Three scientists from China and the United States claim to have found the first and only documented evidence of the coexistence of human beings and dinosaur tracks.
They were discovered in a remote county in southwest China's Chongqing, according to a report published in the latest issue of the Geological Bulletin of China.
The recently discovered dinosaur track site, the Lotus Mountain Fortress, is well known for a large concentration of dinosaur tracks and track ways. The area has known human habitation for only 700 years.
"The earliest inscription found in the area could be traced back to the year of 1256, over 700 years ago, in the Song Dynasty (960-1279)," said Xie Xianming, head of the mineral division of Qijiang County's Bureau of Land and Property Management, Chongqing Municipality.
The researchers state no verifiable or literal coexistence of humans and dinosaurs at the same time. The evidence is that ancient humans lived amongst dinosaur tracks and that some of the dinosaur tracks look like the lotus representations in Buddhism.
The researchers thus assumed that is the reason why ancient villagers gave such a name to their home.
"We found a lot of interesting relics that were associated with lotus by local residents. The ripple marks, mud cracks and duck-billed dinosaur tracks had created a picture of a lotus field, and led to the folklore of 'booming golden lotus from the earth,'" said Xing Lida, one of the researchers.
Chen Yu, another researcher with the project as well as an archaeologist with the Capital Museum in Beijing, said Buddhism had thrived in the region that had been a transport hub for China and other Asian countries.
Qijiang County was historically located in a frontier area. The Lotus Mountain Fortress had been a safe hiding place since the Han Dynasty (202 BC- 220 AD), according to the epigraphy of various dynasties, she said.
Adrienne Mayor, the third researcher with the project as well as a historian of ancient science and a classical folklorist with Stanford University in the United States, said the case of the Lotus Mountain Fortress proves that dinosaur tracks had influenced ancient Chinese folklore, which could provide clues for seeking other tracks.
"The fortress' 700 years of history is a rarity in the world and reflects China's traditional philosophy of the relationship between humans and nature", she said.
Archaeology/History
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