Moon-eyed people

 Da’Myah Merritt

The Moon-eyed people are a short mysterious figure in Cherokee and Appalachian folklore, very often described as a pale-skinned, blue-eyed race sensitive to sunlight, living in the Appalachian Mountains before European settlers arrived. Legends say they inhabited areas like the Smoky and Blue Ridge Mountains and built stone structures, including Georgia's Fort Mountain wall. Due to their sensitivity to light, they could only see at night, hiding during the day and working during the night fall. 

The Moon Eyed People were, according to legend, cave dwellers who only ventured out at night.

Cherokee stories talk about conflicts between the Cherokee and the Moon-eyed people around 1100-1200 AD, which drove them away. Some legends suggest they fled underground, disappearing from history. Theories on their origins vary, some propose they were an indigenous group or displaced settlers from Wales, tracing their origins to the 12th-century Prince Madoc legend. Now people add a paranormal twist, suggesting they may have been ailes, a theory transpired from their unusual physical traits and nocturnal-like habits. Some link the story to the 1955 Kelly-Hopkinsville "alien" encounter in Kentucky.

                                Legend of the Moon Eyed People, America's First Civilization

Today, the Moon-eyed people are a captivating part of Appalachian culture, where Native history, European legends, and supernatural tales merge. Their story, passed down through generations, continues to intrigue and inspire those drawn to the mysteries of Appalachia.

Works Cited: 

Carmichael, Tim. “The Moon-Eyed People of Cherokee Legend: Mysteries of the Smoky Mountains.” Echoes of Appalachia, 26 September 2024. Accessed: 6 Nov. 2024. https://appalachianmemories.org/2024/09/26/the-moon-eyed-people-of-cherokee-legend-mysteries

Hocker,Chris. “The Moon-eyed People”. Strange Carolinas, June 2012. Accessed: 6 Nov. 2024. https://www.strangecarolinas.com/2019/10/the-moon-eyed-people-effigy-murphy-nc.html. -of-the-smoky-mountains/. 

Wayne, Jordan. “Blue Ridge Tales, Maintain Life & Love: Tales of the Moon-eyed People”. 2012. Accessed: 6 Nov. 2024. https://blueridgetales.com/tales-of-the-moon-eyed-people/. 

Spooky Appalachia: The Story Of The Moon-eyed People.” Accessed: 6 Nov. 2024. https://www.spookyappalachia.com/the-story-of-the-moon-eyed-people/.

Vučković, Aleksa. “Exploring The Mysterious North American Moon-eyed People Legend.” Ancient Origins, 23 January 2022. Accessed: 6 Nov. 2024. https://www.ancient-origins.net/myths-legends-americas/moon-eyed-people-0016334. 

For Further Reference: Voyles, Bruce. “Moon-eyed People Legends Center In Area.” Cherokee Scout. Accessed: 6 Nov. 2024. https://www.cherokeescout.com/opinion/moon-eyed-people-legends-center-area This article work by James Mooney includes references to the Moon-eyed people and mentions Cherokee legends and folklore, providing valuable historical context. Mooney discusses how Cherokee oral tradition describes the Moon-eyed people as small, fair-skinned figures who lived in Appalachia before the Cherokee arrived.

Georgia Parks Division, Department of Natural Resources. "Historical Marker at Fort Mountain." 19, Sep. 2008. Accessed: 6 Nov. 2024 https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=11590 This marker, placed by Georgia’s Department of Natural Resources, commemorates the Moon-eyed people and their alleged connection to Fort Mountain’s stone wall. It includes the belief that the Moon-eyed people may have been a separate race defeated by the Creek. A notable example of how folklore has been recognized in historical landmarks, encouraging ongoing curiosity about local legends. Atlas, Obscura. “Who Were the Mysterious Moon-Eyed People of Appalachia?” by Hadley Meares, October 22, 2024. Accessed: 6 Nov. 2024. https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/moon-eyed-people-appalachia This article explores various versions and theories about the moon-eyed people, diving deep into archaeological evidence, Cherokee legend, and speculative folklore. The author describes how the myth evolved through both indigenous and European storytelling, as well as modern alien theories.

Discovery of Bog Bodies

Author: Coleman Chappell

Bog Bodies are humans that have been remarkably well preserved in the ground for thousands of years due to the acidic, oxygen-poor conditions of peat bogs, which are made up of accumulated layers of moss. Archaeologists have been finding these bodies since 1640 when the first figure was found in Holstein, Germany by a local farmer.

The bogs were reserved as dumping grounds of those who had either been brutally murdered or offered as human sacrifices to the gods. Behind the sad stories of the deaths, they leave valuable clues for us today, showing how their people may have lived, how they worshipped, and what was used to cause the death.

The Tollund Man, the most well-preserved, best looking bog body found to this day. He lived during the 4^th century BC, also referred to as the Pre-Roman Iron Age and was found in 1950 on the Jutland Peninsula in Denmark. The body’s physical features were so well-preserved, he was mistaken at the time as a recent murder victim that was buried in the ground. He was found wearing a painted skin cap made of sheepskin and wool with a smooth hide belt around his waist. Additionally, the corpse had a noose made of animal hide tight around the neck and trailing down his back. Many believe the man was a human sacrifice rather than a executed criminal because of the arranged position of his body, and the fact that his eyes and mouth were closed.

In 1965, the German scientist Alfred Dieck, catalogued more than 1,850 bog bodies, but later scholarship revealed that much of Dieck’s work is incorrect. Hundreds of bog bodies have been recovered and studied, although it is believed that only 45 bog bodies remain intact today.

Works cited:

Mancini, Mark. “Peat Bogs Are Freakishly Good at Preserving Human Remains.” Howstuffworks,  23 January 2019, https://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/earth/archaeology/peat-bogs-are-freakishly-good-at-preserving-human-remains.htm. Accessed on 25 Oct. 2020.

Dell’Amore, Christine. “Who Were the Ancient Bog Mummies? Surprising New Clues” National Geographic.18July 2014, https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/7/140718-bog-bodies-denmark-archaeology-science-iron-age/#close. Accessed 25 Oct. 2020.

French, Kristen. “The Curious Case of the Bog Bodies” Nautilus. 6Aug2015, http://nautil.us/issue/27/dark-matter/the-curious-case-of-the-bog-bodies. Accessed 25 Oct. 2020.

Staff, History. “What are the bog bodies?” History. 8 May 2008. https://www.history.com/news/what-are-the-bog-bodies. Accessed 25 Oct. 2020.

Links for further research:

Were the Mysterious Bog People Human Sacrifices?https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2016/03/were-europes-mysterious-bog-people-human-sacrifices/472839/
This site runs through some of events the bog bodies experienced before death by observing their body parts, looking for gashes, shatters, or things missing.

Bog Bodies
https://www.nationalgeographic.org/media/bog-bodies/
On this site, there is a four minute video about archaeologists using their knowledge of chemistry, geology, and human behavior to better understand the circumstances that led to the gruesome deaths.

10 Ancient Bog Bodies That Will Amaze You
https://listverse.com/2017/01/28/10-ancient-bog-bodies-that-will-amaze-you/
This site goes through ten of the most significant bog bodies found in history with an explanation on how it was found, cause of death and what we can learn from that specific corpse.

Giant Human Bones

 Javonne Smith

The theory of evolution is where scientist thinks that we evolved from something or someone. Some say that we evolved from monkeys, people that believe in god say that we came from Adam and Eve. What if we didn’t come from any of that? We could’ve descended from giant humans. Giant human bones is an interesting topic because if they were real, everything that we know about evolution would go out the window. You would have many questions that would be quite difficult to answer. One question would be, why haven’t there been any discoveries in the bones or anything that proves they exist?

Allegedly, the first giant bones were found in 81 BC by the Grecian people. The Greeks thought that they had found human bones, scientist now said that elephants were common in that area and that was the bones they dug up. Some people actually believe giants to be real but till this day there isn’t really a way to disprove it. Although many websites say they are real seem to be a hoax. In many different articles they would talk about the discoveries and show many different pictures. Eight out of ten of the pictures you could clearly tell they were photo shopped. There was a couple of satire sites that I looked up to see what kind of things they had on them. One of them was about a Smithsonian cover up. The article talked about how the Smithsonian destroyed thousands of giant bones to protect the evolution theory.

Then you had the websites like The National Geographic telling you how there isn’t a thing as a giant and all the discoveries are fake. A voice editor P. Deivamuthu told National Geogrphic news that his publication about how the giants aren’t real was taken by fake reports. “We are against spreading lies and canards, moreover, our readers are a highly intellectual class and will not brook any nonsense.” He says how it is nonsense to think that any of this could be real and that’s true there’s no way giant humans can be real.  That makes you wonder if they are trying to cover everything up as well so they won’t also mess up the theory of evolution. So far no one really knows if giants are real or not, all the discoveries or pictures seem to be faked and photos shopped in some way.

Some of the pictures that are from the early 1900’s look like they could actually be real, but anyone could make a picture look real and old depending on how good they are with the camera. Some of the sightings from then could be made up just so a town or a family could get some fame for “discovering” giant human bones. Hopefully in a couple of years this myth can be resolved and we will really know if one day the giants were roaming the earth.


Work cited;
Proctor, Steven. NephilliumAnnunaki and the Sumerian Giant Skeletons. 2012. Photograph. Youtube. 26 March 2012. Web. 14 Oct. 2015.

Flanagan, Bob. “Smithsonian Admits to Destruction of Thousands of Giant Human Skeleton in Early 1900s” New World Order (2015) Google Advance Search. N.P., 3 Dec. 2014. Web. 7 Oct. 2015.

Harris, Kristan. “A Giant Mystery: 18 Strange Skeletons Found in Wisconsin: Sons of God; Men of Renown.” Google Advanced Search. N.P., N.D., Web. 7 Oct. 2015.

Owen, James. “” Skeleton of Giant” Is Internet Photo Hoax” National Geographic News. Google
Advanced Search. Web. 10 Oct. 2015
Links for Further Research:
Giant Bones Informational Video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=azjWu6Uva8k
This link to the YouTube video above is talking about different sightings of giant bones and whether or not they are real.

Greek Giantshttp://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/past-exhibitions/mythic-creatures/land-creatures-of-the-earth/greek-giants
This link talks about Grecian Giants and how they even discovered a giant in 81 BC.
Giant Bone Legends http://hubpages.com/hub/Did-Giants-Once-Walk-the-Earth
This article talks about legends from the bible and other discoveries throughout the world.

Bog Bodies

Author: Angela Murphy

Image by Sterlingy 2013 on Deviant Art

When someone thinks of mummies they picture the typical movie stereotype of a bandaged up corpse that usually can come back to life in order to finish what they started. Now while the resurrection part may be very much a myth, throughout history this was how mummies where buried, until bog bodies were discovered. Bog bodies is a term commonly used to classify the hundreds of human remains from northwestern Europe that date to the Iron Age (ca. 500 B.C.-A.D. 100). (Lobell, Samir) These bodies, unlike the process of mummification,  could be discovered preserved almost completely intact depending on their burial location. Their organs all still inside of their body, which is the opposite of how traditional mummies where buried. The process of bog bodies includes someone killed and then immediately put into a peat bog. These bog bodies are an incredible discovery, in which some bodies date back as far as being preserved as long as eight thousand years.

            "In 1979, the archaeologist Christian Fischer interpreted the bog bodies as offerings to the god or gods that may have felt aggrieved by the activities of mankind (digging for turf or bog iron ore) in the bog." (Randsborg 116) In several different findings from scientists all around the world, many claim to think that there was several different reasons based on the time period why these people where basically incased into a bog body. Some say as a punishment for a crime that the person made, and others go as far to claim that it was for sacrifice to please the gods. Clearly, as depicted in the words of Christian Fischer, he was one to believe that these bog bodies where a result to try to ease the gods anger. Others even say that it was out of the clear boredom and barbarianism of an ancient society, when speaking in terms of bog bodies predating back to the stone ages. As for finding out the real reasons, research is still continuing to find out more about the motives behind the actions of those who par-took in the process of a bog body.

            The only thing that anthropologists can go by when it comes to learning more information on bog bodies is the research they do on their findings. Their famous findings come mostly from bog bodies that where preserved astonishingly well for their age. One example is Tollund Man, a Danish bog that was found two thousand and three hundred years after he was supposedly sacrificed. "The man--or what was left of him--emerged from the Irish sod one winter day in 2003, his hair still styled the way he wore it during his last moments alive. The back was cropped short; the top, eight inches long, rose in a pompadour, stiffened with pine resin." (Lange 80) Despite many theories, once modern technology came around, researchers discovered that when they thought that these bog bodies had been tortured and beaten throughout their life, it was the toll that the bog took on their body after their death. The bog made the body seem as if it was mangled and constantly put under physical damage. "In Denmark, a team of forensic investigators including Niels Lynnerup of the University of Copenhagen has reexamined that country's bog bodies and found that some of the damage once interpreted as torture or mutilation was actually inflicted centuries after death." (Lange 81)

            Among one of the oldest bog bodies emerged when discovered in 1987 and took the leading role for attention in most anthropologists eyes. "Yde" -- pronounced "ee-duh" -- has grown to be one of the most familiar of the seven bog bodies in the display because of a facial reconstruction that presents the image of a young, blue-eyed girl with shoulder-length blond hair." (Karlovits) This two thousand year old bog body seemed to be able to make a strange undeniable connection with some researchers that where studying her. Studying these amazingly preserved bog bodies is crucial if the world wants to be more knowledgeable on our ancestors cultures. If these bog bodies where never discovered, quite a few things would be unanswered in our world. Our scientists discover and unearth new things every day, who knows what they might find tomorrow.

Works Cited: 

Karlovits, Bob. "Bogs Reveal Bigger Story." Pittsburg Tribune-Review (PA) (2005) Newsbank. Web. 12 October 2013.

Lange, Karen E. "Tales from the Bog." National Geographic 212.3 (2007): pg 80-93. Academic Search Premier. Web. 12 October 2013.

Lobell, Jarrett A. Patel, Samir S. "Bog Bodies Rediscovered. (cover story)." Archaeology. 63. 3 (2010): p22-29. Academic Search Premier. Web. 10 October 2013.

Randsborg, Klavs. "The Bog Bodies as Social Outcasts." Acta Archaeologica 81:1 (2010): pg116. Academic Search Premier. Web. 12 October 2013.

Sterlingy. Bog Body Illustration. 2012-2013. deviantart.com.Web. 17 Oct. 2013

Links for Further Research:

PBS; Ancient bog bodies in the iron age

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/ancient/bog-bodies-iron-age.html

This site gives basic information on bog bodies, for some parts may seem confusing.

National Geographic; Bog Bodies

http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2007/09/bog-bodies/clark-photography

This site shows multiple pictures that can mentally give examples as to how bog bodies look like.

Live Science; Oldest 'bog body' found with skin still intact

http://www.livescience.com/38983-irish-bog-body.html

This link goes to an article that talks about a recently found four thousand year old bog body that still has its skin intact.