The Ancient Giants Who Ruled America
by Richard J Dewhurst
12
INSIGHTS INTO ORIGINS
THE SCYTHIAN CONNECTION
In many of the reports I came across there was conjecture as to the roots of the mound-builder race. The
two top contenders posited by various authors seem to be the ancient Cretans and the ancient Scythians. In
the following excerpt from Haywood’s history of Tennessee, he cites the Scythian’s large stature, burial
practices involving barrows, and custom of scalping enemies as examples of their influence.
The Natural and Aboriginal History of Tennessee, 1823
BY DR. JOHN HAYWOOD
When we reflect that the Scythian nations between the Danube and the Tanais, as late as within one
century of the Christian era were of a size which astonished the southern inhabitants of Europe and
Asia; that they scalped their enemy; that they buried their dead in heaps of earth thrown over them
with such articles as were deemed by the deceased most valuable in his lifetime; and that their
tumuli, or barrows, are yet to be seen in the plains towards the upper part of the Irish and Jenesee and
from the banks of the Volga to the lake Baikal; we cannot refrain from the conclusion, that this
skeleton belonged to a human body of the same race, education, and notions with those who lived on
the Volga, Tanais, and Obey.
The same unknown cause, which, in the course of 2000 years, has reduced the size of the ancient
Scythians and their tribes, the Gauls and Germans and Sarmatians has produced the same effects here.
The descendants of these giants, both in the old and new world, agree with each other in bulk, as their
ancestors did with each other, which proves a uniform cause operating equally both in the old and
new world. The decrease in bulk seems to have kept pace everywhere with the increase of warm
temperature and with the abbreviation of longevity.
The giants of Hebron and Gath and those of Laconia and Italy, whose large skeletons to this day
attest that there they formerly dwelt, compared with those now found in West Tennessee, demonstrate
that a change of climate or of some other cause has worked a remarkable change in the human system;
and with respect to the mammoth, the megalonyx, and other animals, has either extinguished or driven
them into other and far distant latitudes. Nature, as it grows in age, is less vigorous than at the
beginning, and its productions correspond with its debility, and the time must come, when she, like
all her productions, will give up the ghost and work no more. But the principal use we have to make
of the skeleton before us is to discover first that he came from a cold or northern climate and not from
the south, as the primitive aborigines did, for men of large stature were never found within the
tropics.
Second, that he must have come from the north of Europe or Asia, because of the similarity of
customs already remarked. Third, that he probably belonged to those northern tribes, which some
centuries ago exterminated the nations that had come from the south and were settled upon the
Cumberland and its waters.
With this skeleton was found another of nearly the same size, with the top of his head flat, and his
eyes placed apparently in the upper part of his forehead. The Aztecs or Mexicans represent their
principal divinities, as their hieroglyphical manuscripts prove, with a head much more flattened than
any that have been seen amongst the Caribs, and they never disfigured the heads of their children.
Concerning the Unnatural Practice of Child-Boarding Skulls
But many of the southern tribes have adopted the barbarous custom of pressing the heads of their
children between two boards, in imitation, no doubt, of the Mexican form, which, in their estimation
was beautiful, or in some way advantageous. And here it may not be amiss to mention, that the
Chileans, who lived as far to the south of the equator, as formerly did the Scythians, Goths, Vandals,
Gauls, and Germans—on the other side of it—were men of large stature.
One remark may be of some use in the drawing of inferences from the preceding facts. The
skeletons, we find, are entirely under conical mounds or, in part, consumed by fire, and under such
mounds, or entirely in shallow graves with flat rocks placed on the edges, at the sides, and at the
head and feet. They may also be entirely above the common surface and in the conical mounds
enclosed in rocks that are placed together in the form of a box. The skeletons may stand erect in such
boxes, with the head some depth below the surface.
To burn and cover with a mound, is Hinduic or Grecian, and belonging to the ancient countries of
Asia Minor, and probably belonged to the aborigines of America. To cover the entire body is
Scythic. To bury in graves or in boxes is Ethiopic, Egyptian, and in part Hebraic, the Hebrews having
learned it during their residence in Egypt, though they did not generally adopt it.
It may be concluded that the mounds over entire bodies are Scythic; graves and boxes are Hebraic;
boxes in the mounds are Hebraic and Scythic; and the unconsumed skeletons we see here are either
pure Scythians or Hebrew Scythians, whilst all others are Hinduic, or in other words aboriginal. The
large men of the world have always been found in the north, and they have often invaded and broken
up the people of the south. They have never been found in the south; nor have the people of the south
ever broken up their settlements there and marched upon those of the north to expel them from their
possessions in order to make room for themselves.
The men who deposited the skeletons we are now contemplating were of northern growth, and they
came to the south to drive away the inhabitants whom they found there and to seat themselves in their
possessions.
The Giants’ Love for Martial Music
About 18 miles east from Rogersville in the county of Hawkins in East Tennessee was ploughed up a
stone trumpet. It tapers on the outside from either end to the middle and is there surrounded by two
rings of raised stone. The inside at each end is a hollow, of an inch and a quarter in diameter; but at
one end the orifice is not as large as at the other. Probably the sound is shrill and sharp when blown
from one end, and more full and sonorous when blown from the other.
The hollow continues throughout, from the one end to the other, and in the middle, under the rings, it
is not as wide as at the ends. It seems to have been made of hard soapstone; and when blown through,
makes a sound which may be heard perhaps two miles. It is very smooth on the outside, but rough
within.
An Ancient Hunting Horn
Probably it was used for similar purposes to those for which the trumpet of the Israelites was used,
namely to convene assemblies and to regulate the movements of the army. On days of rejoicing it was
used to make a part of the musical sounds with which the people were entertained. From it, perhaps,
these deductions may be made. There were no large hollow horns in the country, which could have
been used for the same purpose, and more effectually, too, as large steer horns are now used by
hunters. But a more important question is: Whence could those who made the trumpet have known its
properties and use? They could not have attained that knowledge by blowing through the large horns
of animals because there were none such here, or they never would have made this stone trumpet.
“Prior to the Departure of the Israelites from Egypt, There Is No Scriptural or Other Account
of Trumpets”
Most evidently, it was conceived to be of great value; otherwise so much time, as must necessarily
have been consumed in fashioning and hollowing it, would not have been spent for such purpose. The
makers must have learnt its use from some nation that employed the trumpet in sounding charges, or
for giving directions to march, or to stop the pursuit of an enemy. Prior to the departure of the
Israelites from Egypt, there is no scriptural or other account of trumpets.
In Egypt, Pharaoh followed the army of the Israelites with chariots and horsemen, but the trumpet is
not spoken of. It was sounded on Mount Sinai, where God delivered the law to Moses; and it is
intimated that the people had never before heard the sound of the trumpet. “The voice of the trumpet
was exceedingly loud, so that all the people that were in the camp trembled. And all the people saw
the thundering and the lightning and the noise of the trumpet and the mountains smoking; and when the
people saw it, they removed and stood afar off.” Afterwards it was directed that two trumpets should
be made for convening the elders and for giving signals for the marching of the tribes.
Some were to march at one signal, and some at another. A signal was appointed for convening the
whole congregation. Sometime afterward, the Israelites made use of trumpets for various other
purposes; but being separated by their natural institutions and religion from all the other people of the
world, soon communicated to them the use of this instrument (Exodus, ch. 14, v. 6, 7, ch. 19, v. 13,
16, ch. 20, v. 18).
When Bacchus overran India with an army from the west, the use of the trumpet was not known. In
the time of the Trojan War, neither Greeks nor Trojans used the trumpet. The Trojans had in their
camp the sound of flutes and of pipes. Stentor, a man of mighty voice, proclaimed to the army the
orders which were given by the general. In the year 14 before Christ, when Darius the Mede crossed
the Danube and invaded the Scythians, on his return, finding the bridge broken down, which he had
left, he caused an Egyptian, remarkable for the loudness of his voice, to pronounce with all his
strength, the name of the admiral of the fleet, who immediately answered and came to him, and made
a new bridge of boats, for his transportation. A trumpet could have been much more effectually used,
and could have sent the appointed signal to a much greater distance.
When Xerxes invaded Greece, 478 years before Christ, no trumpet was then used; the signal for
battle was given by torchbearers. In after times it was given by drum or trumpet. Signals also
announcing any important occurrence were given by holding up a torch of fire. Soon after the
invasion of Greece by the Persians, trumpets were used in Greece for many purposes, as well as
those relative to the motions of their armies. The Greeks probably learned it from the Phoenicians.
The dispersed Israelites, either those carried into captivity by the Assyrians or those of the Chaldean
captivity have imparted the knowledge of the trumpet and its uses, to the people from whom it came,
mediately or immediately, to the Americans who made the trumpet in question. The communication
must have been made in or subsequent to the sixth century before the Christian era, possibly several
centuries afterwards. But still it furnishes an additional and strong evidence of the fact inferred,
namely: that the trumpet and its uses came either mediately or immediately from the countries of the
east, where the trumpet was first used.
Thence they may have obtained the knowledge of it through various nations; or possibly were the
descendants of the very Israelites, who were removed by the Assyrians to the east and north of the
Caspian sea and of the Euxine; and who built on the east of the former, the city of Charazen, named
after a city of the same name on the east of the river Jordan and the city of Samarsand, originally,
before the name was corrupted, called Samaria, after the city of that name from which the ten tribes
were carried into captivity.
Near to this mound is a cave, which contained, at the time of the first settlements by the whites, a
great number of human skulls without any other appearance of human bones near them. Baal and
Ashteroth, spoken of in scripture, were the sun and moon. The latter being a female, was also called
the Queen of Heaven, Venus, Urania, Succoth-bemoth, Diana, Hecate, Lucena, Celestes and was
represented with breasts, sometimes all over, to signify that she is the supplier of the juices that are
essential to animal and vegetable existence. Mr. Earle has lately made another and more scrutinizing
examination of this mound, by which have been brought to light several particulars of great
consequence in this discussion.
Situated near Sulphur Springs—Mining in the Area
His report follows: This mound is situated in a plain and is surrounded by hills, which enclose from
75 to 80 acres of flat land, with three fine sulphur springs, and at the junction of four roads leading to
different parts of the state, and considerably traveled, and about two miles from Cragfont, the
residence of General Winchester. This is the place where Spencer and his friend Mr. Brake spent the
winter of 1779 and 1780.
The trunk of the tree, which they inhabited during this hard winter, is just visible above the ground.
The diameter is 13 feet. The mound measures, beginning at the northwest corner, running east, four
and a half poles to the northeast corner; then the horizontal projection from the principal mound, north
one pole; then east 11 poles, to the southeast corner; then west 11 poles, to the original mound; thence
with the original mound west 4 poles; thence north 4 poles, to the northwest corner before mentioned.
The elevation to the top of the chief mound is 2 poles; its diameter 2 poles, in the center, and from
three to four feet. The declivity of the mound is an angle of about 45 degrees. A tree of considerable
size is yet growing on the mound, and a decayed stump of 2 feet in diameter, but too much decayed to
count the annual rings or circles in it.
An entrenchment and circumvallation encloses 40 acres and encircles this mound and others of
lesser size. There is also a circumvallate parapet, five feet high. On the parapet are small tumuli
like watch-towers, about 95 feet distant from one to the other. In the line of circumvallation, and from
each fifth tumulus, there is an average distance of 45 or from thence to 180 feet to the next one. It thus
continues around the whole breastwork.
Mr. Earle dug into the parapet in several places, from two to three feet in depth, and found ashes,
pottery ware, flint, mussel shells, coal, and so forth. On the outside of the entrenchment are a number
of graves. In several different places, flat stones are set up edge-wise, enclosing skeletons buried
from 12 to 18 inches under the surface.
Three hundred yards distant from the great mound, on the southwest side of the entrenchment, is a
mound of 50 yards in circumference, and six in height. In the opposite direction, from this to the
northeast stands another smaller mound, and of the same dimensions as the one last mentioned. So
that the three stand upon a line, from northeast to southwest, in the same order as the trimurti arc
placed even to this day in the temple of Juggernaut.
The next (in size) principal mound was within the intrenchment in a southeast course from the great
mound and about 170 yards distant, circumference 90 yards, elevation 100 feet. Thirty-five yards
distant, in a southwest course, is a small tumulus, two thirds as large as the one last mentioned. At the
same distance, on the northeast corner of the great mound, is another of the same size as that last
mentioned. Each of these tumuli hath a small one of about half its size in the center between them and
the great mound. The earth in which this mound was constructed, appears to have been taken, not
from one place, leaving a cavity in the earth, but evenly fixing all the surface around the mound.
Mounds are spaced by intervals of five. In about 200 yards distant, extending from the mound, the
soil has been taken off to a considerable depth. The corn, which is planted within this place, yields
but a small increase. The tumuli upon the parapet project beyond it, both inwards and outwards: the
summit of these being 15 feet above the summit of the parapet, and 5 feet above the surface of the
common earth. They are 10 or 12 feet in diameter at the base.
Between every fifth tumulus and the next tumulus, which is the first of the next five, there is a large
interstice. One of the intervals to the north, is 180 feet wide. The next toward the west, is 145 feet.
The summit of each tumulus diverges from the base toward a point but at the top is flat and wide
enough for two or three men to stand on. The common distance between the tumuli is 95 feet, without
any variation. The entrenchment is on the inside of the parapet all around. From it the parapet has
been made.
Alternating Levels of Ash and Earth
Mr. Earle commenced his excavation on the north side of the principal mound, ten feet above the
common surface of the earth, and penetrated to the center of the mound in a cavity of about 7 feet in
breadth. Two feet from the summit was found a stratum of ashes 14 inches through to a stratum of
earth. On the east side of the cavity the sania stratum of ashes was oily from three to four inches in
depth. The diggers then came to the common earth, which was only two feet through to the same
substance, ashes. Then again commenced the layers of ashes from one to two inches through to the
earth; then again to ashes; and so the layers continued alternately, as far as they proceeded. The layers
of ashes were counted as far as the excavation descended, and amounted to 28.
The earth between the layers of ashes was of a peculiar description: yellow and grey. The ashes
were of a blackish color. The yellow earth was of a saponaceous and flexible nature. The grey was
of a similar kind to that of the common earth.
At eight feet from the top of the mound, they came to a grave, which had the appearance of having
once been an ancient sepulcher. The earth caved in as the diggers sunk the cavity. The cause of this
was soon ascertained to be the skeleton of a child in quite a decayed state, but sufficiently preserved
to ascertain the size. Doctor Green and Doctor Saunders of Cairo examined the bones and
pronounced them to be the bones of a child. This skeleton was lying on three cedar piles, five feet
and a half in length, and considerably decayed but sound at the heart.
The head of the child lay towards the east, facing the west, with a jug made of sandstone, lying at
its feet. This jug or bottle was of the ordinary size of modern gallon bottles, such as are commonly
manufactured at Pittsburgh, with the exception that the neck is longer, and there is an indentation upon
its side, indicating that a strap was used to carry it.
The grave was on the east side of the cavity, eight feet from the center of the mound north. The
excavation from the top of the mound; perpendicularly into the earth was 13 feet. At the time they
found the grave as above mentioned, they also found other graves, and small pieces of decayed
human bones, and bones of animals, amongst which was the jaw bone with the tusk attached to it, of
some unknown animal. The jaw bone is about a foot long, having at the extremity a tusk one inch and
a half in length. The tusk is in the same form as that of Cuvier’s mastodon, but has more curvature.
Having been accidentally broken, it was found to be hollow. The jaw bone has in it at this time,
two grinders, like those of ruminating animals, with an empty socket for one other of the same size,
and one large single tooth. Towards the extremity of the jaw and near to the tusk, is another small
socket, calculated for a tooth of minor magnitude. This jaw bone was found at the depth of 18 feet
from the surface of the earth. They also found the bones of birds, arrow points of flint, pottery ware,
some of which was glazed, mussel shells and trinkets, coal, isinglass (mica), burnt corncobs.
The further they penetrated downwards, the greater were the quantities of flat stone, found all
standing edgewise, promiscuously placed, with the appearance of once having underwent the action
of fire, and finding at every few inches, a thin stratum of ashes and small pieces of human bones. At
19 feet they dug up part of a corncob, and small pieces of cedar completely rotted.
MOUND BUILT PRECISELY TO THE CARDINAL POINTS
Despite the fact that astronomical and geographic alignments have been studied at major mound sites like
Cahokia, similar studies on lesser-known mound sites have never been performed. That is why this
account is so interesting. In it Haywood notes, “This mound was built precisely to the cardinal points, as
were the mounds of Mexico, the pyramids of Egypt, and the Chaldean tower of Babel. Like them, its top
was flattened. The image, which once stood on its top, was similar to that of Ashtoreth, or the moon.”
This mention of an Ashtoreth-like moon image that was found on top of the mound is tantalizing, to say the
least. Now let’s return to Haywood’s narrative.
We will now make a few remarks. This mound was built precisely to the cardinal points, as were the
mounds of Mexico, the pyramids of Egypt, and the Chaldean tower of Babel. Like them, its top was
flattened. The image, which once stood on its top, was similar to that of Ashtoreth, or the moon.
Those who worshipped stood on the east of the image on the platform and held their heads towards
her. The ditch was probably dug with metallic tools. That and the parapet perhaps represented the
year. The five tumuli represented the five days into which the Mexicans divided time. The interstices,
the four quarters into which each Mexican month was divided. The whole composing the 72 quintals
that made up the year, or 360 days. The wider passages to the north and south, east and west, like the
Hindu temple of Seringham, which is heretofore described represented the four quarters or seasons
of the year. The walls around the ancient temples of India are passed by passages precisely to the
cardinal points.
The three mounds in a line, the larger being in the middle, represent the trimurti, or three great
deities of India, upon all three of which idols were probably once placed, as they are now placed in
the temple of Juggernaut and are intended to represent EOA, or Ye-Ho-Wah: whence in every country
in Asia, including the Hebrews, came the sacred reverence for the number three, which is so apparent
in all their solemnities. Part of this name, the A and O, or the alpha and omega, yet signify with us, the
beginning and end of all things with three attributes, which is, which was, and which is to come. This
was a part of the description, which belonged to the triune great one whom idolatry caused mankind
to lose sight of, whilst those who only worshipped a spiritual God, preserved it in its original purity.
But in every country, whether corrupted by idolatry or not, proceeds from the great, original, and
uncorrupted religion, which emanated immediately and directly from EOA or the great good spirit.
It cannot be conceived for a moment, that here was a fortification for military purposes. For when
did ever any such work have so many passages, so regularly and equally placed. The worshippers of
the heavenly hosts were the greatest cultivators of astronomy, whilst the only religion of the world
opposed to them, the Vatican raged the contemplation of those objects of her heathenish adoration.
They involved in the circle of their adorables, all the constellations and planets.
THE MOUNDS REPRESENT THE PLEIADES
Modern readers are familiar with the sensation that was caused when Robert Bauval likened the
arrangement of the Great Pyramid complex to Orion’s belt. In this account, which is almost two hundred
years old, Haywood notes a similar stellar arrangement in the placement of the mounds he is examining in
Tennessee, only this time in relation to the Pleiades.
In some places we see a mound and five or six smaller ones around, which seem to represent the
Pleiades, and sometimes other luminaries seem to be represented. These layers of ashes are unlike
those in the time of the Trojan War over which were raised mounds of earth, after the bodies of
Patroclus and Hector were consumed in them, and their bones taken away and put into an urn.
SIGNS OF HUMAN SACRIFICE
Many of the bodies that have been exhumed from mounds across the country show signs that they were
ritually burned before being covered in layers of dirt and ash. In other bodies from mounds, notes
Haywood, evidence of decapitation and flaying have also been found.
But the strata of ashes, at intervals from top to bottom, with human bones intermixed, show that there
were human victims committed to the flames, after decapitation and removal of the skull to the
neighboring cave, where it was laid up in darkness for the use of the deity. The black ashes denote
the consumption of tobacco, the only incense in America, which they could offer, in which also was
consumed the consecrated victim. A heated fire of solid wood would have consumed bone and all.
The great number of graves on the outside, show that the people neither usually buried in rounds,
nor usually consumed dead bodies on the funeral pile. The skeleton of the child found within shows
that it was a privilege peculiar to his family to be buried there, whilst the other ranks of men were
buried without the circumvallation. He was very probably one of the children of the sun.
The earth taken from the surface, within the circumvallation, was holy and consecrated; it was earth
impregnated by the beams of the sun, and must have been removed by a great number of hands,
compelled by despotic power to obedience. When placed on the expiring embers of sacrificial fire,
the enclosures of all such mounds are circular, or for the most part are meant to represent possibly the
course of the revolving year, and to make upon them the divisions of time that the sun describes in his
progress. It is easy to compare what he found in this mound and about it, with the collection of
scriptural passages, before stated, and to see how far there is accordance between them or not. And
therefore it is needless for the writer any further to pursue the subject.
BLOND-HAIRED SKELETON BURIED IN CAVE
This account by Haywood of a skeleton of a blond-haired girl found in a cave near Carthage is but one of
many similar accounts I discovered in reports from across the United States. In this case, the girl’s hair
was covered by a mantle of feathers.
The section upon the literal inscriptions of Tennessee gives one instance of a skeleton in a cave near
Carthage, the hair of which was yellow. The hair of the female covered with the curious mantle of
feathers in the section of manufactures, which was found in a cave in White county, was of a yellow
cast, and very fine. It is evident, that these did not belong to Indians of the same races with those of
the present day.
SECRET ROOM IN A CAVE IS DISCOVERED
Haywood says that in a cave that was found about eleven miles north of Cairo, Tennessee, workmen had
to open two secret passages before they discovered a twenty-five-feet-square room that contained the
bodies of a man, a woman, and a child. They were said to be auburn-haired and blue-eyed and of normal
height, and the man was covered by fourteen deerskin blankets. The bodies were enclosed in pyramidal
baskets.
Near the confines of Smith and Wilson counties, on the south side of Cumberland river about 11 miles
above Cairo, on the waters of Smith’s Fork of Caney Fork, is a cave, the aperture into which is very
small.
The workmen in the cave enlarged the entrance and went in; and digging in the apartment, next to
the entrance, after removing the dirt and using it, they came, upon the same level with the entrance, to
another small aperture, which also they entered and went through, when they came into a narrow
room, 25 feet square. Everything here was neat and smooth. The room seemed to have been carefully
preserved for the reception and keeping of the dead.
In this room, near about the center, were found sitting in baskets made of cane three human bodies;
the flesh entire, but a little shriveled, and not much so. The bodies were those of a man, a female, and
a small child. The complexion of all was very fair and white, without any intermixture of the copper
color. Their eyes were blue; their hair auburn, and fine. The teeth were very white; their stature was
delicate, about the size of the whites of the present day. The man was wrapped in 14 dressed deer
skins. The 14 deer skins were wrapped in what those present called blankets. They were made of
bark, like those found in the cave in White county. The form of the baskets, which enclosed them, was
pyramidal, being larger at the bottom, and declining to the top. The heads of the skeletons from the
neck were above the summits of the blankets.
THE WELL SHOWS SIGNS OF ENGINEERING
The walled water tanks found in association with the mounds described in the next extract showed signs
of advanced engineering, which Haywood attributes to Hindu, Mesopotamian, or Judean influence.
The remarks, which offer themselves upon these mounds, are not only that the doctrine of triplicity
here is very prominent, but also that the well, or tank, for holding of water must have been
constructed with peculiar art probably upon the plan that the Hindu tanks were, and those of
Mesopotamia and Judea were in ancient times. But the most material consideration is the uses to
which the waters of the tank were applied. Is it probable that the inhabitants of the country lived upon
this consecrated ground, upon which stood their temples and gods? If not, the waters of the tank were
for sacred uses; for ablutions and purifications; another great symptom of the Hindu ritual. It is a
remarkable truth that the same law of defilement and ablutions has actually existed amongst the
Hindus from times of the remotest antiquity, which Moses delivered to the Hebrews. What the
Mosaic law was is stated in various scriptural passages and retains only such rites observed by the
Hindus and Egyptians as were proper for the Hebrews in the new countries and climates in which
they were about to settle.
A STANDING STONE MARKS A BURIAL
Standing stones mark many mound-builder burial sites. In this report by Haywood from Caney Fork, about
fourteen miles from Sparta, a standing stone marked the burials of several skeletons that were said to be
about six and a half feet in height, with bones that were thicker than normal and with longer teeth and
larger skulls than is considered normal.
On the Caney Fork of Cumberland, 13 or 14 miles from Sparta in a southwesterly direction, Mr.
Tilford observed a stone standing erect, the top being about a foot above the ground, the width a foot,
and extending to a depth of a foot in the ground. He moved it from its position and dug in, and
discovered, about twelve inches under the surface, some bones of a human skeleton. He took up
several.
They were larger than those of men of common stature, indicating that the whole skeleton would be
six feet three or four inches in length. They were thicker than bones of the same denomination
ordinarily are. The teeth were in a state of preservation as far as the enamel reached, but those parts
which entered the socket were in a state of decay. The teeth were longer than those of an ordinary
man. The skull was larger in the same proportion, and by the operations of time had become thinner
than skulls usually are.
Hence was inferred the great antiquity of the grave; though, perhaps, as correct an inference would
be, the northern formation and growth of the skull, far from the vertical rays of the sun, which usually
thicken the skull when not defended by hats or bonnets or mitres. A vast number of periwinkles lay
near the grave and around it, spread over two or three acres ground. They are supposed to have been
brought from the Caney Fork, which is about half a mile from the spot, but they are of much larger size
than any that are found at this time on that river.
The thigh bone, when there was an attempt to move it, fell into dust.
EVIDENCE FOR GREAT ANTIQUITY
A vast majority of the mounds examined in Haywood’s report had trees growing out of them that were
already hundreds of years old. In addition, when workers unearthed bodies, the bones often fell to dust the
minute they were exposed to the open air.
These latter circumstances are taken as concurrent evidences of great antiquity. The grave was on the
summit of a high bluff, rising from the river to the spot. The trees near it were of such large size as
any in the adjacent forest, and at a small distance were some mounds on which the timber was of
equal size. A part of the skull, when exposed to the air, was quickly dissolved into dust.
In this grave Mr. Tilford found, near where the neck of the skeleton was, a great number of beads,
some of them adhering closely together in a circular shape, which showed that they once encircled
the neck. Others were separated. He took up 260 of them and left a considerable number more, which
he did not remove.
EVIDENCE OF IVORY WORK AND FINE DRILLS
As noted by Haywood, one of the skeletons unearthed at this burial site had a necklace around his neck
made from finely worked ivory beads that were drilled lengthwise through the center in order to
accommodate a rope or chain to thread the beads into a necklace. Two hundred and sixty of these ivory
beads were used to make this one necklace alone.
One was larger than all the rest, in the shape of a barrel, bored through the center from one end to the
other, one half of an inch in length and about one half that length in diameter, supposed to have been
placed on a string which connected the whole, at the lower part, so as to divide one half of the beads
above, from the other half above. This bead, when cut on the surface, is very smooth, of a whitish
color, inclining by a small shade towards a pale yellow, and very much resembles ivory.
Fine longitudinal veins are visible on the surface, and it is the opinion of good judges, that they are
made of a species of ivory. The other beads are circular, all of the like materials that compose the
large bead. Some of them are of greater diameter than the others and some of greater width from the
one side to the other. The diameter of the larger ones is about one fourth of an inch; the width of the
exterior of the circle, about a third of the length of the diameter. The side of the one adjoining the side
of its neighbor, when connected by a string, appears to have been made smoother by friction than
when first formed.
It is as smooth and un-granulated as an ivory comb; in some instances, however, showing the
unevenness of the cut made by the tool, which originally separated the bead from the mass it was
taken from. In some instances the bead, from the hole in the center to the exterior of the circle,
appears by friction to have removed the width of the exterior from one side to the other, so as to make
it unequal to the opposite exterior of the circle; whence is inferred the long time it had been used
before the death of the wearer.
MADE OF THE FINEST AND BEST QUALITY IVORY
The ivory used to make these beads was thought to come from mastodon or alligator teeth. Haywood
reported that the beads were examined by Dr. Throckmorton of Sparta and were declared to be of the
“finest and best quality.”
The materials of which they are composed are probably not the product of Tennessee; though it is
possible, they may have been taken from the tooth of the mastodon or alligator.
This writer, with the cordon of beads before him, in order to avoid the possibility of mistake
caused them to be submitted to the inspection of Dr. Throckmorton of Sparta, whose uncommon
intelligence makes him particularly well qualified to decide upon the question of whether the
materials be of stone or some other substance.
His decision: that unquestionably they are of ivory of the finest and best quality. The dingy coating,
which obscured the beads, was cleared by his experiments, from one of them, and it then appeared to
be a beautiful white, with the degree of shade, which characterizes and softens the ivory color. The
whole chain thus brightened, must have formerly exhibited a very superb appearance.
From Whence Came This Giant?
Upon the contemplation of this discovery, the inquisitive mind is impelled irresistibly to ask from
whence came this gigantic skeleton, the chain of which he wore and the ivory beads that compose it?
His size and the thinness of his skull prove that he was from the north and probably of that race of
huge stature which, in the time of the Roman Empire, so much excited the wonder of their writers;
and which, in the decline of the empire, spread desolation, ruin, and darkness over its whole extent.
Of the Religion of the Aborigines of Tennessee
Let us first take a view of the aboriginal religion of Tennessee, so far as it is to be collected from the
ancient signs, which have been left us, and which are fairly referable to this topic. These are suns and
moons painted upon rocks; marks or tokens of triplicity; the cross; mounds; images; human sacrifices;
the lingam; the dress of the images; conch shells; and vestiges of the sanctity of the number seven.
Of the Sun and Moon Painted upon Rocks
About two miles below the road, which crosses Harpeth River, from Nashville to Charlotte, is a
bend of the river, and in the bend is a large mound, 30 or 40 feet high, and a number of smaller ones
near it, which will be particularly described here-after.
About six miles from it is a large rock, on the side of the river, with a perpendicular face of 70 or
80 feet altitude. On it, below the top some distance, and on the side, are painted the sun and moon in
yellow colors, which have not faded since the white people first knew it.
The figure of the sun is six feet in diameter: that of the moon is of the old moon. The sun and moon
are also painted on a high rock on the side of the Cumberland River in a spot where several ladders
placed upon each other could not reach; and which is also inaccessible except by ropes let down the
summit of the rock to the place where the painting was performed. This is near the residence of Mr.
Dozun; and it is affirmed by a person of good credit, that by climbing from tree to tree, he once got
near enough to take a near view of this painting, and that with it, on the rock, were literal characters,
which did not belong to the Roman alphabet; but at this time, 1822, for he looked again lately, the
paint has so-far faded as to make the form of these characters indistinguishable.
The sun is also painted on a high rock, on the side of the Cumberland River, six or seven miles
below Clarksville; and it is said to be painted also at the junction of the Holstein and Frenchbroad
rivers, above Knoxville, in East Tennessee. Also on Duck River, below the bend called the Devil’s
Elbow, on the west side of the river, on a bluff: and on a perpendicular flat rock facing the river, 20
feet below the top of the bluff, and 60 feet above the water out of which the rock rises, is the painted
representation of the sun in red and yellow colors, six feet in circumference, yellow on the upper side
and a yellowish red on the lower.
The colors are very fresh and unfaded. The rays both yellow and red are represented as darting
from the center. It has been spoken of ever since the river was navigated, and has been there from
time immemorial. No one has been able since the white people knew it to approach the circle either
from above or below. The circle is a perfect one.
Neat, Elegant, Inaccessible Paintings
The painting is done in the most neat and elegant style. It can be seen at the distance of half a mile.
The painting on Big Harpeth, before spoken of is more than 80 feet from the water, and 30 or 40
below the summit. All these paintings are in unfading colors, and on parts of the rock inaccessible to
animals of every description except the fowls of the air.
The painting is neatly executed and was performed at an immense hazard of the operator. It must
have been for a sacred purpose and as an object of adoration. What other motive was capable of
inciting to a work so perilous, laborious, and expensive as those paintings must have been? From
whence came the unfading dyes and the skilled artist capable to execute the work? By what means
was he let down and placed near enough to operate? And for what reward did he undertake so
dangerous a work? When executed, of what use could it be to any one, unless to see and to worship?
Taken in connection with the mounds, which are in the vicinity, the high places upon which, in the
old world, the worshippers of the sun performed their devotional exercises, there can be but little
difficulty in perceiving that these paintings had some relation to the adoration of that luminary, the
god of the Egyptians, Hindus, and Phoenicians, and the great god of the Mexicans and Natchez, and of
the ancient inhabitants west of the Mississippi.
Of Triplicity
In White county, in West Tennessee, was dug up a few years ago, in an open temple, situated on the
Caney Fork of Cumberland river, a flagon designed into the shape of three distinct and hollow heads,
joined to the central neck of the vessel, by short thick tubes, leading from each respective occupant. It
was made of a light, yellow and compact clay, intimately intermixed with small broken fragments,
and dust of powdered carbon of lime, and in a state of crystallization.
The Use of Quart Measurements from Extreme Antiquity
This vessel held a quart. Its workmanship is well executed. The heads are perfectly natural and
display a striking resemblance of the Asiatic countenance. None of the minor parts have been
attended to, though a small oval prominence somewhat towards the top of each head is probably
meant to represent a knot of hair.
Ancient Heads of Different Races and Classes
In other respects they appear bold. Each face is painted in a different manner, and strongly resembles
the modes by which the Hindus designate their different castes. One of the faces is slightly covered
all over with red ochre, having deep blotches of the same paint on the central part of each cheek. The
second face has a broad streak of brown ochre across the forehead, and another running parallel with
the same, enveloping the eyes, and extending as far as the ears. The third face has a streak of yellow
ochre, which surrounds and extends across the eyes, running from the center at right angles, down the
nose to the upper lip; whilst another broad streak passes from each ear, along the lower jaw and chin.
Fig.12.1. These are the purported remains of radioactive skeletons of Mohenjo-daro, Pakistan, dating to around 2000 to 2500
BCE.
A PROPOSED CONNECTION WITH THE HINDU RELIGION
In White County, Tennessee, face jugs were discovered that “display a striking resemblance of the Asiatic
countenance.” Haywood noted face painting and lines on the cheeks and forehead that bear a striking
similarity to caste marks used by the Hindu religion to mark social standing and religious status. It is
interesting that face jugs of extreme antiquity were discovered in this area, as it is common to this day in
this part of the South to throw face jugs that can still be bought in this area’s pottery shops.
Upon this image the following remarks suggest themselves: The Hindus have various marks, by
which they paint their faces to designate the different casts and to distinguish amongst the same castes
those who are the peculiar votaries of certain gods. Mr. Dubois says they use only three colors, red,
black, and yellow.
“Probably the face, which now seems to be covered with brown ochre, was originally black,” says
Mr. Clifford. “If it was a metallic paint, as the other colors certainly are, the black, having an
admixture of iron, would certainly change from the lapse of time, and become what to all appearance
it now is: a dark brown ochre. The other two colors, being native minerals usually found in the earth,
are not subject to change. If so, these colors were originally the same as those used in Hindustan.”
Mr. Dubois mentions that the Hindus draw three or four horizontal lines between the eyebrows,
whilst others describe a perpendicular line from the top of the forehead to the root of the nose. Some
northern Brahmans apply the marks to either jaw, meaning probably the same sort of line above
described in the face painted with yellow ochre, as extending from the ears, along the lower jaw, to
the chin. He says further, that the Brahmans draw a horizontal line around the forehead to denote that
they have bathed and are pure. The vessel described, Mr. Clifford thought, was intended for sacred
uses. It being found within one of the circumvallate temples is evidence in favor of this
supposition. It would certainly not have been a convenient vessel for any domestic purpose. The
angular position of the heads; with respect to the neck of the flagon, must have prevented its being
emptied of any liquid, by other means than a complete inversion.
The contents of two of the heads might be discharged by an inclined position with some difficulty
and much gargling. But to empty the other, the neck must become vertical. The ancients were
unacquainted with goblets, pitchers, and decanters, as intermediate vessels. They used large jars or
vases to hold their liquors for safe keeping or carriage, and poured the contents into bowls or horns,
from which they drank.
Our aborigines were hardly more refined. And whilst the small size of the flagon precludes the
idea of its being a vessel for deposits of liquids, its shape plainly indicates that it could not have
been used for a drinking vessel. As the ancients always completely inverted the vessel from which
they poured their libations, it is reasonable to suppose that this flagon was intended for the same
purpose; and that the three heads, with the different marks of castes might designate the various
orders of men for which such libations were made.
If so, the evidence is most directly connected to the identity of religion professed by the Hindus and
the aborigines of Tennessee. No fabulous circumstance or train of thought, could have occasioned
such striking similarity in the paints and modes of applying them, in order to distinguish the different
orders of men in their respective nations. If, however, the flagon is not a vessel of libation, the fact of
its having three heads, possessing Asiatic features, and painted as before stated, is certainly a strong
evidence of Asiatic origination. Brahma, one of the three principal gods of the Hindus, was
represented with a triple head. From the remotest antiquity it is proved from his colossal statue in the
cave of Elephanta. Numerous Hindu idols on the island of Java have three heads. This character in
the image of their gods was very common as is proved by a number of them delineated by Mr. Raffle,
in the second volume of his history.
Hebrew Cherubim with Three Faces,
Also Baal Shalisha Has Three Faces
Some of the Hebrew cherubim are represented with three faces. Baal Shalisha, or the god of triplicity
—or the deity whose image is divided into three distinctions, yet remaining combined in one whole
—was a common emblem, and still maintains itself in India.
INDIANS OF CAROLINA KNEW THE WORLD WAS ROUND
Engraved on one of the medallions found in association with a mound-builder burial in North Carolina is
an image of a triple-headed goddess holding a round globe of the world in one of her hands. In the
following extract, John Haywood posits this as proof of contact with Asia, as well as proof that these
ancient explorers had knowledge that the earth was round.
In the same temple of Elephanta before mentioned is another triple-formed divinity, with three faces,
and three arms; in one hand holding a globe; a proof that the ancients of India, as well as the Indians
of Carolina, knew that the world was round.
On a medal of Syracuse, is a figure with three heads, extremely like the symbols adopted by the
Hindus, and resembling much the Indian figures. The famous Siberian medal hath three heads, and
three pair of arms. The resemblance of the heads, to the deities of India, leaves no doubt of the origin
of the emblem. It is seated on a tower. The heads hold various symbolic articles, among which the
ring is clearly distinguishable.
The Hindus celebrate the first day of the year for three days. At the winter solstice they keep a
festival for three days. Three prostrations are made in presence of distinguished persons. When a
child is named by the Brahmans, and the mantras or prayers are made, the father calls him three times
by the name he has received. The Brahmans wear a cord over the shoulders, of three thick twists of
cotton, called the triple cord. The threads are not twisted together, but are separate from one another.
On the third day of the ceremonies for investing with the triple cord, the young Brahman, his father
and mother seat themselves upon three little stools.
When carrying a body to the funeral pile, they stop with it three times on the way. The chief of the
funeral goes three times around the funeral pile; and when the body is consumed, the four attending
Brahmans go around it three times. When a minyan is made, he takes with him three articles; a cane
of a bamboo with seven knots, a gourd filled with water, and an antelope’s skin. He drinks of the
water in the pitcher. The sacredness of this number was recognized in Chaldea, for the Hebrew
children were to be instructed three years. Daniel kneeled upon his knees three times a day. Amongst
the Hebrews themselves, it was received, and had as firmly grown into a custom with them, as it was
established in India.
The Cross and Its Ancient Association
with the Cosmic Bird of Cygnus
It is not recollected that the cross has been found in Tennessee except upon the small vessels buried
with the pygmy skeletons in White county. The ring or cross in ancient Persian medals was
represented as sacred symbols, and had a commemorative intention. In one place the circle is
surrounded by 19 points resembling jewels, and it unites in a cross. There are creatures cut on rocks
at Persepolis, of Baal and Moloch, on horseback. Moloch has a club in his left hand, holding a large
ring in his right hand. The ring, in this instance, is the symbol of unity. Amorsea, Baal, and Moloch,
reconciled, united. The family of Isaiah was early divided into two parties; one called of the sun, the
other of the moon. They boasted of their divinity each to the other; and to prove their superiority, each
fought the other’s divinity. This shows their reconciliation. These are the most ancient idols.
A medal of Demetrius the second, dated in the 168th year of the Seleucids, has on it the
representation of a goddess, a Tyrian and Sidonian Venus, standing giving directions. Her right hand
and arm extended; in her left, she holds a cross with a long stem to it. These without any further
multiplication of instances prove sufficiently that in ancient time in Asia Minor, Persia, and India, the
ring was symbolic of union, and the cross a sacred symbol.
CONCLUSION
Now that you have reviewed the evidence for a former race of giants in North America, I invite you to
consider both their legends and their reality. There are legends of giants in many cultures, such as the
Titans of Greece or Goliath in the Bible. In fact, the Bible has several references to giants, known as the
Rephaim, Anakim, Zuzim, Sepherim, and Nephilim, as in the following quote from Numbers 13:32–33:
“The land, through which we have gone to search it, is a land that eateth up the inhabitants thereof; and all
the people that we saw in it are men of a great stature. And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak,
which come of the giants: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight.”
Could it truly be that all these cultural legends are mere legends—with no basis in fact? Are these
legends just the result of a human need to create something “larger than ourselves”? I think not. In these
pages and pages of documentation we have now seen the American giants’ widespread presence, their
sophisticated cultures, their royal status, their Caucasian genetic links, and signs of cultural links to other
areas of the globe long before Columbus.
The fact that almost no one is aware of these giants today is a telling comment on the role played by the
Smithsonian Institution and other institutions of higher learning, on which we rely to explore, preserve,
and offer insights into our heritage, perhaps most especially those aspects that hint at broader horizons.
What do the roles these institutions have played in this matter teach us about the role of bias in all studies
of a supposedly academic or scientific nature? What would be the reason for not keeping this information
in the public eye?
And what have we lost by losing our collective memory of these early, extraordinary inhabitants of
America? What insights into not only American but also global prehistory might their existence offer us?
It is natural to want to point fingers in a situation like this, but the reality is that no one who is presently
at the Smithsonian probably has the faintest idea about the history of the giants presented here. In fact, if
their academic indoctrination has been rigorous enough, they will probably still remain unmoved by the
overwhelming evidence presented in this book.
This should come as no surprise to those who are aware of the 1,200-ton stones in Baalbek, the
advanced mathematics and engineering of the Great Pyramids, or the stories of Atlantis, as related by
Plato. We live in an age where we are hypnotized by our own ignorance, acting as if atomic energy and
digital electronics are the heights of human achievement, patting ourselves on the back that we are the best
and the brightest. One might call it hubris; wiser minds would call it cultural myopia and adolescent
grandstanding.
The stories of myth and antiquity are real. There were other ages as great as, or greater than, our own,
and whatever we have accomplished was built on the shoulders of giants.
source
FAIR USE NOTICE
This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. As a journalist, I am making such material available in my efforts to advance understanding of artistic, cultural, historic, religious and political issues. I believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law.
In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. Copyrighted material can be removed on the request of the owner.
No comments:
Post a Comment