Discover the Biggest Human Head Ever Found

The biggest human head ever found depends on what you consider human. Or, at least what scientists consider human. This is also the kind of question that opens the way for some incredibly wild and deep conversations.

Officially, the Guinness Book of World Records maintains that the most significant human head ever found belongs to a UK man, with a cranial capacity of 1,980 cm³ (120.8 in³). While that’s a little large, it’s certainly not extravagant. In fact, such a skull size would largely go unnoticed in most crowds today.

Well, that’s not very exciting. The truth is, 1800 cm³ is within the “normal” parameters. So, while 1,980 cm³ is pretty large, it’s not something you’ll see in yellow-page journalism. For what it’s worth, there are some other interesting tidbits worth looking into, if you’re willing to dive down the rabbit hole.

Dragon Man (Largest “Human” Head Ever?)

Whether you’re into evolution or intelligent design, this is an interesting find and a source of contention among paleoanthropologists. The Dragon Man head was discovered in 1933, by several Chinese laborers building a bridge over the Songhua River

To keep it out of the hands of the invading Japanese, the laborers wrapped the skull in a linen cloth and placed it in the bottom of a well. It wasn’t until a deathbed confession in 2018 that the skull resurfaced. Of course, once it did, a firestorm ensued surrounding the exact classification of the skull.

The initial paleontologists went with the “brand new species” angle, while other paleontologists feel like it’s simply a matter of the slightly different appearances between distant relatives. Either way, the skull is the largest of its kind and is 146,000 years old. If you like scientific jargon, you can read more about the skull here.

The key difference between the Dragon Man skull and the skull from the Guinness Book of World Records is the question of the Dragon Man skull’s humanity. While some believe the skull is very close to the humans of today, other researchers aren’t so certain. It’s not likely that an argument between paleoanthropologists will end tomorrow so, perhaps we’ll never know.

Giant Human Skeletons

The problem with research these days is there is so much conflicting data on the web. When all you want to find is the biggest human head ever found, paging through endless claims of 60′ giants is often what you end up with. The reality is, we discover large human skeletons all the time.

These skeletons wouldn’t be thought of as abnormal today but, in their time, these men and women were probably thought of as giants or, at the very least, gigantic. For instance, back in May of 2013, an archeological excavation discovered a very tall Roman Soldier, whose bones dated back to the 3rd century AD.

By today’s standards, that’s just a tall guy. However, during the Roman Empire, when the average man stood 5 and 1/2 feet tall, this man was a veritable giant, towering over his peers. The thing is, as seems to be the case in all of these finds, the size of the skull is never front and center in the literature.

His skull was probably the same size as most other people today. If you were to travel back in time, to the day of this particular Roman soldier, you probably wouldn’t feel out of place physically. The ‘Longshan Giant,’ Discovered in the Shaanxi Province of China, carries the label “phenomenal size.”

That would lead most people to believe this particular character was simply ginormous. The reality was, while he certainly was huge for his time, his height is estimated to be 6′ 2″.

The Alton Giant

The Alton Giant was not a case of finding a skeleton since the man lived in modern times, his life recorded in the history books and in photographs.

At the end of his life, the Alton Giant (Robert Wadlow) grew to a staggering 8′ 11″ with a weight of 439 lbs. Of course, Robert Wadlow was dealing with gigantism, a relatively well-known and understood disease.

Judging by comparison pictures, it looks as if Robert Wadlow had the biggest human head ever. But since the dimensions of his body far superseded the dimensions of his head (when it comes to the statistical data), we’ll never know.

Interestingly enough, as the tallest human being in recorded history, the Alton Giant is now in the same record book as the biggest human head ever found, though his height won him the record and not his skull size.

Macrocephaly

Macrocephaly is nothing more than an enlarged head that measures out larger than the standard deviations. The fact that this disease exists makes the biggest human head ever found questionable. Point of note: macrocephaly is not the same as megalencephaly, with the latter being an enlargement of the brain.

In terms of the fossil record, there are no known macrocephaly skulls discovered that rival that of the UK man in the Guinness Book of World Records. It would seem that such a thing should exist, especially given the fossil and archaeological discoveries of humans with gigantism.

Elongated Skulls

Though the discovery of elongated skulls should indicate the existence of skulls bigger than the UK man’s, that line of pursuit is deceptive. The biggest human head ever discovered has a cranial capacity of 1,980 cm³.

The practice of elongating skulls, while it may deform and create the illusion of larger skull size, doesn’t change the cranial capacity. From a historical standpoint, the discovery of elongated skulls is a fascinating cultural revelation, crude and inhuman as the practice was.

However, with all of the elongated human skulls currently collected or on display in museums around the world, there are none with a larger cranial capacity than the UK man.

All Things Considered

The Guinness Book of world records still maintains that the biggest human head ever found has a cranial capacity of 1,980 cm³. Despite the efforts of combing through large skeleton discoveries, cases of macrocephaly in the fossil record, gigantism, and the cultural practice of elongating skulls, it would seem that the record continues unchallenged.

On the bright side, combing through archeological findings, historical records, and abnormal, physical human case studies is incredibly engaging. Perhaps, one day, the UK man’s prodigious skull size will meet its match. However, as for now, the record still stands.

The photo featured at the top of this post is © GAS-photo/Shutterstock.com