The Aranzadi Scientific Society has found this Saturday the skeletal remains of Miguel Joakin Elizegi, known as the Altzo giant, in the cemetery of the municipality of the province of Guipúzcoa. A group of 15 people from the Scientific Society, led by the anthropologist Francisco Etxeberria and Lurdes Errasti, had been working since last August 12 in excavation work in the Alzo cemetery. "It has been verified that the remains remain in the place where he was buried, so it is a legend that they had been irregularly stolen," they reported this Monday at a press conference.
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The investigations in the family tomb had not yielded results that led them to find the remains of Elizegui, until they were transferred to the ossuary, where they found the bones that correspond to the size of the man who has become a legend inside and outside from Spain. The final result, say the researchers, "is pending the corresponding DNA analysis." However, the discovery of a 640-centimeter femur and limbs that also exceed the average size of a human skeleton, ensure that it is the Altzo giant.
Errasti explained that it is very likely that Miguel Joakin Elizegi endured very intense pain due to the weight of his body that fell on his legs and spine. The investigators assure that for all “it has been a very pleasant surprise to have found it”, and they have confirmed that, until the morning of this Monday, more remains continue to appear.
Miguel Joakin Elizegi was a 2.40 meters tall from Gipuzkoa whose story was rescued in the film Handia, in 2017, by directors Jon Garaño and Aitor Arregi, and who was the winner of ten Goya awards. Elizegi was exhibited in shows in various European countries and was introduced to Elizabeth II in Spain and Queen Victoria in the United Kingdom. His death certificate indicates that he was buried in the cemetery of the Iglesia San Salvador in Altzo Azpi in 1861, at the age of 43, although it was unknown if the remains were still deposited in the place after almost 160 years of his death.