The Cardiff Giant is a famous hoax that emerged in 1869 when a 10-foot-tall statue of a giant was discovered in Cardiff, New York. Initially believed to be a petrified prehistoric man, the giant attracted significant attention and sparked debates about human origins and the existence of giants in the Bible. The statue was later revealed to be a carved piece of gypsum created by a sculptor named George Hull. Hull had buried the giant as part of a practical joke, but the Cardiff Giant became a notable example of 19th-century American hoaxes and remains a point of interest in discussions about archaeology and fraud.