In Part 1, we explored lots of evidence that dragons existed. Now it's time to go slightly off-topic: we're going to look at the evidence for the coexistence of dinosaurs and people. You may be wondering: what do dinosaurs and people have to do with dragons? Well, keep reading, because you'll find out soon!
There is too much evidence that dinosaurs lived beside humans for this article to cover all of it; so it will only cover some. All over the world, there have been paintings, carvings, stories, and fossils that suggest the coexistence of dinosaurs and humans. For an example, natives in some countries have described creatures that sound like dinosaurs (Ham www.answersingenesis.org). Also, there have been carvings done by Native Americans that resemble the Bracciosaurus and Pterodactyl. Interestingly, Pterodactyl fossils have been found in the same area of the carvings (Ham 2002). Here are some more amazing facts:
* In the 1920s, archaeologist Dr. Samuel Hubbard found Native American pictures in the Grand Canyon. Along with detailed drawings of cattle, sheep, oxen, and buffalo, there were drawings of dinosaurs; just as realistic as the rest (www.bibleinsong.com)!
* About a decade later, an amazing discovery was made in the Paluxy Riverbed near Glen Rose, Texas: dinosaur tracks along with what appeared to be human footprints. When it was reported in the May 1939 issue of National History, it caused a heat of controversy. Recently, a computer programmer from Ohio named Glen Kuban found chemical discolorations on some of the human-like footprints, and people soon claimed that the prints weren't human at all. They said they were merely parts of the dinosaur tracks that had been distorted by mud-fill. Some people, however, have suspected that the footprints were altered by scientists to make them look less “human” (www.bibleinsong.com).
* In 1970, newspapers reported a fascinating find: cave paintings in Zimbabwe done by Bushmen that showed accurate pictures of an elephant, giraffe, and a Brontosaurus! Scientists have been greatly confused, because Bushmen were known to paint from real life (www.bibleinsong.com).
* In Utah, a picture was found drawn by Anasazi Indians who had lived there from approximately 150 BC to 1200 AD. Even evolutionists agree that it looks like a dinosaur, and that the age given to it is correct. One evolutionist wrote, “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” (www.genesispark.org). The fact that even an evolutionist admitted the picture's resemblance to a dinosaur only confirms that it could not be anything else.
(To see more examples of dinosaurs depicted in ancient art, click here: http://www.genesispark.org/genpark/ancient/ancient.htm)
Another source of evidence for the coexistence of dinosaurs and humans is in the Bible. Job 40:15-24 describes another “mysterious” creature called the “Behemoth”. Just as with the Leviathan, there has been a lot of controversy over what type of creature the Behemoth is. Many people claim that it is a hippopotamus or an elephant. However, it isn't hard to see that it more closely resembles a Brachiosaurus.
The Behemoth had powerful hips and muscles (Job 40:16), and had bones like bronze and ribs like iron (verse 18). These descriptions certainly fit an elephant more than a hippopota
mus, but they fit a Brachiosaurus more than anything. At seventy-five feet long, forty-one feet high and weighing eighty-nine tons, the Brachiosaurus weighed twelve times as much as the adult African bull elephant (Ham 70)! If there was any creature that had bones like bronze and ribs like iron, it was the Brachiosaurus. However, the one thing that truly proves the Behemoth was not an elephant or hippopotamus is verse 17, which states that the Behemoth “moves his tail like a cedar [tree]”. The tiny tails of both elephants and hippopotamuses are about as far away from looking like a broad, thick cedar tree as tails can get!
Do these tails look like cedar trees to you?
Finally, verse 19 says that the Behemoth is “chief in the ways of God”, which means that it was the biggest animal God created. While the elephant is the largest living land animal in creation, it is still dwarfed by the mighty blue whale of the ocean. The Brachiosaurus, however, is suspected to have been the largest animal of its day.
Now that we have peeked at the evidence for the coexistence of dinosaurs and people, you say: what does all this have to do with dragons? Find out soon... in part 3! (Hahaha, you actually thought you'd find out in this article, didn't you?)
“Ancient Dinosaur Depictions.” Genesis Park.
Ham, Ken. “The Bible Explains Dinosaurs: The Real History of Dinosaurs.” Answers in Genesis. Lynchburg, VA. 2002.
Ham, Ken. “Dinosaurs and the Bible.” Answers in Genesis. 5 November 1999. http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/1999/11/05/dinosaurs-and-the-bible(accessed 2 February 2010)
Ham, Ken. The Great Dinosaur Mystery Solved! Green Forest, AR: Master Books, Inc., 1998
The Holy Bible, NKJV
