Innumerables personas han afirmado haber encontrado gigantes a lo largo de la historia. Los titanes griegos, varios gigantes nórdicos, el gigante chino Pangu y los gigantes bíblicos Goliat y Anak son ejemplos de historias de seres extremadamente grandes en diferentes culturas.

Esto ha llevado a muchos a preguntarse si alguna vez existieron verdaderos gigantes. Un ejemplo que se ha sugerido como posibilidad es el gigante Kap Dwa. Se supone que Kap Dwa es un gigante patagónico descubierto frente a las costas de América del Sur. El cuerpo es inusual no sólo por su gigantesca estatura, sino también por el hecho de que tiene dos cabezas. ¿Podría ser real este gigante? Es científicamente plausible, pero su asociación con P. T. Barnum y el hecho de que no haya sido examinado por expertos ponen en duda la autenticidad de este gigante.

Huesos gigantes en Baltimore

Se dice que Kap Dwa es un gigante de 3,66 metros (12 pies) de altura, cuyo cuerpo se encuentra en un museo en Baltimore, Maryland, EE. UU. Se dice que es un gigante patagónico. La Patagonia fue considerada durante mucho tiempo una tierra habitada por gigantes. La leyenda de los gigantes patagónicos se remonta a una historia contada por el explorador Fernando de Magallanes.

English sailor offering bread to a Patagonian woman giant. Frontispiece to ‘Viaggio intorno al mondo fatto dalla nave Inglese il Delfino comandata dal caposqadra Byron’ (Florence, 1768), the first Italian edition of John Byron’s ‘A Voyage Round the World in His Majesty’s Ship the Dolphin . . .’  (London, 1767) [Rare Books Division]. (Princeton)

Magellan and his men stopped on the beaches of South America and went inland to explore. As they explored, it is said they encountered natives that were twice the size of a normal man. This is probably because a few of the indigenous peoples of the region, namely the Tehuelche, do happen to be taller than the average European was at the time. This height difference may have been exaggerated, leading to the long-standing European myth that Patagonia was a land of giants.

Is it possible though that there may have been a few real giants in Patagonia and that Kap Dwa is an example of them?

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Drawing representing the giant Kap Dwa. (CC BY SA)

The Histories (or Legends)

There are two conflicting stories of the origin of Kap Dwa. According to the first, Kap Dwa was encountered by Spanish sailors in around 1673 on the beaches of Patagonia. He was captured and taken onto their ship where they strapped him to the mast. When he got free of the mast, he skirmished with them and was 𝓀𝒾𝓁𝓁ed by a pike piercing his chest. After this his body was mummified and stuffed and eventually made its way first to Britain and later the United States in the 19th century; where it became the subject of many sideshows and freak shows as a spectacle of the unexplored world.

Publicity to see Kap Dwa. (CC BY SA)

The second story is that the giant was found already dead on a beach with a spear through his chest. In this version, his body was found by Paraguay natives who mummified the body and worshiped it in a sort of religious ceremony. At some point after this, the British schooner captain George Bickle heard about it. He infiltrated Paraguay and stole the body. After having taken the body, he brought it with him to Britain.

Full length image of the body of Kap Dwa. (CC BY SA)

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

There is some disagreement over its authenticity. Some believe it to be genuine and others are convinced it is a hoax. Let us examine the evidence and see which one sounds more likely.

Is a Two-Headed 12 Foot Man Even Possible?

Although a real two-headed giant seems pretty far-fetched, on par with discovering a real dragon or a real troll, it is not actually as unlikely as it sounds. Let us first examine the creature’s unusual height. There have been people of unusual stature due to the condition known as gigantism. The tallest person in recorded history for which there is indisputable evidence is Robert Wadlow (1918-1940) who was 8 feet 11 inches (2.47 meters) tall and still growing when he suddenly died at the age of 22.

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

Although people have been found who are over 8 feet tall, no living people or skeletal remains (for which the evidence is beyond dispute) have been found that are 12 feet tall. Although it may be 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 that Wadlow died is because his feet developed blisters because of the enormous weight on them. 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, in which the twins will appear to have one body and two heads. Again, most cases do not survive infancy let alone to adulthood, but there are a few rare cases that do. The two most famous examples would be the Italian brothers Giovanni and Giacomo Battista Tocci (1875/1877-1940?) and the American sisters from Minnesota named Abby and Brittany Hensel (1990- present). The chances of survival for dicephalic parapagus twins is increased if their vital organs are doubled so that each twin has a separate heart, stomach, set of lungs, etc. It is thus possible for dicephalic parapagus twins to become biologically successful adults, but it is very rare.

1880’s cabinet card photograph of the Tocci Brothers by Obermiller & Kern. It was sold by the Tocci Brothers. (Public Domain)

Medical Knowledge vs the Legend

For Kap Dwa to be genuine, we would have to suppose two very unlikely scenarios at once. We would have to presume that dicephalic parapagus twins were 𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐧 who had yet another rare and lifespan-reducing disorder, gigantism, and they were somehow able to overcome all the health problems related to both conditions and become full-fledged adults that 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.

Supuestamente el cuerpo fue examinado por médicos en la década de 1960 y dijeron que no mostraba signos evidentes de ser falso. Ningún otro experto parece haber examinado el cuerpo para determinar si es genuino o si tenía los requisitos anatómicos internos para sobrevivir como un conjunto de gemelos parapagos dicefálicos.

La momia de Kap Dwa. (CC POR SA)

Más dudas surgen

Otro problema con la autenticidad del cuerpo es su asociación con Phineas Taylor Barnum. P.T. Barnum fue un showman, hombre de negocios y político del siglo XIX conocido por espectáculos en los que mostraba criaturas u objetos que, según él, eran restos de criaturas míticas o de tierras lejanas. Dos ejemplos famosos serían el jackalope y la sirena de Fiji. P.T. Barnum era conocido por contar cuentos fantásticos y la mayoría de sus especímenes resultaron ser engaños, el más famoso de los cuales podría ser la sirena de Fiji. Cualquier asociación con P.T. Barnum inmediatamente pone en duda la autenticidad de Kap Dwa.

[Arriba] Sirena de Fiji, en la sección de Folclore de la Haus der Natur (Casa de la Naturaleza), una colección de historia natural en Salzburgo, Austria. (CC BY NC SA 2.0 ) [Abajo] P.T. Sirena Feejee de Barnum (Dominio público)

Además, existe una extraña forma de arte conocida como taxidermia rebelde que consiste en reconstruir cadáveres para que parezcan criaturas míticas como dragones, hadas, duendes e incluso gigantes. Esto no se practica con mucha frecuencia hoy en día, pero fue popular en el siglo XIX y principios del XX. Un gigante patagónico de dos cabezas sería un candidato probable para un espécimen elaborado por taxidermistas deshonestos.

Aunque es científicamente posible que Kap Dwa sea genuino como un conjunto de gemelos parapagos dicefálicos que sufrieron gigantismo, la improbabilidad de este escenario, las asociaciones del espécimen con un hombre que se sabe que ha producido múltiples engaños y el hecho de que nadie Todo lo que realmente ha examinado el cuerpo desde la década de 1960 sugiere que Kap Dwa es más bien un elaborado engaño… al menos hasta que se puedan encontrar pruebas indiscutibles.