A new study shows that people in Brazil carved images into the rock next to dinosaur footprints. This means that people thought the footprints were important or interesting.
The markings on the rocks are called petroglyphs by scientists. Its location is Serrote do Letreiro in Paraíba, an agricultural state on the east coast of Brazil. Scientists first saw the markings in 1975. A new field scan using drones discovered carvings that had not been seen before. This increases the likelihood that they are connected to the tracks. The Cretaceous period took place 66 million years ago and was the home of the dinosaurs. The tracks show how they moved.
One of the historians who worked on the study, who works at the Institute of National Historical and Artistic Heritage of Brasilia, said: “Most people think that the indigenous peoples did not know what was going on around them, or that they themselves not interested in science or technology.” “But that’s not true. It’s clear they were interested in the songs. Those who made the prints were interested in them and thought they might mean something. Maybe they knew something about dinosaurs, maybe they didn’t.
There are other petroglyphs near dinosaur tracks, but the Serrote do Letreiro petroglyphs are the best evidence of a connection between the two that they have ever seen. The study authors believe this could have major implications for the study of fossils, archeology and cultural artifacts.
Math-based forms
We don’t know how old the petroglyphs are. But the study, which appeared in the journal Scientific Reports in March, said radiocarbon dating showed the cemeteries were between 9,400 and 2,620 years old. It follows that the people who lived there at the time of the burials were still alive. Troiano explained: “These people probably lived in small groups and took advantage of the many natural rock shelters that exist in the area.”
There is no shade in this part of Brazil, so it is difficult to cut the rock while standing there. It’s like the far north of Australia. “They chose this location very deliberately because it requires a lot of work,” he noted. Possibly they could have used many other stones in the area instead of this stone.
More than one artist may have worked on the drawings as they are in different styles. There are some that look like plants and others that look more like squares, boxes and rounds. Troiano said the rings could look like stars because of the crosses or lines in them. However, it is not clear what these markings mean. He explained: “They all seem vague, and if they meant something to the people who made them, we don’t know what it is.”
In Serrote do Letreiro there are traces of three different species of dinosaurs. These come from ornithopods, theropods and sauropods. The researchers believe that the people who carved the rock may have thought that some of the tracks were made by rheas, large native birds that look very similar to ostriches and whose tracks closely resemble the tracks of theropod dinosaurs.
People of the past made casts of sauropods that were very different from any animals they knew, as sauropods were among the largest dinosaurs that fed only on plants. There is no clear connection between the drawings and these particular images, the study says. This most likely happened for this reason.
Ceremonies for Dinosaurs
Troiano said he believes the tracks may have been left by the dinosaurs when they came together as a group. “I think that making rock art was part of a kind of ritual: people coming together to create something, perhaps while under the influence of drugs.” He explained: “We still use jurema, a plant that gets people high. “ We believe people have used it in the past because it is so popular in the area and easy to find. They were interested enough in the tracks to figure out what they were, which is probably why they called them stamps. They knew it wasn’t a fluke.
There are other petroglyphs in the U.S. and Poland that resemble dinosaur footprints, but Troiano said they don’t show “nearly the same level of intentionality.” It is not enough to know that the lines and images are close to each other; They also have to touch each other. The study says it shows “thoughtfulness” on the part of creators if they don’t cruise.
After the study, Troiano said he is working on a second paper that will explain in more detail how to read and understand the Serrote do Letreiro petroglyphs. This paper will complement the results of the first study.
Radosław Palonka, a professor of archeology at Krakow’s Jagiellonian University in Poland, says the direct connection between the drawings and the traces of dinosaur fossils is unique and could help us better understand the meaning and value of rock art. Palonka has worked on petroglyphs like these before, but was not involved in the study.
Palonka wrote in a message: “The fact that the rock art panels were placed in specific locations is evidenced by the fact that members of the communities that made the paintings or petroglyphs often place them very close to older images from other cultures.” If one If you look at rock art from around the world, this is often the case. One place where it is easy to spot is the southwestern United States or southwestern North America. This is where my scientific interests lie.
Jan Simek, a renowned anthropology professor at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, who was not involved in the new petroglyph study, said, “The work provides an interesting new example of how ancient people viewed fossils in the landscape and used them religiously.” Experiences and interpretations.”
An academic history professor at Stanford University named Adrienne Mayor has shown how people in ancient Greece and Rome thought fossils were evidence of monsters and giants from their own stories. Native Americans also viewed fossils as evidence of their own stories about how they came to be, Simek said in an email. “The case of Brazil is another archaeological example of how people tend to associate the spiritual world they imagine in their heads with strange things in the real world.”