The Fiske Center Blog

Weblog for the Fiske Center for Archaeological Research at the University of Massachusetts Boston.

Who said anything about giants?

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In the Goshen Tunnel during filming

I was surprised and disappointed to see my appearance on the History Channel’s Search for the Lost Giants, Episode 3, used in a manner that appeared to give credence to a long-discredited theory concerning giants. Who said anything about giants?  I thought I was being asked to inspect the Goshen tunnel and to offer my opinion concerning who may have built it or what it was used for.  The site was very interesting.

The search for giants is a long-standing and familiar tradition of denying indigenous histories by promoting absurd alternate explanations. In North America the notion of such a race of giants is one of a list of explanations used to deny the accomplishments of Native Americans. Speaking directly to Native American scholars or consulting a widely distributed text such as Kenneth Feder’s  Frauds, Myths and Mysteries would provide ample documentation of the history of such ideas and the evidence used to disprove them. The real giants of the past were the indigenous men, women and children who built the sophisticated societies that flourished across the continent for thousands of years. Their descendants have been denied such histories by theories such as that discussed on the program.

Author: Stephen Mrozowski

Stephen Mrozowski is the founding director of the Andrew Fiske Memorial Center for Archaeological Research at the University of Massachusetts Boston where he is also Professor of Anthropology. Mrozowski’s research encompasses the growth of complex societies, colonization, and its role in shaping the modern world. His particular research interests include social theory, spatial theory, historical archaeology, environmental archaeology, urban archaeology, industrial archaeology and indigenous archaeologies. He has conducted field research in Eastern North America, Northern Alaska, the Caribbean, Iceland and Northern Britain. He has published more than seventy scholarly articles and monographs.

2 Comments

  1. I saw you on that show and my jaw dropped. Having said that, you never reinforced their crazy notions and organizations like SHA have begun encouraging professional collaboration with popular shows like the ones featured on the history channel. I think it’s important that you gave your opinion without giving into sensationalism so the interested public can become more familiar with professionals.

  2. Oh thank you! You seemed awfully credentialed to be participating in this show. I’ll admit to having watched…but I regard virtually anything under the Discovery Umbrella these days with the same attitude of suspended disbelief – whether it’s the weird haired, overly tanned guy looking for aliens, the Fabio dude with five wives or the ever elusive Mermaid!!
    Remember when TLC, History & Discovery all actually taught us stuff & had a quality program or 2? Those were the days, huh?

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