A new study shows that Brazilians used to carve images into rock alongside dinosaur footprints. This means that people thought the prints were important or interesting.
The markings on the rocks are known as petroglyphs by scientists. Their location is Serrote do Letreiro in Paraíba, an agricultural state on the east coast of Brazil. Scientists first saw these markings in 1975. New field analysis using drones revealed carvings that had never been seen before. This makes it more likely that they are connected to the tracks. The Cretaceous period took place 66 million years ago and was home to the dinosaurs. The tracks show how they moved.
One of the historians who worked on the study and who are based at the Institute of National Historical and Artistic Heritage in Brasilia said: “Most people think that indigenous people did not know what was happening around them. They or were 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. They may or may not have known about dinosaurs.
There are other rock art near the dinosaur tracks, but the petroglyphs at Serrote do Letreiro are the best evidence of a connection between the two that they have ever seen. The study authors believe this could have important effects on studies of fossils, archeology and cultural artifacts.
Math-based shapes
We don’t know how old the petroglyphs are. But the study, published in March in the journal Scientific Reports, says radiocarbon dating showed the cemeteries are 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 said: “These people probably lived in small groups and used the many natural rock shelters present in the area. »
This part of Brazil has no shadow, so it is difficult to cut the rock while standing there. It’s like the Great Australian North. “They were very deliberate in choosing this location because it requires a lot of work,” he stressed. They could have used many other rocks from the area instead of this one.
Several artists may have worked on the designs as they are of different styles. There are some that look like plants and others that look more like squares, boxes and circles. Troiano said the rings might look like stars because of the crosses or lines inside. Yet the meaning of these marks is unclear. He said: “They all seem vague, and if they meant anything to those who created them, we don’t know what it is. »
There are traces of three different types of dinosaurs in Serrote do Letreiro. These are ornithopods, theropods and sauropods. Researchers think the people who carved the rock may have thought some of the markings came from rheas, large local birds that look a lot like ostriches and whose tracks closely resemble those of theropod dinosaurs.
People in the past made sauropod footprints, very different from those of any animal they would have known, because sauropods were among the largest dinosaurs that ate only on plants. There is less of a clear connection between the drawings and these particular images, according to the study. This probably happened because of this.
Dinosaur ceremonies
Troiano said he thinks the marks could have been made by the dinosaurs when they came together as a group. “I think creating rock art was part of a sort of ritual: people coming together to create something, maybe while high on drugs.” He said: “We always use jurema, a plant that gets people high. “We think people used it in the past because it’s very popular and easy to find in the area. They were interested enough in the marks to understand what they were, which is probably why they called them stamps. They knew it wasn’t a fluke.
There are other petroglyphs in the United States and Poland that are close to 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 need to touch. The study claims it shows “consideration” on the part of creators if they don’t cross paths.
After the study, Troiano said he was working on a second article that would explain in more depth how to read and understand the Serrote do Letreiro petroglyphs. This article will complement the conclusions of the first study.
Radosław Palonka, professor of archeology at Jagiellonian University in Krakow, Poland, says the direct link between the drawings and dinosaur fossil tracks is unique and can help us better understand the meaning and value of rock art. Palonka has worked on petroglyphs like these before, but he was not involved in the study.
Palonka wrote: “The fact that the rock art panels were placed in specific locations is demonstrated by the fact that members of the communities who made the paintings or petroglyphs often placed them very close to larger images. ancient ones left by other cultures. » If you look at rock art from around the world, this is often the case. One place where it is easy to see is the southwest United States or southwest North America. This is where my scientific interests lie.
Jan Simek, a renowned anthropology professor at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, who was not involved in the new study of the petroglyphs, said: “The paper gives an interesting new example of how people Ancient people considered fossils in the landscape and used them in their projects. their religious experiences and interpretations.
Adrienne Mayor, a history professor at Stanford University, showed how people in ancient Greece and Rome believed fossils were proof of the existence of monsters and giants based on their own stories. Native North 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 connect the spiritual world they create in their minds with strange things that happen in the real world. »