Shocking Revelation: The Mummy of the Two-Headed Giant – A Discovery that Defies Historical and Biological Norms

The story of Kap Dwá, which literally means “two-headed,” appears in British records from the early 20th century.

Throughout history, countless people have claimed to have encountered giants. The Greek Titans, various Norse giants, the Chinese giant Pangu, and the Biblical giants Goliath and Anak are all examples of stories of extremely large beings in different cultures. This has led many to question whether real giants ever existed. One example that has been suggested as possible is the giant Kap Dwa. Kap Dwa is said to be a Patagonian giant discovered off the coast of South America. The body is unusual not only for its gigantic stature, but also for the fact that it has two heads. Could this giant be real? It is scientifically plausible, but its association with PT Bannum and the fact that it has not been examined by experts cast doubt on the authenticity of this giant.

Giant bones in Baltimore

Kap Dwa is said to be a 3.66-meter-tall giant, whose body is housed in a museum in Baltimore, Maryland, USA. He is said to be a giant from Patagonia. Patagonia was considered a land inhabited by giants for a long time. The legend of the Patagonian giants dates back to a story told by the explorer Ferdinand Magellan.

English sailor offering bread to a giant woman of Patagonia. Frontispiece of ‘A Voyage Round the World made from the English Ship to the Dauphin, Captain Byron’s Commander’ (Florence, 1768), the first Italian edition of John Byron’s ‘A Voyage Round the World in His Majesty’s Ship the Dauphin…’. (London, 1767) [Rare Books Division]. (Princeton)

Magellan and his men stopped on the beaches of South America and ventured into the interior to explore. While exploring, they are said to have encountered natives who were twice the size of a normal man. This is probably because some of the indigenous peoples of the region, specifically the Tehuelches, are taller than the average European of the time. This height difference may have been exaggerated, giving rise to the long-standing European myth that Patagonia was a land of giants.

Is it possible, however, that there were some real giants in Patagonia and that Kap Dwa is an example of them?

There are two conflicting versions about the origin of Kap Dwa. According to the first, Kap Dwa was found by Spanish sailors around 1673 on the beaches of Patagonia. He was captured and taken to their ship, where they tied him to the mast. When he broke free from the mast, he confronted them and was killed by a pike pierced through his chest. After this, his body was mummified and dissected and eventually made its way to Britain and then to the United States in the 19th century; where he became the subject of many sideshows and freak shows as a spectacle of the unexplored world.

Advertisement for watching Kар Dwа. ( CC BY SA )

The second story tells that the giant was found dead on a beach with a spear through his chest. In this version, his body was found by Paraguayan Indians who mummified the body and venerated it in a kind of religious ceremony. At some point later, the captain of the British schooner George Bitchle heard about this. He infiltrated Paraguay and stole the body. After having taken it, he took it with him to Britain.

Full-length image of Kар Dwа’s body. (CC BY SA)

Both stories end the same way: the body ends up in the hands of showbiz entrepreneurs who add it to their collection of curiosities.

There is some disagreement about its authenticity. Some believe it is authentic and others are convinced it is a hoax. Let’s examine the evidence and see which seems more likely.

Is a 12-foot, two-headed man possible?

Although an actual two-headed giant seems somewhat far-fetched, as does discovering an actual dragon or troll, it is actually not as unlikely as it seems. Let us first examine the creature’s unusual height. There have been people of unusual height due to the condition known as gigantism. The tallest person recorded in history for whom there is irrefutable evidence is Robert Wadlow (1918-1940), who was 8 feet 8 inches tall and still growing when he died suddenly at the age of 22.

Postcard of Robert Wadlow with his father. (Public domain)

Although people have been found to be over 8 feet tall, no living people or skeletal remains (for which the evidence is beyond doubt) have been found to be 12 feet tall. Although it is possible for a human to grow to that size, increasing health complications make it more difficult for someone to reach that height and survive. The reason Wadlow died was because his feet developed blisters due to the enormous weight they were bearing. These blisters eventually became infected and he died from complications related to the infection. These health problems would only get worse for someone who was 12 feet tall.

People and animals with multiple heads have also been identified. One of the ways that conjoined twins can form is a condition called dicephalic parapagus, where the twins appear to have one body and two heads. Again, most cases do not survive into infancy, let alone adulthood, but there are some rare cases that do. The two most famous examples would be the Italian brothers Giovanni and Giacomo Battista Tosci (1875/1877-1940?) and the American sisters from Minnesota named Abby and Brittany Hensel (1990-present). The survival chances of conjoined twins are increased if their vital organs are duplicated so that each twin has a separate heart, stomach, pair of lungs, etc. Thus, it is possible for diephagic parapagus twins to develop into biologically successful adults, but it is very rare.

Photograph of the Tocci brothers from the 1880s by Obermiller & Kern. It was sold by the Tocci brothers. (Public domain)

Medical knowledge versus legend

For Kap Dwa to be genuine, we would have to assume two very unlikely scenarios at once. We would have to assume that they were born dicephalic parapo twins who had another rare disorder that reduces life expectancy, gigantism, and were somehow able to overcome all the health problems related to both conditions and grow into full-fledged adults who were strong and healthy enough to engage in combat with a band of sailors. While this is not out of the question, it does make the story much more unlikely and in need of considerably more evidence.

The body was reportedly examined by doctors in the 1960s, who said it showed no obvious signs of being a fake. No other experts appear to have examined the body to determine whether it is genuine or whether it had the internal anatomical requirements to be likely to survive as a set of dicephalic parapagus twins.

The mummy of Kар Dwа. (CC BY SA)

More doubts arise

Another issue with the authenticity of the body is its association with Phineas Taylor Barnum. PT Barnum was a 19th century businessman, politician and entrepreneur known for his shows where he would display creatures or items that he claimed were the remains of mythical creatures or from far away lands. Two famous examples would be the jacalap and the Fiji mermaid. PT Barnum was known for telling tall tales and most of his specimens turned out to be hoaxes, the most famous of which might be the Fiji mermaid. Any association with PT Barnum immediately calls into question the authenticity of Kap Dwa.

[Top] The Fiji Mermaid, in the Folklore section of the House of Nature, a natural history collection in Salzburg, Austria. (CC BY NC SA 2.0) [Bottom] The Fiji Mermaid by PT Barnum (Public Domain)

There is also a strange art form known as underground taxidermy, which involves reconstructing carcasses to look like mythical creatures such as dragons, fairies, goblins, and even giants. This practice is not done very often today, but it was popular in the 19th and early 20th centuries. A two-headed Patagonian giant would be a likely candidate for a specimen created by rogue taxidermists.

While it is scientifically possible that Kap Dwa is genuine as a set of diephageal parapagus twins who suffered from gigantism, the improbability of this scenario, the specimen’s associations with a man known to have produced multiple hoaxes, and the fact that no one has ever actually examined the body since the 1960s seem to indicate that Kap Dwa is more likely to be an elaborate hoax… at least until irrefutable evidence is found.