World’s only evidence of co-existing humans, dinosaur tracks found
in China
A team of Chinese and American scientists have discovered the world's
only evidence of co-existing human beings and dinosaur tracks in a
remote county in Southwest China's Chongqing Municipality, according to
a paper published in the Geological Bulletin of China, a Chinese core
academic journal.
Qijiang County's Lianhua Baozhai, which means 'Lotus Mountain
Fortress' in Chinese, has a large number of dinosaur tracks as well as a
well-preserved fortress and historical epigraph, forming a direct line
of evidence that ancient Chinese people built a residence and lived
there for a long time, said Xing Lida, one of three researchers with the
project as well as a doctoral degree candidate with the Department of
Biological Sciences of the University of Alberta in Canada.
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Dinosaur
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Chinese people could have lived here for more than 700 years, and the
mud cracks, ripple marks and duck-billed dinosaur tracks were considered
by them to be lotus leaf veins, water environment and lotus,
respectively, which is why they named it the Lotus Mountain Fortress,
Xing Lida told Xinhua. “Research shows that dinosaur tracks impacted
ancient Chinese place names and folklore, so place names and folklore
can be major clues for us in tracing dinosaur tracks,” Xing said.
According to the paper, the Lotus Mountain Fortress dinosaur tracks,
the largest track group of cretaceous dinosaurs in Southwestern China,
contains 350 to 400 footprints that had been preserved in many ways,
including concave footprints, convex footprints and multilayered
footprints.
“We found a lot of interesting relics that had been 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 lead to the
folklore of ‘booming golden lotus from the earth,'” he said.
Chen Yu, another researcher with the project as well as an
archaeologist with the Capital Museum in Beijing, said the region had
been a transport hub for China and other Asian countries, where Buddhism
thrived.“The religion has a special worship towards lotus, which
symbolizes peace and quiet. This is another reason for the residents to
name the place for the flower, seeking blessing from the Buddha,” Chen
said.
Qijiang County was located in what, historically, was a frontier
area, and had endured wars at that time. 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 impacted ancient Chinese
folklore, which could provide clues for seeking other tracks.
Xinhua
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