Pygmy Bones from Tennessee Shipped to the Smithsonian

Many who are familiar with early American history and westward expansion have at least a cursory knowledge of the stunning amount of alleged “giant bones” recovered from ancient burial mounds and from the earth as land was cleared and fields were cultivated. There is a lesser-known aspect to the discoveries—some believe that a race of pygmies may have inhabited ancient America in the past. 

The following article appeared in the Reading Timesin their December 28, 1875 issue:

Thursday morning, accompanied by Dr. J. W. Sawyer, Mr. Lillard went to Doyle's farm and beside the grave cut of which Haywood obtained a skeleton during his researches, he obtained the bones of a pigmy. One of the graves had as a headstone a limestone rock, a thing unusual. By this particular mark it is presumed the bones must have been that of a noted person of the race. In the one in which he obtained the fragmentary portions of what was left of a pigmy, Mr. Lillard found remnants of pottery which show signs of having once been filled with charcoal. This grave had never before been opened. From the manner in which the bones lay it is supposed the body must have been interred in a sitting position. The measurement of this skeleton is twenty-six inches in height. The thigh, arm, ribs, and in fact all the bones are small, the full set of teeth showing at the same time that they must have belonged to an adult. The thigh bones are a little larger than a man's forefinger. Mr. Lillard shipped the bones on his arrival here last night to the Smithsonian Institute. He also brought with him a beautifully polished stone pestle, used by the Indians perhaps centuries ago in pounding their corn into meal. It is the best specimen of such implements we have ever seen.

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