Regular Episode
#010 – Fee-Fi-Fo-Fum!
There were Giants in the earth
in those days… —Genesis 6:1
(Photo by John and Keturah. Used under a Creative Commons license.)
Giants appear in cultures around the world: Biblical tales of giants more than ten feet tall; Roman and Greek stories of titans and heroes; European stories of giants of mountain and hill. They all have one thing in common: enormous monsters.
On this episode of MonsterTalk we chat with archeologist Dr. Ken Feder about giants, biblical archeology — and one of the biggest hoaxes in American history.
In this episode
- The bible has stories of races of giants (but also people who lived to be several hundred years old!); Is there any reason to think that people who lived in ancient times were any larger than modern man?
- Are humans generally growing shorter or taller over milliennia?
- Why do ancient cultures postulate giants?
- What evidence would we expect to see if such creatures existed?
- From a physiological point of view, what are the advantages and detriments to gigantism?
- Gigantism often is implicit in the term “monster,” — almost all monsters are large (Bigfoot, Nessie, etc.) — you don’t really hear about many “monsters” that are only a few feet tall; what do you see as the link between gigantism and monsters?
- One of the most famous hoaxes in American history is The Cardiff Giant. Can you give us an overview of that?
- Were most scientists fooled by the giant?
- Why were so many people treating the Biblical giant-tales as literal truth?
- Are there other examples where people have misinterpreted archeological data to infer that it implied Giants?
- Does giant architecture imply giant builders?
Interesting links
A site that seems to promote credulous acceptance of retouched photographic evidence.
Music
- Opening Music: Battle of the Stone Giants by Dragon Ritual Drummers
- Monstertalk Theme: Monster by Peach Stealing Monkeys
Episode Transcript
Read a complete transcript of this episode.
Blake Smith
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