Shocking Discovery: Perfectly Preserved 12-Foot-Tall Giant Skeleton With Two Heads Found in Patagonia

The story of Kap Dwa, which literally means “two heads,” appears in British records from the early 20th century, as well as in various travel records between the 17th and 19th centuries. Legend has it that Kap Dwa was a two-headed Patagonian giant, standing 12 feet or 3.66 meters tall, who once lived in the jungles of Argentina, South America.

The legend of the creature begins in 1673, when the 12-foot, two-headed giant was captured by Spanish sailors and taken captive on their ship. The Spanish tied him to the mainmast, but he broke free (being a giant) and during the ensuing battle suffered a fatal wound. They pierced his heart with a spear until he was dead. But before that, the giant had already claimed the lives of four Spanish soldiers.
It is not entirely clear what happened to Kap Dwa, but it is said that his naturally mummified body was displayed at various venues and shows. In 1900, Kap Dwa’s mummy entered the Edwardian horror circuit and over the years was passed from one showman to another, until it finally ended up at Birnbeck Pier in Weston in 1914.

After spending the next 45 years on display in North Somerset, England, old Kap Dwa was purchased by one “Lord” Thomas Howard in 1959, and after a few more deliveries, ended up in Baltimore, Maryland, of all places. It now rests in the strange collection of oddities that is Bob’s Side Show at The Antique Man Ltd in Baltimore, owned by Robert Gerber and his wife. Kap-Dwa’s mummified remains are widely believed to be a hoax concocted by historians, though it is still a matter of controversial debate.
The Patagonians or Patagonian Giants were a race of giant humans rumoured to have lived in Patagonia and described in early European accounts. They were said to have been at least twice the height of normal humans, with some accounts giving heights of 3.7–4.6 m or more. Tales of these people would become entrenched in European concepts of the region for some 250 years.

The first mention of these people comes from the voyage of Portuguese sailor Ferdinand Magellan and his crew, who claimed to have seen them while exploring the coast of South America en route to the Moluccas Islands on their circumnavigation of the world in the 1520s. Antonio Pigafetta, one of the few survivors of the expedition and a chronicler of Magellan’s expedition, wrote in his account of his encounter with natives who were twice the height of a normal person:

“One day we suddenly saw on the shore of the harbour a naked man of gigantic stature, dancing, singing and throwing dust on his head. The captain-general [i.e. Magellan] sent one of our men to the giant to do the same actions as a sign of peace. This done, the man led the giant to an islet where the captain-general was waiting for him. When the giant was in the presence of the captain-general and us, he marvelled greatly and made signs with one finger raised upward, believing that we had come from heaven. He was so tall that we only reached his waist, and he was well proportioned…”
Later, Sebalt de Weert, a Dutch captain associated with the exploration of the coasts of South America and the Falkland Islands south of Argentina in 1600, and his crew claimed to have seen members of a “race of giants” while they were there. De Weert described one particular incident when he was with his men in boats rowing towards an island in the Strait of Magellan. The Dutch claimed to have seen seven strange-looking boats approaching filled with naked giants. These giants supposedly had long hair and reddish-brown skin and were aggressive towards the crew.

Kap Dwa has both supporters and detractors: there are those who believe in taxidermy and those who believe it is a real body. As for the “real” ones, several sources report no obvious evidence of taxidermy. One source claims that students at Johns Hopkins University performed an MRI on Kap Dwa’s body.

According to an article in the Fortean Times, Frank Adey recalls seeing it in Blackpool around 1960. “There were no signs of sutures or other ‘joints’, even though the body was virtually naked. In the 1930s, two doctors and a radiologist inspected it in Weston and found no perceptual evidence that it was a fake.”

However, the conflicting stories about its origin and the fact that Kap Dwa is a fairground attraction of course immediately damage its credibility on some points. We believe that if it is indeed the mummy of a giant, it should be displayed in a reputable museum and better analysed by today’s most well-known scientists. It seems that DNA analysis of Kap Dwa has not yet been carried out. Therefore, as long as these tests are not carried out, the mummy of Kap Dwa will remain completely shrouded in mystery.