Talk:Patagon

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I would not be in favour of merging these two articles; this one Patagon is about a mythical people who for some time up towards the end of the 18thC. captured the European imagination, whereas Tehuelche is about the real people and indigenous inhabitants of the region. They should remain separate.--cjllw | TALK 07:05, 2005 August 16 (UTC)

[edit] Patagonians

The Patagonian giant hoax, was likely inspired by the observation of Teheluches and other coastal natives, and in itself probably was not initially intended as a hoax at all, but more of a sea voyage exaggeration. The fact that tall people were seen by a number of well known travelers over a span of 250 years, does show that the story indeed has nuggets of truth.

Tall tribes of Indians, who had a some 7 foot men, probably are the original inspiration behind the entire myth of these giants. As the stories were retold and made it back to England, these giants grew from 7 feet, all the way up to 12 or 15 feet (Which is insulting to the intelligence-- as 9 feet is the tallest proven human stature in modern medical records).

The Teheluches and neighboring tribes, may have averaged 6ft tall, and likely had some 6ft6 or 7 foot chieftans among them. If we compare a 7 foot Native, to a 5 ft 4 inch Spaniard, the Native is a virtual giant in comparison. Such height though very tall, was not absolutely uncommon among certain pre-contact tribes of both the North and South Americas (Adena, Osage, Karankawa, Susquehannock, Rappahanock etc.)

So I think the legend of these giants probably grew through the imagination of the travelers--and did have a basis of historical fact aka seven foot indians.

As for the alleged finding of 12 foot Patagonian skeletons by a Captain Knevit--I'm not sure what to make of that account. It was either a prank by Knevit himself, or he was measuring the skeleton of some ancient non-human giant animal. Or it was indeed a 12 foot human skeleton (The latter seems to be at odds against modern scientificly observed facts).

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does this have anything to do with exploration