe, a case of gigantism. Several large human bones have been unearthed at the site.

Marcus B. Goldstein, physical anthropologist, employed on the WPA project, formerly was an aide of Alen Horliken, curator of the National Museum of Physical Anthropology.

Finds made through excavations in Texas are begining to give weight to the theory that man lived in Texas 40,000 years ago, it is said. William A Duffen Morhiss Mound digging Mammoth molar! From The Victoria Advocate - Aug 22, 1974 (here):

The Morhiss Mound , which measured 15 feet hight by 319 feet long and 168 feet wide in the middle was found approximately seven miles southeast of Victoria on land owned at the time by Patrick Welder and Tom Joshua. It was set back from the Guadalupe River about 250 feet in a jungle-like underbrush.

Work began on the Morhiss excavation in June of 1932 and lasted for most of the summer with at least 10 separate burial findings within the mound, and some 36 perfects artefact specimens being collected.

Probably the mo st unique find of any expedition in the area was at the Morhiss Mound when an undergraduate student unearthed the complete skeleton of a man that could well have been called giant. Though no specific figures were given on the size of the skeleton, photos of the head show it to be almost twice the size of a normal skull.

From another newspaper:

"Texans, back in 38.060 B.C., had big heads, WPA Victoria CO, archeological find shows. Dug from Morris mound, abnormal size of larger skull is shown in comparison with normal skull." There are many stories on the internet about remains after ancient giants found many places in the world but it is difficult to get confirmation that these findings actually took place. Well, I have found many old newspaper articles in the New York Times' archives telling about giant bones and skulls found in mounds in the USA. Often the ancient bones crumbled to dust when exposed to air but some were more solid and reportedly taken to nearby universities or museums. I have been trying to get confirmation from the museums and universities, and the first came from the Humbolt Museum in Winnemucca: They do have one of the Lovelock-giants skulls.

Morhiss Mound

Most of the newspaper articles are from the last part of 1800 to very early 1900, so it might be hard to find the correct person to contact but one article is from 1940: The San Antonio Express is telling about a giant skull that is twice the size of a normal skull - and there is also a picture. I have managed to get in touch with the University of Texas at Austin and they have been kind enough to search their archives. They found papers telling that there was a large scale archaeological excavation at the so called Morhiss Mound, situated by the Guadalupe River not far south of Victoria in Texas. After an initial correspondence I received an e-mail from Carolyn Spock who is head of records at the Texas Archeological Research Laboratory at the university:

"The particular specimen that you ask about, the large skull found at the Morhiss site in 1939, is noted in our paperwork as missing from the collection (and has been for some time, not appearing in inventories undertaken since the collection arrived at TARL)."

Prehistoric groups

The archaeologists today believe that the Morhiss Mound was a major campsite where prehistoric groups stayed at times and also a burial ground for at least 5.000 years. The first to excavate the place believed that it was a man-made mound similar to mounds found so many other places in the USA but today it is said to be made up of debris naturally deposited from the river.

Never fully analyzed

The site was excavated by archaeologists from the University of Texas during a preliminary dig in 1932 and a large scale excavation in 1938-1940. The person to lead the latter was, as the newspaper article tells, the archaeologist William A. Duffen. He had a large team of 30-40 WPA-paid workers with him and even if the excavations were well done by the standards of the day, the fieldwork concluded on the eve of World War II, and the site has never been fully analyzed and properly reported.

Early Man

During the excavation the team found a lot of interesting objects like stone tools, knives, arrowheads, unworked flint cobbles and marine shells. Plus human bones, Duffen estimated at least 219 burials could be documented, representing at least 250 individuals. They also found fossilized bones of extinct animals, and that raised the question if Early Man of North America could have coexisted with now-extinct beasts!

Did it exist?

But what about the skull of large size? Did it exist at all? Well, physical anthropologist Marcus S. Goldstein says in his manuscript; "A couple of unusual crania were unearthed at Morhiss Mound in Victoria County. One of these, although much mended and its base quite warped, is nevertheless obviously a skull of extraordinary size, in many respects larger than any yet reported."

And it was not only one for he added: "Moreover, other crania from the same site approximate the skull in question. Hence, it is my opinion that this exceptionally large skull was not the result of endocrine pathology."

Extraordinary size

The museum recorded the finding of a large skull in the Morhiss Mound and one of the anthropologists wrote in his report that it was of extraordinary size. But the skull is gone and in all other papers you will find no mentioning of a human skull of giant proportions - not even in Duffen's reports, though he does say that the "skull seems large" and that he "looks like a large individual to begin with." The head of records at the university is of the opinion that the story might have been blown out of proportion, that it might have been the head of a robust person but not out of the ordinary. Well, to me it seems that the picture in the newspaper indeed is showing a skull of extraordinary size. But where is it?



From: Carolyn Spock [mailto:c.spock@mail.utexas.edu]

Sent: 10. February 2010 07:03

To: Terje Dahl

Regarding: SV: Giant human skull

Chris Cooke sent your request for information about the WPA excavations near Victoria to our facility, as the Texas Archeological Research Laboratory (TARL) holds some WPA materials. The particular specimen that you ask about, the large skull found at the Morhiss site in 1939, is noted in our paperwork as missing from the collection (and has been for some time, not appearing in inventories undertaken since the collection arrived at TARL). I did check the reports that mentioned human remains (the authors were cited in the Texas Beyond History webpages) and none of them noted encountering an abnormally-sized skull. As a point of policy, most U. S. museums no longer have exhibits that include Native American human remains. The only time that this skull from Morhiss may have been on display was in the exhibit that the WPA lab arranged while the excavations were underway. You asked about relevant information; I can only cite the early observations, as there are no new studies on that particular skull. Physical anthropologist Marcus S. Goldstein says in his manuscript, "A couple of unusual crania were unearthed at Morhiss Mound in Victoria County. One of these, although much mended and its base quite warped, is nevertheless obviously a skull of extraordinary size, in many respects larger than any yet reported. The bones of this individual do not indicate excessive stature, but they are remarkably robust and plainly point to a very muscular man. The possibility of abnormality, perhaps an endocrine disturbance, arose immediately, but the largeness of the skull seems to be symmetrical, the hand bones do not show the 'knobbing' typical of acromegaly, and stature was evidently in no wise unusual. Moreover, other crania from the same site approximate the skull in question. Hence, it is my opinion that this exceptionally large skull was not the result of endocrine pathology." I hope this provides sufficient information. Carolyn

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Carolyn Spock

Head of Records

Texas Archeological Research Laboratory

The University of Texas at Austin

1 University Station, R7500

Austin TX 78712-0714

512.471.6006 voice 512.471.5973 fax

www.utexas.edu/research/tarl

www.texasbeyondhistory.net/ From: Carolyn Spock [mailto:c.spock@mail.utexas.edu]

Sent: 10. February 2010 08:14

To: Terje Dahl

Regarding: Re: Giant human skull

It would appear that the post-cranial material wasn't out of the ordinary, though definitely robust. No extra digits were noted in Duffen's field form for the burial, though he does say that the "skull seems large" and that he "looks like a large individual to begin with." Goldstein mentions the lack of "knobbing" in the hand bones in his description; I'm sure extra fingers would have been noted. The unusual can certainly be blown out of proportion; the last paragraph in the newspaper article stating that finds "in Texas are beginning to give weight to the theory that man lived in Texas 40,000 to 45,000 years ago" is fantastical even today. Carolyn Read more about the Morris Mound at Texas Beyond History:

http://www.texasbeyondhistory.net/morhiss/index.html

Do you have other information?

Please send me an e-mail: terje@sydhav.no