Your Daily Giant 4/1/2013

 

Today's Daily Giant comes from the book Moundville by John H. Blitz, page 8. An account is given of Sheriff Hezekiah K. Powell unearthing a nine foot skeleton from the mounds in Carthage, Alabama. We are told that the skeleton eventually made its way to the Smithsonian Institution. This is a fine example of how academics handle this phenomena. Blitz states that "Powell finding a giant was not exceptional. People were digging up giants all across rural America, in keeping with the scriptural wisdom that "There were giants in the earth in those days" (Gen 6:4). The author came up with no evidence that this was a hoax or an exaggeration to base his arrogant dismissal of the account on. Is there written evidence or a record from the Smithsonian that the skeleton was only 5 foot 6? If the Sheriff had a nine foot prisoner in his cell would he know? This whistling past the graveyard approach to this phenomena, is displayed in countless Anthropological and Archaeological texts. Because a religious document contains information regarding giants, then that makes all these thousands of accounts, often by trained professionals somehow a fairytale. Personally, I am a recovering Catholic and I have no religious motivation for my research, I just have a desire to get at the truth. The Bible to me, represents another historical document that talks about giants, soberly verifying their existence, not making exaggerated claims. Although Blitz writes an entire book on Moundville, he never mentions that Dr. Walter B. Jones who led the excavation of Moundville announced from his office that one of the skeletons unearthed was 7 foot 6 with many others well over 6 feet. Jones was joined by curator William L. Halton, Assistant curator David de Jarnette and Topographer Carl T Jones all from the Alabama Museum of Natural History in the excavation. He also makes no mention of an account from the Tuscaloosa News in 1976, that reports that Dr. Jones was made an honorary citizen of Moundville. By the end of his career Dr. Jones was made Director Emeritus of the University of Alabama Museum of Natural History. From the article, "Jones early discoveries uncovered facts about Indian settlements of West Alabama before recorded history, A race which he says were giant people from 6 and a half to 7 feet tall. It was Jones and Jones alone who realized the significance of the discoveries at first." Finally, the museum that once housed these skeletons is named the Walter B. Jones Archaeological Museum. You don't get peer review from professionals but rather get this kind of filtered reality. Where has all the intellectual curiosity gone? Is it locked in a vault at the Smithsonian? The prevailing attitude seems to be, we have all the answers, stop believing in fairy tales and go back to sleep. I believe it is not time to go back to sleep but to wake the hell up.