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The Maya knew about fossils

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    #2
    Galvasean
    Registered Users Posts: 30,746 ✭✭✭✭Galvasean


    It seems the ancient Mayans' origin of life story has far more basis in reality than those of *some*.


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    #3
    Wibbs
    Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 60,073 Mod ✭✭✭✭Wibbs


    Neolithic man collected fossils as trinkets/unusual objects. Neandertals may have done the same, though the evidence is sparse though interesting.

    Rejoice in the awareness of feeling stupid, for that’s how you end up learning new things. If you’re not aware you’re stupid, you probably are.



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    #4
    Galvasean
    Registered Users Posts: 30,746 ✭✭✭✭Galvasean


    The ancient/classical Greeks were also avid fossil collectors, seeing the bones of extinct creatures as those of the monsters and heroes from their legends.


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    #5
    Adam Khor
    Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators Posts: 5,279 Mod ✭✭✭✭Adam Khor


    Galvasean wrote: »
    The ancient/classical Greeks were also avid fossil collectors, seeing the bones of extinct creatures as those of the monsters and heroes from their legends.

    So were the ancient Chinese with their "dragon bones". What makes the maya case interesting though is that they actually interpreted them as being remains of marine creatures that lived in a remote time before humans existed!


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    #6
    Galvasean
    Registered Users Posts: 30,746 ✭✭✭✭Galvasean


    I recall watching a documentary about one particular group of native Americans (I forget their name) that identified ichthyosaur remains as being from an ancient race of 'thunder fish' or some such which lived ages ago and were wiped out by some sort of cataclysm.
    Apologies for the vagueness.


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    #7
    Wibbs
    Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 60,073 Mod ✭✭✭✭Wibbs


    IIRC some Native American legends explained dino and other extinct large bones as creatures of the gods that ran along the top of rainclouds making the noise of thunder, who then fell to earth when the clouds parted.

    The various Inuit tribes of Siberia explained preserved mammoth bones as a huge mole like creature that died instantly when sunlight hit them.

    Rejoice in the awareness of feeling stupid, for that’s how you end up learning new things. If you’re not aware you’re stupid, you probably are.



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    #8
    Adam Khor
    Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators Posts: 5,279 Mod ✭✭✭✭Adam Khor


    Galvasean wrote: »
    I recall watching a documentary about one particular group of native Americans (I forget their name) that identified ichthyosaur remains as being from an ancient race of 'thunder fish' or some such which lived ages ago and were wiped out by some sort of cataclysm.
    Apologies for the vagueness.

    I think I know what you're talking about. They called the sea monsters "unktehila" and said that they lived alongside thunderbirds (!) in ancient times. I remember reading a Nat Geo magazine in which the reporter took an old Native American chief to a museum (the chief had never been out of the reservation I believe) and he quickly identified the mounted mosasaurs and plesiosaurs as "unktehila".


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