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Dinosaurs Alongside Humans |
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Is there evidence that dinosaurs and pterosaurs have lived contemporaneously with humans? Yes, and dinosaurs and pterosaurs may still live! |
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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. |
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Were Dragons Dinosaurs? |
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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 |
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Saint George and the Dragon (Is this old story 100% fictional?) |
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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. |
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http://members.aol.com/livedinos |
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The men spend the night in the “Hall of Mead”, where Grendel had killed before. |
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The adventures of Beowulf were surely handed down from generation to gener- ation, through the story-songs of bards. |
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In the Beowulf poem, Grendel is compared to a man, except that he’s larger and is greatly deformed. He eats people, too! |
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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. |
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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) |
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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. |
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An American teenager has written a book about living dinosaurs. Phillip O’Donnell, of Oregon, wrote Dinosaurs, Dead or Alive. |