Next we consider a Shang dynasty (B.C. 1766-1122) dragon artifact that was advertised on the Chinese antiquities market as a dinosaur depiction. It displays relief lines in a scale-like pattern, a broad beak, a dermal frill, and a headcrest that is strikingly like the dinosaur Saurolophus (shown on the right). This jade statute, now in the Genesis Park collection, is made of white colored nephrite with differential weathering, cleaving veins and earth penetration, demonstrating authenticity. (Click to enlarge.)

The February 26, 2000 issue of Science News contained an article that commenting on an artifact housed at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts that has come to be known as the Hesione vase (Hesman, 2000). Pictured on this ancient Greek vase is a series of somewhat unusual paintings, including one that portrays a monster that possesses the head of a dinosaur. This pottery was created around 550 B.C., and depicts the Greek hero Heracles rescuing Hesione from this "monster of Troy." Forced to concede the amazingly realistic dinosaurian depiction, Science News concluded that the paintings on this unusual vase simply prove that ancient people dug fossils, too.

The January 2003 issue of National Geographic magazine presents an artifact described as a "cosmetic palette . . . from a cemetery of the first dynasties in Manshaat Ezzat." These long-necked creatures displayed on page 78 fit the pattern of other ancient dinosaur-like depictions, including arching, muscular necks and stout bodies. Known as the "Two Dog Palette," this artifact depicts many lifelike animals (including a giraffe on the reverse).

To the right are displayed slate palettes from Hierakonpolis showing the triumph of King Nar-mer with long necked dragons and an ancient palette depicting a pair of "dinosaur-like" creatures along with numerous clear representations of living animals (taken from p. 93 of Pritchard's book The Ancient Near East in Pictures).

To the right is a Roman mosaic from about 200 AD that depicts two long-necked sea dragons. Paul Taylor, author of The Great Dinosaur Mystery and the Bible, likens them to the web-footed Tanystropheus shown beside.

To the left is another beautiful mosaic that was one of the wonders of the second century world. Called the Nile Mosaic of Palestrina, it depicts Nile scenes from Egypt all the way to Ethiopia. Scholars now believe this is the work of Demetrius the Topographer, an artist from Alexandria who came to work in Rome. The top portion of this remarkable piece of art is generally believed to depict African animals being hunted by black-skinned warriors. These Ethiopians are pursuing what appears to be some type of dinosaur. The Greek Letters above the reptilian animal in question are: KROKODILOPARDALIS which is literally translated Crocodile-Leopard. The picture shown here is only a small portion of the massive mosaic. It also contains clear depictions of known animals, including Egyptian crocodiles and hippos. (Finley, The Light of the Past, 1965, p. 93.)

"An ancient Mayan relief sculpture of a peculiar bird with reptilian characteristics has been discovered in Totonacapan, in northeastern section of Veracruz, Mexico. José Diaz-Bolio, a Mexican archaeologist-journalist responsible for the discovery, says there is evidence that the serpent-bird sculpture, located in the ruins of Tajín, is not merely the product of Mayan flights of fancy, but a realistic representation of an animal that lived during the period of the ancient Mayans - 1,000 to 5,000 years ago. If indeed such serpent-birds were contemporary with the ancient Mayan culture, the relief sculpture represents a startling evolutionary oddity. Animals with such characteristics are believed to have disappeared 130 million years ago." (Anonymous, "Serpent-Bird of the Mayans," Science Digest, vol. 64 November 1968, p. 1)

The picture to the right (click to enlarge) was drawn by North American Anasazi Indians that lived in the area that has now become Utah approximately 150 B.C. - 1200 A.D. Even noted anti-creationists agree that it resembles a dinosaur and that the brownish film which has hardened over the picture, along with the pitting and weathering, attests to its age. One evolutionist writes, "There is a petroglyph in Natural Bridges National Monument that bears a startling resemblance to a dinosaur, specifically a Brontosaurus, with a long tail and neck, small head and all." (Barnes and Pendleton, Canyon Country Prehistoric Indians - Their Culture, Ruins, Artifacts and Rock Art, 1995.) Clearly a native warrior and an apatosaur-like creature are depicted. Horned and flying serpent figures are prominent in the mythology of most Native American peoples, often associated with rain and thunder. An example is the Algonquin pictograph of a flying serpent known as Mishipizheu. Yet another Native American rock pictograph found in Utah (see left) seems to depict a sauropod dinosaur.

Henry Rowe Schoolcraft was a geologist and Indian agent and wrote extensively about the Sioux Indians. He heard stories about a monstrous creature called Unktehi, something like an ox but much larger; with great horns. Schoolcraft reproduced drawings of several types of Unktehi monsters on birchbark around 1850. These were based upon rock art describing a war party of five canoes crossing Lake Superior that encountered animals resembling giant turtles, snakes, and moose. But some (upper right) clearly look dinosaurian. Sioux Indians further west, when interviewed by ethnologists, described Unktehi as an immense reptile or serpent with legs. He was shaped like a giant scaly snake with feet and a notched backbone or crest like a giant saw and had a heavy spiked tail. Still other Indian reports describe Unktehi as a swamp-dwelling creature. Adrienne Mayor, an evolutionist, believes that the Sioux were weaving stories about fossils they encountered. But the pictures and description bring to mind the dinosaur ankylosaurus (lower right) with a low slung body, long tail, heavy armor, and prominent double horns. (Mayor, Fossil Legends of the First Americans, 2005, pp. 235-237.)

The native American Coclé culture of Panama was discovered by A. Hyatt Verrill. He noticed the oddly pterosaur-like representations on Coclé pottery and suggested it was so realistic that these native Americans must have been influenced by fossil discoveries. He describes the depiction (see left) as having "beak-like jaws armed with sharp teeth, wings with two curved claws, short, pointed tail, reptilian head crest or appendages, and strong hind feet with five-clawed toes on each." The Coclé civilization dates from AD 1330-1520. But Verrill theorizes that such drawings were based on "accurate descriptions, or even drawings or carvings, of fossilized pterodactyls." (Verrill, A. Hyatt, Strange Prehistoric Animals and their Stories, 1948, pp. 132-133.)

Another petroglyph (carved rock drawing) has been found in Arizona's Havasupai Canyon (photo taken by Dr. DeLancy). In the far right picture, Paul Taylor compares this ancient drawing to the Edmontosaurus.

There are stories of a plesiosaur-like creature seen in Queensland, Australia. Both aboriginal peoples around Lake Galilee and tribes farther up to the north tell of a long-necked animal with a large body and flippers. "Elders of the Kuku Yalanji aboriginal tribe of Far North Queensland, Australia, relate stories of Yarru (or Yarrba), a creature which used to inhabit rain forest water holes. The painting [left] depicts a creature with features remarkably similar to a plesiosaur. It even shows an outline of the gastro-intestinal tract, indicating that these animals had been hunted and butchered." (CEN Technical Journal, Vol.12, No. 3, 1998, p. 345.)

There are some clearly ancient engravings in dolerite and gneiss that have been found in Bushmanland, South Africa. Amongst the many depictions, dinosaur footprints, and other artifacts in this region; two are of special interest. One resembles a sauropod dinosaur and the other looks like an attempt to depict a pterosaur.

An Egyptian seal (right) depicts a large pterosaur hunting a gazelle (Giveon, R., "Scarabs From Recent Excavations in Israel," Orbis Biblicus et Orientalis 83, 1988, p. 70.) The leaf shaped tail vane of the pterosaur is unmistakable. The long reptilian head has the double crest of a Scaphognathus above it. The two wings even exhibit the unique corrugated features seen in the Solnhofen Rhamphorhynchus fossil and the claws of a pterosaur. The level of detail is similar to that for the gazelle. The seal dates from 1300-1150 B.C. and is now in the Tel Aviv University's Institute of Archaeology. Similarly, an Egyptian statue residing in a Berlin museum depicts legs with toes and claws, three wing claws; a prototagium (a portion of the wing above the arm known from pterosaur fossil impressions); and a tail vane. That pterosaur is shown hunting a falcon and also appeared to have the dental structure of a Scaphognathus. (Goertzen, John, "The Rhamphorhynchoid Pterosaur Scaphognathus crassirostris: A 'Living Fossil' Until the 17th Century," 1998 ICC Paper.)

Deep in the jungles of Cambodia are ornate temples and palaces from the Khmer civilization. One such temple, Ta Prohm abounds with stone statues and reliefs. Almost every square inch of the gray sandstone is covered with ornate, detailed carvings. These depict familiar animals like monkeys, deer, water buffalo, parrots, and lizards. However, one column contains an intricate carving of a stegosaur-like creature. But how could artisans decorating an 800 year old Buddhist temple know what a dinosaur looked like? Western science only began assembling dinosaurs skeletons in the past two centuries. (Pictures are courtesy of Don Patton.)

European reports of flying serpent living in Egypt persist through the 1600's. The Italian naturalist Prosper Alpin wrote a fascinating natural history of Egypt in the 1580's. He describes their crest, a small piece of skin on the head, their tail being "thick as a finger," their length being "as long as a palm branch," and their leaf-shaped tail. (Alpin, P., Histoire Naturelle de l'Egypte, tr. by R. de Fenoyl, 1979, pp. 407-409.) All is precisely like modern fossil reconstructions. A French wooden image, dating from the 16th century, also displays remarkable features of a pterosaur. There are two wings that clearly appear to have ribbed membranes rather than feathers. There appears to be a small head crest above and slightly in front of the eyes, the distinctive tail vane, and a hint of the twin skin flap above and behind the bony crest that is quite like the Egyptian seal.

The next drawing is from a 17th century German tract about the dangers of witches and witchcraft. Witches are accused of causing houses to spontaneously combust. The pterosaurs depicted flying in the background, with characteristic headcrests and tails, were apparently associated with witches. (Guazzo, Francesco Maria, Compendium Maleficarum, 1628, p. 23.) Many accounts from that time period describe creatures that sound suspiciously like pterodactyls. An official government report from 1793 states: "In the end of November and beginning of December last, many of the country people observed dragons appearing in the north and flying rapidly towards the east; from which they concluded, and their conjectures were right, that...boisterous weather would follow." ("Flying Dragons at Aberdeen," A Statistical Account of Scotland, 1793, p. 467.)

A dragon was said to live in the wetlands near Rome in December of 1691. This creature lived in a cave and supposedly terrorized the local population. A sketch of the skeleton has survived in the possession of Ingegniero Cornelio Meyer (right). The most remarkable thing about the animal is the clear head crest and the dual piece of skin from the crest. Five digits were clearly visible for each foot, of the proper length and with the first shorter and offset from the rest as is proper for the Scaphognathus. There is a hint of a wing claw on the far wing where it curves forward. The membraned wings are in front of the legs, on the vertebrae, matching the fossils. The femur is properly shown as a single bone. The tibia and fibula, the twin lower leg bones, are visible too. Although some have suggested that it could be a fossil or a faked composite, it is much too accurate to be a fabrication. The survival of the skin suggests that it is not a fossil since it includes accurate wing features, a head crest, and the ears. (Goertzen, John, "The Rhamphorhynchoid Pterosaur Scaphognathus crassirostris: A 'Living Fossil' Until the 17th Century," 1998 ICC Paper.)

In 1704, Hœllischer Morpheus:Saducismus Triumphatus was published, the theme of this work was the grotesque (including subjects like the occult and black arts). No doubt because the Bible referred to Satan as "that old dragon," dragons are among the creatures often encountered in such works. Within this volume are drawings which depict flying dragons containing actual morphological features of certain species of pterosaurs. On the frontispiece of the work is a clear depiction of a long tailed pterosaur represented with two feet, wings, and a snake-like tail ending in a tail vane.

Choir stall railings and misericords (shelf-like seats for reclining while standing) in medieval European churches are often adorned with ornate carvings. A common theme is the depictions of a dragon (symbolizing Satan) fighting a lion (symbolizing Christ). To the right is one such depiction, showing a dragon that looks very much like a sauropod dinosaur.

"A fantastic mystery has developed over a set of cave paintings found in the Gorozomzi Hills, 25 miles from Salisbury. For the paintings include a brontosaurus - the 67-foot, 30-ton-like creature scientists believed became extinct millions of years before man appeared on earth. Yet the bushmen who did the paintings ruled Rhodesia from only 1500 b.c. until a couple of hundred years ago. And the experts agree that the bushmen always painted from life. This belief is borne out by other Gorozomzi Hills cave paintings - accurate representations of the elephant, hippo, buck and giraffe. The mysterious pictures were found by Bevan Parkes, who owns the land the caves are on. Adding to the puzzle of the rock paintings found by Parkes is a drawing of a dancing bear. (Anonymous, "Bushmen's Paintings Baffling to Scientists," Evening News, January 1, 1970, London Express Service printed in Los Angeles Herald-Examiner, January 7, 1970.) To the left is just such a rock painting from a cave at Nachikufu near Mpika in northern Zimbabwe (formerly Rhodesia). It shows three long-necked, long-tailed creatures sketched in white. (Clark, Desmond J., The Rock Paintings of Northern Rhodesia and Nyasaland, in Summers, Rogers, Rock Art of Central Africa, 1959, pp. 28-29, 194.)

Iron sculptures made by the Bambara peoples of Mali Africa in the 1800's display a three-horned creature with what appears to be a neck frill. The specimens shown here, part of Genesis Park's collection, exhibit dinosaurian characteristics. One shows top horns pointed forward and the neck frill extending halfway down the animal's back, much like the ceratopsian dinosaur Chasmosaurus. The long tail, squat arched body, and sprawled legs also give it the appearance of a ceratopsian dinosaur. The second, entitled "dinosaurian sculpture," by the exhibiting gallery shows a four-legged creature with a long neck and tail like a sauropod dinosaur. The neck has a slight widening and a ridged frill that makes it a fascinating depiction.

Another African tribe from the Mali region is known for producing dinosaurian objects in the mid-1800's . This is the same timeframe when Sir Richard Owen coined the term dinosaur in England. The bronze artifact to the left shows a Dogon tribesman riding a long-necked, long-tailed reptilian creature. The oddly bird-like head with strong jawline is reminiscent of the "duck bill" on certain Ornithopod dinosaurs. The diamond-shaped pattern on the skin matches fossilized skin impressions discovered on a hadrosaur in southern Utah.

In 1924 some Roman style lead artifacts were excavated near Tucson, AZ (see right). Described on p. 331 of David Hatcher's book The Lost Cities of North & Central America is the unique carvings on these implements, particularly a clear dinosaur depiction on a sword. The Arizona Historical Society still has the sword.

A plated and horned creature has also been discovered in Cree Indian art (far left) on the Agawa Rock at Misshepezhieu, Lake Superior Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada. Also to the left is pictured an Inca Ceremonial Burial Stones that is likely from the Nazca culture. In 1571 the Spanish conquistadors brought back stories that there were stones with strange creatures carved on them found in this region of Peru. Today, over 1100 such stones were found by Dr. Javier Cabrera. In the early 1930's, his father found many of these ceremonial burial stones in Ica's numerous Peruvian tombs and noted that dinosaur-like creatures were represented on some of them. Retired from the University of Lima, Dr. Cabrera had focused upon validating these finds within the scientific community. His credibility was strengthened by long-necked creatures displayed on pottery in the museum of Lima and beautiful tapestries from the Nazca tombs (ca 700 AD) with a repeating pattern that looks like dinosaurs. Indeed, the depictions on some of the Ica Stones show the sauropod dinosaurs with a crest of spines much like that discovered by Paleontologist Stephen Czerkas.

Not far from the South American Nazca sites are the Moche Indian archaeological locations. These Moche tribes inhabited northern Peru about 100-800AD. Among the artifacts currently in the Lima museum are the Mocha stirrup-spout pots and vases. Their main artistic medium was the red & white ceramic pots, which depict with singular realism medical acts, combative events, musical instruments, plants and animals. In the Larco Herrera Museum in Peru there are vases that clearly depict dinosaurs. Some of these same types of dinosaurs are shown on the Ica stones, including the dermal frills. The pictures here were taken by Dr. Dennis Swift.

In 1945 archeologist Waldemar Julsrud discovered clay figurines buried at the foot of El Toro Mountain on the outskirts of Acambaro, Mexico. Eventually over 33,000 ceramic figurines were found in the area and identified with the Pre-classical Chupicuaro Culture (800 BC to 200 AD). The authenticity of Julsrud's find has been challenged because the huge collection included dinosaurs. In 1954 the Mexican government sent a team of archeologists to investigate. In 1955 Charles Hapgood, professor of Anthropology at UNH, conducted an elaborate investigation including extensive radiometric dating and thermoluminescent testing by the University of Pennsylvania. In 1990 an investigation was conducted by Neal Steedy, an archeologist who works with the Mexican government. Thus Julsrud's work has survived numerous tests and the Mexican government has even imprisoned two men for selling these artifacts on the black market. Moreover, the dinosaurs are modeled in very agile, active poses, fitting well with the latest scientific evidence and lending credence to the artists having actually observed these creatures. Like the Ica Stones, some sauropod's are depicted with a distinctive spinal frill. There was extinct ice-age horse remains, the skeleton of a woolly mammoth, and a number of ancient human skulls found at the same location as the ceramic artifacts, validating the antiquity of the site (Hapgood, Charles, 2000, p.82). Dr. Ivan T. Sanderson was amazed in 1955 to find that there was an accurate representation of a Brachiosaurus, almost totally unknown to the general public at that time. Sanderson wrote, "This figurine is a very fine, jet-black, polished-looking ware. It is about a foot tall. The point is it is an absolutely perfect representation of Brachiosaurus, known only from East Africa and North America. There are a number of outlines of the skeletons in the standard literature but only one fleshed out reconstruction that I have ever seen. This is exactly like it." Further evidence of the authenticity of Julsrud’s finds is the near-perfect Iguanodon dinosaur figurine. This was one of the first dinosaur skeletons discovered. The early concept of its appearance was almost comical in the mid 1800's. By the turn of the century it had improved considerably but fell far short of what we now know. The Acambaro figurine exhibits knowledge we have gained only in the last few years. No hoaxer could have made this model in the 1940's.

To the right is an artifact from Tiwanaku, an important Pre-Columbian archaeological site in Bolivia. Tiwanaku is recognized by Andean scholars as one of the most important precursors to the Inca Empire. The sculptor depicted a dinosaur-like creature at least 800 years before European scientists discovered dinosaurs.

"In the 1960's, a leading jewel designer called Emanuel Staub was commissioned by the University of Pennsylvania...to produce replicas of a series of small gold weights obtained in Ghana. ...So well crafted were they that the animals that they depicted could be instantly identified by zoologists--all but one, that is, which could not be satisfactorily reconciled with any known animal, until Staub saw it." (Shuker, Dr. Karl P.N., In Search of Prehistoric Survivors, 1995, p. 20.) Originally photographed resting on its hind legs (as if bipedal), this enigmatic Ashanti gold figurine was difficult to identify. Once properly positioned, Staub noted that the mysterious artifact bears a striking resemblance to a dinosaur. Perhaps this figurine was an attempt to model the sauropod Mokele-mbembe creature that is said to inhabit remote regions of equatorial Africa still today.

At a museum in Manitou Springs, Colorado, there is an unusual carved artifact. It is an Indian prayer stick (see below left), roughly a foot long, with a crested head, eyes on both sides, and beaked mouth. The beautiful artistic work stands out as strikingly like a pterodactyl! This portrayal from a Saxon shield mount reveals a pterosaur-like creature at rest. The wings are folded back along its scale-like sides, a long beak full of teeth, crest, and an unmistakable tail vane all make the depiction compelling. The wings are folded back along its scale-like sides, a long beak full of teeth, crest, and an unmistakable tail vane all make the depiction compelling.The flying reptile widfloga (or far-ranging flyer) was known to the Saxons and this shield-boss came from the Sutton Hoo burial site. It is displayed at the British Museum (click to enlarge).

According to the Greek mythology a heroic figure named Jason, son of Aeson, captured a golden fleece that was guarded by a hissing dragon. This legend of Jason charming the Dragon is memorialized in a beautiful painting (see left) by the multi-talented European artist Salvator Rosa (1615-1673). It is remarkable in its likeness to a pterosaurian. From where did Rosa get this inspiration?

In 1496 the Bishop of Carlisle, Richard Bell, was buried in Carlisle Cathedral in the U.K. The tomb is inlaid with brass, with various animals engraved upon it (see right). Although worn by the countless feet that walked over it since the Middle Ages, a particular depiction is unmistakable in its similarity to a dinosaur. Amongst the birds, dog, eel, etc. this clear representation of two long-necked creatures should be considered evidence that man and dinosaurs co-existed.