Maybe I should have posted this on the Earth Mysteries board, since all of these guys have been dug up, but since I consider it more of a biological problem I'm sticking it here.
What I'm talking about here are the skeletons that keep turning up (or used to, or supposedly used to) with two rows of teeth: double dentition. I'm sure most, if not all, of the people on this site have heard of this. I'm not going to go in depth on the history of the subject, as there are plenty of websites that would do a better job (just beware the fanatical ones).
Anyway, I've got a two-part question here: One, what do you people make of this phenomenon? Assuming there's anything to it, of course. Stories of giants with double-rows of teeth seem to have been so popular during the 1800's that they could almost be considered a folklore motif. My personal feelings are that the reported 12-footers were likely exaggerations, but that doesn't mean there couldn't be at least some truth to the matter. Where did the whole idea get started?
Part two: I'd taken to referring to these people as "manticores" for lack of a better term, as sort of a pet-name, due to the manticore's having two sets of teeth. However, the more I think about it the more similarities I see... The manticore was a creature from medieval mythology that was like a cross between a lion and a man, only having double rows of teeth. These "giants" are not only reported to possess double-dentition, but are sometimes described as having skulls with canine or feline-type features, large, paw-like hands and feet with 6-fingers and toes, and sometimes even extra "knobs" or "buttons" at the base of the spine, as if there were once a tail attached there.
I might be going out on a limb here, and it's my policy never to believe my own theories, but could the legend of the manticore be based on real-life encounters with these humanoid creatures?
What I'm talking about here are the skeletons that keep turning up (or used to, or supposedly used to) with two rows of teeth: double dentition. I'm sure most, if not all, of the people on this site have heard of this. I'm not going to go in depth on the history of the subject, as there are plenty of websites that would do a better job (just beware the fanatical ones).
Anyway, I've got a two-part question here: One, what do you people make of this phenomenon? Assuming there's anything to it, of course. Stories of giants with double-rows of teeth seem to have been so popular during the 1800's that they could almost be considered a folklore motif. My personal feelings are that the reported 12-footers were likely exaggerations, but that doesn't mean there couldn't be at least some truth to the matter. Where did the whole idea get started?
Part two: I'd taken to referring to these people as "manticores" for lack of a better term, as sort of a pet-name, due to the manticore's having two sets of teeth. However, the more I think about it the more similarities I see... The manticore was a creature from medieval mythology that was like a cross between a lion and a man, only having double rows of teeth. These "giants" are not only reported to possess double-dentition, but are sometimes described as having skulls with canine or feline-type features, large, paw-like hands and feet with 6-fingers and toes, and sometimes even extra "knobs" or "buttons" at the base of the spine, as if there were once a tail attached there.
I might be going out on a limb here, and it's my policy never to believe my own theories, but could the legend of the manticore be based on real-life encounters with these humanoid creatures?