Kap Dwa, whose name means "two heads" in English, is a legend that has appeared in British records dating back to the early 20th century, as well as in various voyage records from the 17th to 19th centuries. According to the legend, Kap Dwa was a giant from Patagonia, South America, who had two heads and stood at a towering height of 12 feet, or 3.66 meters. It is said that he once lived in the dense jungles of Argentina.
History Behind Kap Dwa:
According to the legend, Kap Dwa's story begins in 1673 when he was captured by Spanish sailors and taken prisoner on their ship. Despite his enormous size, standing over 12 feet tall with two heads, the giant was no match for the Spaniards, who managed to capture and bind him to the mainmast. However, Kap Dwa's strength proved too great and he broke free, causing a fierce battle to ensue. During the fight, the giant managed to claim the lives of four Spanish soldiers before suffering a fatal injury himself. It is said that he was killed when the Spaniards pierced his heart with a spear.
It is unclear what happened to Kap Dwa's body after his death, but it is said that his naturally mummified remains were displayed in various places and sideshows. In 1900, the mummy of Kap Dwa entered the Edwardian Horror Circuit and was passed from showman to showman over the years. It is believed that the mummy eventually ended up at Weston's Birnbeck Pier in 1914.
After being on display in North Somerset, England for 45 years, Kap Dwa's mummy was purchased by a man named "Lord" Thomas Howard in 1959. It changed hands a few more times before ending up in Baltimore, Maryland, where it now resides in the collection of oddities known as Bob's Side Show at The Antique Man Ltd, owned by Robert Gerber and his wife. While many believe that the mummified remains of Kap Dwa are a fabricated hoax, the truth behind this legend remains a mystery.
The Patagonians:
According to early European accounts, the Patagones, or Patagonian giants, were a race of extremely tall humans rumored to live in Patagonia. These giants were said to be at least twice the height of normal humans, with some accounts describing them as being 12 to 15 feet tall or even taller. Stories of these towering individuals captured the imagination of Europeans for 250 years.
The first mention of the Patagonian giants occurred during the voyage of Portuguese sailor Ferdinand Magellan and his crew, who claimed to have seen them while exploring the South American coastline in the 1520s as they circumnavigated the globe on their way to the Maluku Islands. Antonio Pigafetta, one of the few survivors of the expedition and the chronicler of Magellan's journey, wrote about their encounter with natives who were twice the height of normal humans in his account of the voyage.
According to Pigafetta's account: "one day we suddenly saw a naked man of giant stature on the shore of the port, dancing, singing, and throwing dust on his head. The captain-general [Magellan] sent one of our men to the giant so that he might perform the same actions as a sign of peace. Having done that, the man led the giant to an islet where the captain-general was waiting. When the giant was in the captain-general's and our presence he marveled greatly, and made signs with one finger raised upward, believing that we had come from the sky. He was so tall that we reached only to his waist, and he was well proportioned..."
Captain Sebalt de Weert, a Dutch explorer, and his crew reportedly encountered a group of giants while exploring the coasts of South America and the Falkland Islands in 1600. According to de Weert, they encountered seven boats filled with naked, long-haired giants with reddish-brown skin while rowing towards an island in the Magellan Strait. The giants were described as being aggressive towards the crew.
Is Kap Dwa Real?
There is debate surrounding the authenticity of Kap Dwa. Some believe it to be a taxidermied specimen, while others believe it to be a real body. Some sources report that there is no obvious evidence of taxidermy, and one source claims that Johns Hopkins University students conducted an MRI on the body.
An article in Fortean Times includes a recollection from Frank Adey of seeing Kap Dwa in Blackpool around 1960. Adey reported that there were no visible signs of sutures or other indications that the body was a fake, even though it was largely unclothed. In the 1930s, it was reportedly inspected by two doctors and a radiologist in Weston, who found no evidence that it was a fake.
The conflicting origin stories and Kap Dwa's status as a sideshow attraction raise doubts about its credibility. If it truly were a giant's mummy, it would be expected to be displayed in a reputable museum and thoroughly analyzed by mainstream scientists. To date, it appears that no DNA analysis has been conducted on the mummy, so it remains an unsolved mystery until such testing is performed.
