So the near-universality of such stories in human cultures, their clear separation from 'religious' myths and so forth can be disregarded?

Consider, the scarcity of fossil evidence regardng our own species is such that an alien palaeontolgist might have to register serious doubts about our existence!

Consider also, the archaeological finds that have been made by people who actually paid attention to myths and legends.

"There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio." As the saying goes, and I'd rather take Bills' word on anything than an assertion made by a professional shit-stirrer and self-publicist like Hitchens. No intelligent person will ever dismiss anything without substantive evidence against it, any more than they will accept anything without substantive evidence for it. We now have potential physical evidence for Dwarfs, Giants and Little People to set alongside the ancient stories. At the very least, it opens up a line of inquiry, and certainly deserves more than a curt dismissal.