Dinosaurs Alongside Humans

Is there evidence that dinosaurs and pterosaurs have lived contemporaneously with humans? Yes, and dinosaurs and pterosaurs may still live!

Let’s begin with the past and see if there is any

evidence in human history for the claim: “Dino-

and people have lived together.” First we need

to clarify an important point: “Dinosaur” is a

word that is not ancient, regardless of how old

people think the creatures themselves are. So,

what word would ancient people use for such

creatures, should they have ever lived in human

times? Of course the word “dragon” comes to

mind! Therefore, if there is any evidence that

dragons were  real creatures,  then this could

very well be evidence that dinosaurs and people

have lived contemporaneously.

 

Ancient records from many parts of the world

include accounts of dragons. This could be a

long subject of study so we’ll look at just a few.

 

Many records from ancient Britain abound with

stories of dragons. In fact, some of the names

of locations in England  have their  origins in

some of these stories about dragons.

 

The ancient Greek researcher, Herodotus heard

about snakes with wings in Arabia. He visited

the location and found  many bones of the ser-

pentine creatures that had wings like bats.

 

In 1945, clay figurines were found buried at the

foot of a Mountain  near Acambaro,  Mexico.

33,000 ceramic figurines were eventually iden-

tified with a group who lived between 800 BC

and 200 AD. Their authenticity was challenged

because it included a huge  collection of dino-

saur depictions. The dating has stood up under

rigorous testing and eventually  the Mexican

government  imprisoned  two men for selling

the ancient artifacts.  Old human skulls were

also found at the site.  It should be noted that

the authenticity of these thousands of figurines

were not challenged for any reason other than

that they seemed to indicate that the creators

of the art  were aware  of dinosaurs.  In fact,

some of these depictions indicate the people

were aware  of the appearance of living dino-

saurs, not just fossils or bones.  Surely this is

evidence that people lived with dinosaurs.

 

An epic poem, “Beowulf”,  extols the heroic

feats of this king about thirteen centuries ago.

Let’s look at his three battles with monsters:

 

1) Beowulf fights Grendel in the king's hall

 

2) The pursuit of Grendel’s "mother" and

     the battle that ends this monster’s life

 

3) Beowulf fights with a dragon, resulting in

     the king’s death soon afterwards.

 

The second and third battles contain superhero

exploits claimed for Beowulf. The first battle

does not have any unbelievable elements. One

theory is that there is some true history within

these tales.  Here is one possible explanation 

for why the first of these battles may be a more

accurate account of an actual historic event:

 

For those who don’t know the story, Grendel

is a fierce destroyer who kills people in the

night by sneaking up on them. Not only does

he kill but he eats at least some of those he

kills. He is described as being like a man but

larger.  There is something  different about

Grendel, though. He is not really a man. He’s

not really the same form or else is extremely misshapen.  By the way, there is no magic in

this story.  It’s an heroic adventure.

 

The first battle involves a number of men who

were loyal to Beowulf to the point of risking

their lives  for him. They sleep in the drinking

hall where Grendel had previously attacked and

killed people in the night. The monster  returns

and kills one man before Beowulf confronts it.

The brave man jumps onto or behind (the story

is not specific enough) Grendel and holds on!

He holds tightly onto the monster as it crashes

around the room. Chairs are thrown everywhere. Nothing seems undamaged except the roof.

 

It is only after a terrible struggle, that there is a

dramatic turn of events: Somehow the creature gets its arm and/or claw torn off. The story does not actually say that Beowulf  torn the arm off.  What it says is that Grendel ran off bleeding and

when the king (not Beowulf) of that land arrived,

he saw the creature's arm/shoulder/ and/or claw,  on or near the ceiling.

 

This account of the hand-to-hand fight between

Grendel and Beowulf  bears more resemblance

to a “Six O'clock News” story  than to a fairy

tale. One thing that’s very strange is the descrip-

tion of Beowulf’s opponent:  more monstrous

than human-like. Grendel never speaks and does

not fight with any human weapon.  His hide is impervious to human weapons, and no magic is

mentioned in any part of the poem.

 

Here is one appraisal of this battle: the creature

got its arm stuck around  where the wall joins

the ceiling. Grendel twisted and tore off his own

arm!   This would explain why nobody claims

Beowulf himself tore off the monster's arm. The

man is rightfully praised and rewarded for his

heroism, and why should they care about such

a detail? It’s noteworthy for us, however. If this were a completely fictional tale, it’s unlikely it

would be written this way. Surely such a fiction would be for the purpose of glorifying a hero. It

does not make sense that detail is mentioned of

Beowulf’s holding firmly to the monster, yet no

credit is given his strength in tearing off the arm

of Grendel. It simply says a wound appeared at

the creature’s shoulder. If this was completely

fictitious, the author would give Beowulf credit

for tearing off the monster’s arm. The appendage

would then end up in Beowulf’s hand, not near

the ceiling, apparently still embedded there. It

seems this is an account of an actual battle!

 

The next two stories have Beowulf doing super-

human exploits in battling two other monsters.

These seem to be at least partly fictional. What

is the difference between the first battle and the

next two, aside from believability?  The battle

with Grendel involves many eyewitnesses. The

second and third battles, apparently do not. So,

what’s the significance?

 

If there is any truth to these stories at all, they

would have been passed down by bards or those  who told stories of interesting events. Long be-

fore this epic poem was written, storytellers had

spread the tale from its original location. In the

early stages of retelling, however, eyewitnesses

may have prevented changes from being made

in the first battle with Grendel. Since the second

and third battles may not have had many or even

any eyewitnesses other than Beowulf himself,

these may  have become  greatly embellished.

Beowulf died soon after the third battle. No one

would object to exaggerations and changes in

the second and third battles,  and so they took

on super-heroic aspects.

 

Now the strange part: What creature would

be something like a man but be fierce and

eat people? (hint #1: it may not have been

full-grown. hint #2: it probably walked on

two legs like a man. hint #3: it's forearms

were not big and strong but the weakest

part of its body, quite possibly.  hint #4:

Before Beowulf woke up, Grendel had not

only killed a man but ate him "hand and

foot".  hint #5: He sneaks up on people

at night - This sounds like Jurassic Park!)

 

Strange as it may seem to modern people

of developed nations, Grendel, in the epic

poem of Beowulf, bears resemblance to

a dinosaur such as a Tyrannosaurus Rex,

though the story seems to make it clear

that the monster was not nearly as large

as the largest fossils we have of a T.R..

Grendel was larger than a man but the

second creature of the poem may have

been larger. It was called the mother of

Grendel and was also greatly feared.

 

Present day Westerners may wonder how

a Tyrannosaurus Rex (or any creature any-

thing like it) could be compared with any

human. To people in ancient times (or to

people today, who do not know of bipedal

living things other than humans) a creature

that walks on two legs would remind them

of a human. It should be noted that Grendel

was said to be extremely misshapen or de-

formed. This surely means it was actually

very different in appearance to humans.

 

Before leaving the subject of the Beowulf

story,  we need to consider a point about

definitions: The modern word “dinosaur”

does not likely have an exact translation

to any one word in any ancient language.

Should an ancient visitor to the Nile River

see what we know is a crocodile, it would

surely be called a “dragon”. The point is,

many descriptions and depictions of ancient

peoples, indicate dinosaurs and pterosaurs

rather than creatures our modern textbooks

classify as presently living creatures. Never-

theless not all ancient accounts of “dragons”

are likely to be dinosaurs or pterosaurs.

 

Do Dinosaurs Still Live?

 

Some researchers travel to remote areas of the

world, in search of living dinosaurs. One of them

is William Gibbons, who has been to Africa and

investigated reports of a sauropod known as the

Mokele-mbembe. Westerners have known about

the tracks made by these creatures since the 18th

Century.  They are as large as elephant tracks

but show claw marks, which elephants do not

have. Gibbons has been preparing for another

expedition to Central Africa in 2005. In the 2000

expedition of Gibbons and David Woetzel, one

eyewitness looked at one of the pictures the men

showed him and identified it as a creature that 

is said to kill elephants at times. The picture that

Gibbons and Woetzel showed the native was of

a triceratops dinosaur.

 

Woetzel also explored a remote island in Papua

New Guinea in 2004, searching for the “ropen”,

whose description indicates it is a pterosaur. He

saw something briefly that he believes was it,

though it was a brief sighting at a distance.

Were Dragons Dinosaurs?

The fact that many old fictions

deal with dragons does not

mean that the origin of the

concept of dragons is from

the human imagination.

 

Some cryptozoologists believe in living dinosaurs: Dinos live! Some believe that the ropens (Southwest Pacific) are living pterosaurs (pterodactyls). (For more information, see: cryptozoology and

pterodactyls.)

Saint George and the Dragon

(Is this old story 100% fictional?)

In the old epic poem, Beowulf

(not yet king) takes his followers

to the “Hall of Mead” where the

 men have little hope of survival.

Here, the monster Grendel had

recently killed several men.

http://members.aol.com/livedinos

The men spend the night in the “Hall of

Mead”, where Grendel had killed before.

The adventures of Beowulf were surely

handed down from generation to gener-

ation, through the story-songs of bards.

In the Beowulf poem, Grendel

is compared to a man, except

that he’s larger and is greatly

deformed. He eats people, too!

The idea that all dinosaurs and pterosaurs became extinct many millions of years ago, because of “evidence” related to Mesozoic strata, has a major problem:

circular reasoning.

In early 2004 a T. Rex type creature was

seen on the island of New Britain in Papua

New Guinea. It was described as having a

head like a dog and a tail like a crocodile.

It stood 3 meters tall, apparently standing.

Glen Kuban, a geologist, has offered

an explanation for some sightings of creatures described like living ptero-saurs: Flying Fox fruit bats; but how can we explain the long tails? Some eye-witness descriptions in Papua New Guinea are of flying creatures with tails “at least 10-15 feet” long or “seven meters” long. (not fruit bats)

A pterosaur was reported in South Carolina. Susan Wooten saw the creature fly over a highway near a remote swamp. The pterosaur had a long tail and a head crest. Susan was positive: The creature had no feathers.

An American teenager has written a book about living dinosaurs. Phillip O’Donnell, of Oregon, wrote Dinosaurs, Dead or Alive.