Patagonia Giants
The Patagonia Giants were a race of giant human beings described by early European explorers. Accounts from 1500s through the 1700s indicated that the giants were observed to reach heights of up to 15 feet. European explorers who wrote about encounters with the Patagonia giants include Antonio Pigafetta, Sir Francis Drake, Anthony Kivet, William Adams, Sebald de Weert, and Commodore John Byron.
Contents
History
The first documented encounter with the Patagonia Giants was made by Antonio Pigafetta. Pigafetta was the chief chronicler and one of the few survivors aboard Ferdinand Magellan's South American expedition. About the first encounter he wrote:[1]
- As it was winter, the ships entered a safe port to winter. We passed two months in that place without seeing anyone. One day we suddenly saw a naked man of giant stature on the shore of the port, dancing, singing, and throwing dust on his head. The captain general sent one of our men to the giant so that he might perform the same actions as a sign of peace. Having done that, the man led the giant to an islet into the presence of the captain-general. When the giant was in the captain-general's and our presence, he marveled greatly, and made signs with one finger raised upward, believing that we had come from the sky. He was so tall that we reached only to his waist, and he was well proportioned [...]
Antonio Pigafetta documented their interactions with multiple Patagonia giants, their customs, dress and a multi-page collection of the language used by the Patagonia Giants. Some researchers have have asserted that the Patagonia Giants may have been the Selk'nam or Tehuelche people. However, neither the Selk'nam or Tehuelche people have been observed to reach heights above 7 feet. The language of the Selk'nam and Tehuelche people, which is spoken today, does not match the langauge of the Patagonia Giants which was recorded by Antonio Pigafetta.
