Awesome or Off-Putting is a weekly delve into cryptozoology, ufology, medical marvels, scientific wonders, secret societies, government conspiracies, cults, ghosts, myths, ancient artifacts, religion, strange facts or just the plain unexplainable.
This week: The Plain Unexplainable
As generally accepted science has it, the dinosaurs went out of style around 65 million years ago when a space rock smashed into Earth. As generally not-accepted science has it, some dinosaurs survived long enough to co-habitate the planet with humans.
"I'll need some serious scientific evidence before making that leap," you may be saying to yourself. Scientific evidence, perhaps, like footprints of both man and dinosaur forever etched side by side in the same layer of sedimentary muck, or 'ancient' etchings of accurately drawn dinosaurs found on stones once left in caves and stream beds.
"Yeah, that type'll do," you're probably thinking.
The thought of dinosaurs and man being literal next door neighbours is thrust aside pretty quickly in most scientific circles. Not all scientists, however, are so quick to discard the idea.
Some evidence often used by believers are the Ica Stones, so named as most of them have been found in Ica, Peru. These stones are said to be ancient by some, and contain etched pictures of accurately drawn dinosaurs. The common argument here is that the ancient Indian people said to have made the stones must have had first hand knowledge of dinosaur anatomy. The pictures are very accurate, and depict beasts not 'discovered' by the modern era until much later.
One would think a simple carbon-dating would be enough to tell the stones' authenticity. The problem there is carbon-dating requires organic material, a substance not found in rock. The next best dating practise to be used would be a good long look at the locations in which the stones were found – herein lies another problem. All we know is they were found in a non-specific cave, and a non-specific river bed – not helpful at all. The case for the stones doesn't look good.
The Taylor Trail, however, looks a good deal better. The Taylor Trail is 14 sequential human footprints made on the very same platform as 134 dinosaur prints – the two sets even cross each other. The trail is apparently named for excavator Stan Taylor, a man who worked on uncovering the prints from 1969-1972.
The tracks have been latched onto as pro-creationist evidence by several religious groups, as they seem to shred the step by step methodology of species evolution. The two sets of prints seem to imply a human ambled past a riverbed, and then a dinosaur followed within days, or vice versa. The tracks are said to have been left in mud, and mud tracks harden within days of being made. An analogy given on www.bible.ca is as follows:
"Suppose you saw several footprints in a sidewalk and someone said, 'This print was made ten years after the one beside it.' Would you buy that? No way! We understand that tracks in mud do not last long. To be preserved, they must be solidified rapidly, within days. Once the material hardens, the tracks are preserved and footprints will no longer leave an impression. Furthermore, exposed tracks weather rapidly. Therefore, we know the next layer was deposited immediately and rapidly."
The tracks could mean a couple different things. They could mean dinosaurs are much more recent than previously thought, they could mean humans are much more ancient than previously thought, or they could mean there was once a deformed tyrannosaur walking around that could have fit comfortably into a pair of Air Jordans.
So what do you think, does the evidence hold up? We're inclined to say the stones don't at all, but the tracks seem pretty solid. Between you and us, the best proof of human/dinosaur cohabitation is our roommate Steve. He's got what looks like an red outer shell all over his back.
Read more:
[story by Shawn Lindseth]
Gilbert Wham says
“Paleontologists who examined the Paluxy “man prints” have without exception declared them to be nothing more than partially-registered dinosaur tracks, natural depressions, or, in some instances, deliberate forgeries carved by local residents to sell to tourists. These were also the conclusions reached by biologist Glen Kuban in 1980, as well as another group of scientists in 1984, which included physicist Ronnie Hastings, geologist Steven Schaferman, anthropologist John Cole and physical anthropologist Laurie Godfrey. (Arthur N. Strahler, “Science and Earth History”, Prometheus Books, Buffalo NY, 1987, p. 463)”
As for that fucking rock with the lizard pictures on it, how many hallucinogenic plants are there in South America? Pliz not to encourage the god-botherers…
Kevin Quinn says
Dinosaurs and Man walking side by side.
http://menwithdinosaurs.blogspot.com
Jan-Louis says
As for the so called studies made on the foot prints not once did thy actually study the prints thy barley looked at it and came to there conclusions. DR carl bagh who was present at the time of the studies and more then once pointed out proof and was ignored every time. Its Unfortunate that people are willfully ignorant of the facts and instead of looking at something with a open mind will rather lie and try to sweep the facts under the carpet.