Remember reading that New Zealand had a race of giants prior to the Maori's. There were skeletons discovered in one of their national parks, and then the area was closed to entry permanently.
Koorie's also have similar legends to the Maori of giants.
Animals we know today are vastly smaller than the time of the dinosaurs, so seems reasonable that there were also hominids or humans which also were much larger than people are now. There are legends all over the world that say so, including the Nephilim of the Bible. Then there is the David and Goliath story with the latter said to be 9 feet in height.
You probably wouldn't believe that NZ had birds of prey which used to attack, kill and eat Maori, however scientists say they have confirmed the legend.
"A Maori legend about a giant, man-eating bird has been confirmed by scientists.
Te Hokioi was a huge black-and-white predator with a red crest and yellow-green tinged wingtips, in an account given to Sir George Gray, an early governor of New Zealand.
It was said to be named after its cry and to have "raced the hawk to the heavens".
Scientists now think the stories handed down by word of mouth and depicted in rock drawings refer to Haast's eagle, a raptor that became extinct just 500 years ago, shows their study in The Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology." www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10597177
Myths and legends aren't necessarily figments of early man's imagination or attempt to explain the world around them.
