{"id":1247,"date":"2020-01-27T20:58:18","date_gmt":"2020-01-28T04:58:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/skepticink.com\/lateraltruth\/?p=1247"},"modified":"2020-01-27T20:58:19","modified_gmt":"2020-01-28T04:58:19","slug":"giant-denisovan-fantasies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/skepticink.com\/lateraltruth\/2020\/01\/27\/giant-denisovan-fantasies\/","title":{"rendered":"Giant Denisovan Fantasies"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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In the world of the \u201calternative\u201d scholars, the Denisovans<\/a> are a race of giant psychic shamans with problematic teeth, who can take credit not just for the Lost Civilization (aka Atlantis) but for the achievements of later human civilizations as well. They are the Nephilim, the giants of the Bible, the Annunaki, the culture-bearers, the wellspring of all wisdom and ancient lore. They\u2019re pretty hot stuff in the world of the alternos.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Archaeologists and\npaleoanthropologists find all of that very surprising. In the academic world,\nthe Denisovans are a long-extinct hominin line known from a handful of bones\nand teeth and\u2014thanks to a happy accident of preservation\u2014 enough usable DNA to\nenable their contribution to the existing human genome to be tracked. They are a\nwork in progress and an exciting new piece in the jigsaw puzzle of human\norigins, but it\u2019s extremely unlikely they were giants, or psychic; their teeth\nwere probably just fine, their culture and lifeways are as yet unknown, and\nthey died out long before civilization became a thing. So where did all that\nother stuff come from?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Well, it seems to be another example of pseudoscience co-opting a genuine scientific issue, as we saw with the Lost Civilization community\u2019s ecstatic adoption of the Younger Dryas Impact Hypothesis. Most of what the alternos attribute to the Denisovans, as far as I can tell, derives not from the archaeological evidence, but from a pre-existing alterno literature on giants, Nephilim, and so forth, onto which the Denisovans were grafted soon after they were first proposed in 2010. Ultimately, it seems that a certain Denisovan tooth is the key.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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This is a left upper molar\nfrom an individual designated Denisova 4, a young adult male who lived in\nSiberia prior to 50K years ago. It\u2019s a big<\/em> tooth, outside the range of\neither Neanderthal or H. sapiens<\/em>, and it has other archaic features as\nwell. (See this article<\/a>, pp.1058-9, for a description and analysis.) The alternos\u2019\ninference is that Denisova 4 must have been large-bodied in proportion to the\ntooth, which would make him a giant\u2014and there you have it. But, alas for the\nalternos, tooth size is also related to function; the Denisovan molar nicely fits\nthe size range of earlier hominin dentition, including that of teeny australopithecines\nstanding under four feet tall. As the archaeologist Andy White puts it<\/a>, \u201cIf tooth size was only related\nto body size, the robust australopithecines would have been large enough to eat\nthe Denisovans for breakfast.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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That, as far as I can\ntell, is the whole basis for linking the inoffensive Denisovans with mythical\ngiants and mythical lost civilizations. In fact, estimates of their stature\nbased on groundbreaking genetic extrapolation\ntechniques<\/a> have put them at about\nthe same average height as the Neanderthals, a little shorter than Upper Paleolithic\nH. sapiens<\/em>. The rest comes down to a familiar pattern of unsupported\ninference, misrepresentation of scientific research, and wishful thinking. Two other\nfactors, which I\u2019ll look at in the rest of this article, are the failure to\ncheck primary sources, and the common-or-garden reading fail<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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First, though, I must\npoint out that I am standing on the shoulders of (ahem) giants. Much pseudoarchaeological\nliterature makes an effort to link the Denisovans, or Denisovan\/sapiens\nhybrids, with the curious genre of 19th<\/sup>-century newspaper reports of\ngiants excavated in Native American mounds, often with claims of supernumerary\nteeth. The afore-mentioned Andy White has commented extensively<\/a> (and often hilariously) on these,\nwhile the indefatigable Jason Colavito has catalogued and critiqued<\/a> a large number of such reports,\nand will shortly be bringing out a book<\/a> on the era of the Moundbuilders.\nSpoiler alert: the reports of giants are mostly hoaxes, misunderstandings, or\nthe 19th<\/sup>-century equivalent of clickbait. I want to look at how primary\nsources are handled in a fairly typical example of the Denisovan-shaman\nliterature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Andrew Collins<\/a> is a prominent British alterno\nwith a strong belief in the Denisovans as giants, savants, and culture-bearers\nwho came to the Americas many millennia ago and interbred with Native American\npopulations. The best thing I can say of him is that he does, he really does,\ntry to take account of archaeological evidence; unfortunately, he does it very\nbadly. He either does not read the primary sources with adequate comprehension,\nor he relies on secondary sources, some of which have pre-mangled the\ninformation. Fine examples are found in his paper \u201cThe Coming of the Giants: Rise of the Human\nHybrids<\/a>,\u201d originally published in\n2014 and currently available on his website.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Collins claims that the\nDenisovans\/hybrids in the Americas can be distinguished by three major traits,\nnot necessarily all together. First, their remains may have received special\ntreatment on burial, implying they had elite or special status. Second, they\nwere giants, or at least quite tall (Collins defines the term \u201cgiant\u201d\nflexibly). Third, they displayed hyperdontia<\/a>, extra teeth, in some cases a\nfull extra set. Here are some examples of how Collins deals with his sources.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Collins: Those readers familiar with stories relating to the discovery of giant skeletons in the United States will be familiar with this disorder [hyperdontia], as there are various accounts of oversized human skeletons where the skulls have been found to contain a “double row of teeth” in one or both jaws (for example, see Bancroft, 1882, IV, 694-5, relating to giant skeletons found in caves on San Rosa Island, California, “furnished with double teeth all the way round the jaw,” and Weston, 1906, 400, regarding a giant skeleton found in Middleboro, Massachusetts, with “a double row of teeth in each jaw”.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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First, Andy White has convincingly shown<\/a> that phrases like \u201cdouble teeth\nall around the jaw\u201d are usually a recent misunderstanding of a 19th<\/sup>-century\nidiom signifying nothing more than \u201cthis guy had all his teeth.\u201d In a century\nwhen teeth were notoriously bad and extraction was the primary way of dealing\nwith toothache, a full set of gnashers would indeed be worthy of its own idiom.\nBut if you examine the sources cited in that paragraph, other problems emerge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bancroft (1882)<\/a> retails an 1861 report from Santa Rosa Island (not San Rosa) describing numerous complete skeletons and skulls in the caves, adding \u201c[s]ome very wonderful skulls are also reported as having been found on the islands, furnished with double teeth all the way around the jaw.\u201d There is no mention of the skeletons being oversized. However, Bancroft’s next paragraph continues:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMiscellaneous reports on authority varying from indifferent to bad\u2026are as follows: In 1819 an old lady saw a gigantic skeleton dug up by soldiers at Purisima on the Lompock rancho\u2026Taheechaypah pass and the mission of San Buenaventura are other localities where skeletons of extraordinary size have been found.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

No mention of teeth.\nCollins (or his source) conflates skeletons with fabulous teeth reported in one\narea, with some very dicey tales of oversized skeletons in nearby areas, to\nproduce the hyperdontic giants of San (sic) Rosa. I would call this a reading\nfail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The second example is\nreally quite funny. Collins\u2019 \u201cgiant skeleton found in Middleboro, Massachusetts,\nwith \u2018a double row of teeth in each jaw\u2019\u201d (Weston 1906:400)<\/a> turns out to be that of an 17th<\/sup>-century\nsettler named Mr. Richmond, \u201ca man of gigantic stature, bold and fearless\u2026and\nmuch feared by the Indians.\u201d When his bones were later dug up in the course of\nroadworks, his thigh-bone measured 4\u201d longer than normal, and he had \u201ca double\nrow of teeth in each jaw\u201d \u2013 but with his European ancestry, he could hardly be\nregarded as a Denisovan hybrid or psychic shaman. It is hard to believe that\nCollins checked the primary source that he cites.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Collins\u2019 major example, taking up nearly a quarter of the paper, is Burial 37 from Blossom Mound in California, a cemetery of the Windmiller culture<\/a>, 4350-3000 BP. This unfortunate individual, who died between the ages of thirty and forty, suffered from acromegaly<\/a>, a hormonal disorder that causes bones to continue growing in adulthood, plus a host of complications. Also, his teeth were funny. The primary source Collins refers to is Bartelink et al<\/em>, 2014<\/a>, which is not an excavation report, but an analysis of Burial 37\u2019s skeletal pathologies and a diagnosis of probably acromegaly. However, most of Collins’ information appears to be derived (rather selectively) from a secondary source, Pastino 2014<\/a>, quoting an interview with Dr. Bartelink.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To summarize Collins\u2019 claims\nabout Burial 37:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. His burial was unique on the site, indicating \u201ca different journey ahead of him in the spirit world.\u201d<\/strong> The distinctions were:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“a rich array of grave goods\u2026including forty-eight beads fashioned from shells of the Olivella sea snail, seven ornaments carved from the shell of the abalone mollusk and an obsidian projectile point. What is more, his body was laid outstretched and face up, his head to the north, whereas the other 176 internees of the grave mound lay face down, their heads to the west. Some time after interment, Burial 37’s skull was removed and placed at over his left ankle\u2026\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

A quick check of the available excavation reports<\/a> shows that Collins should have made a quick check of the excavation reports. While the majority of the burials were face-down with heads to the west, about 25% were face-up, and head direction varied from west to northwest and even east. Burial 37\u2019s grave goods (shell beads and an obsidian point, plus red-ochre staining, which Collins does not mention) were standard for male burials, especially face-up male burials, but his array was not particularly rich. Compare his modest wealth with that that of nearby Burial 33, who took with him 885 Olivella<\/em> beads, seven abalone ornaments, a chert scraper, and a quartz crystal; or with Burial 62, who boasted fourteen points, five crystals, 46 Olivella<\/em> beads, 391 abalone beads, and four abalone ornaments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Bartelink et\nal<\/em>, the skull was most likely disturbed after the soft tissues had decomposed,\npossibly when an adjacent grave was being dug; in fact, quite a bit of the\nskeleton was not recovered, suggesting the burial had been disturbed and the\nposition of the skull was not significant. In short, there was nothing in\nBurial 37\u2019s circumstances to set him (or his journey in the spirit world) apart\nfrom the other burials in Blossom Mound.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. Burial 37\u2019s\nacromegaly and hyperdontia suggest he was a hybrid or a throwback expressing Neanderthal\ntraits. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cColllins: [C]ompared against fourteen other skulls examined from the mass grave (sic), that of Burial 37 was taller and wider. The skull also possessed a heavy brow ridge, while the body had unusually thick arms and legs, traits that are unusual in modern humans, but are common in Neanderthal anatomy. In addition to this, he had an elongated chin, resulting in a “lantern” jaw, along with a pronounced nose giving it a beak-like appearance (Bartelink, Pastino, 2014). On top of this, the bony pocket in the skull that holds the pituitary gland, which is called the sella turcica as it looks like a Turkish saddle, was significantly enlarged.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

While admitting that\nBurial 37 was not a giant\u2014he stood about 5\u20195\u201d tall\u2014Collins still somehow finds\nhim relevant to the hyperdontic-giant Denisovan thesis. However, Collins suggests\nBurial 37\u2019s peculiar features reflect Neanderthal ancestry, even as he\ncorrectly tells the reader that most cases of acromegaly result from a\npituitary tumour. But how Neanderthal-ish was Burial 37?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not very. A Neanderthaloid skull would be lower and more sloping, not<\/em> higher. There is acromegalic thickening of the occipital bone, but no suggestion of the occipital bun characteristic of Neanderthals. And, whereas a Neanderthal skull would be uniformly robust, Burial 37 actually shows a thinning of the parietal bones, which can be a side effect of acromegaly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Burial 37 had significant bone deposition above the eyes, but nothing like a heavy Neanderthaloid brow ridge. The \u201clantern jaw\u201d was absolutely not<\/em> a Neanderthal trait; our cousins\u2019 chins sloped backwards, whereas H. sapiens<\/em> chins have a projection called the mental eminence, which was present and exaggerated in Burial 37. The original report does not mention unusually thick arms and legs, though it lists localized \u201csigns of periosteal bone deposition at several enthesis sites,\u201d that is, areas where ligaments and tendons attach to the bone. The enlargement of the sella turcica would be expected in acromegaly, linked to the pituitary tumour at the root of the condition. And then there\u2019s the teeth:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Collins: One of the most significant points about the skull of Burial 37 is the mis-growth of the eye-tooth, or canine, which is upside down and protruding through the bone just beneath the nose. Although this abnormality can be explained as the effects of acromegaly, the presence of supernumerary teeth in a person is more correctly known in the dental profession as hyperdontism.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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Alas, poor Collins. The tooth in question is not supernumerary, it\u2019s just inverted, and its normal position has been taken over by the right upper first molar. The unfortunate Burial 37 had terrible teeth, including crowding and malocclusion that may be attributed to acromegaly, but he was not<\/em> hyperdontic. This is not only clear from the primary source, but Dr. Bartelink was kind enough to confirm it in a personal communication. In summary, the hyperdontic Neanderthaloid who took up nearly a quarter of Collins\u2019 article was neither hyperdontic nor Neanderthaloid. He wasn’t a giant, either. So why was he there at all?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I could go on and on. Every source that Collins referenced in this paper was either misrepresented, misunderstood, or mangled at the outset. The irony is that H. sapiens<\/em> did interbreed with Denisovans, Neanderthals, and possibly other non-sapiens hominins, but not in the ways and times that Collins and others of his ilk would have us believe. His tall, wise Denisovans disseminating ancient wisdom (and Denisovan sperm) to archaic Native Americans is a fantasy shored up with shoddy research.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Further reading: A special number of the SAA Record (Magazine of the Society for American Archaeology)<\/a> includes relevant discussions of genetics in archaeology, early America, pseudoarchaeology, and other relevant issues. And believe me, these guys do check their sources.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Acknowledgements: special thanks to Dr. Eric Bartelink and Dr. Susan Pfeiffer for generously sending me copies of their publications. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Note: I did promise to continue answering Scott\u2019s excellent questions in the next post, but ran across Collins\u2019 paper and got entertainingly sidetracked. Normal programming will<\/em> be resumed. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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