DID MAN WALK ON EARTH WITH THE DINOSAURS?

By Marilyn K. Martin

Do we actually have evidence that humans walked the Earth with the dinosaurs millions and millions of years ago? Beyond the odd, "maybe" references in global mythologies, which were generally passed-down oral traditions, and thus subject to variations and revisions? Does any concrete proof exist of such an unlikely co-existence? Incredibly, Yes.


The earliest established evidence of upright proto-people walking on Earth millions of years ago, are the famous Laetoli footprints discovered near Laetoli, Tanzania. They have been exhaustively studied, and dated at 3.6 million years ago. These hominin footprints were preserved by a chance combination of events: a volcanic eruption, a rainstorm to create the malleable medium to hold the prints of the passing hominins, then another hot ashfall to bury and preserve the footprints. Only bird and small mammal prints were discovered in the same petrified plane as these hominin prints.

These Laetoli hominin prints show the trail of two side-by-side adults, or one adult and an older child. The larger prints are nearly 8 inches in length, and the adult was estimated to be about 5 feet tall. The slightly smaller prints alongside, are about 7 inches in length, and that hominin was estimated to be about 4 feet tall. Smaller child-like prints trail the two larger sets of prints, stepping in the larger prints at certain points. The largest hominin seemed to be leaning heavily to one side, as if carrying a small child or a bundle of goods. Perhaps a family fleeing the volcano?

Other anomalist human "prints" exist around the world, that have been dated even further back in time. How about a human handprint in limestone dated at 110 million years ago? Or a fossilized human finger found in the Canadian Artic, and also dated to 110 million years ago? There have also been other "ancient footprints" found around the world. Like a human footprint, possibly wearing a sandle, that was found near Delta, Utah, in a shale deposit estimated to be 300 million to 600 million years ago. But in most cases, just one print was found, and dating the fossilized rock with the imprint is problematic.

Today, several scientific discliplines are splintered between the "catastrophists" (who believe that major Earth changes occurred abruptly due to cataclysmic upheaval), and the "gradualists" (who believe that slow, continuous processes culminated in major Earth changes). More and more scientists, however, are leaning toward "gradualist" explanations, especially to explain anomalous finds preserved in rock.

The fossilized rock containing many of these fossilized human prints is now thought to have been moved around by natural glaciation misplacement, repositioned debris from floods, or older rocks and sediment settling over younger rocks and sediment. Thus doubt has been cast that many of these bizarre "prints" or petrified finds are not as ancient as originally thought. That the rocks containing these fossilized items had been moved around due to natural events. So these fossilized prints ended up in much older strata than the rock containing the prints. This gave the appearance that the fossilized imprints were the same age as the much older strata, when in fact they weren't that old.

Yet tantalyzing clues still exist that humans existed in the same time period as some dinosaurs. Mainly by the find of fossilized human footprints found alongside, or criss-crossing, fossilized dinosaur prints on the same petrified, once-muddy seashore.

Dinosaurs thrived on Earth in the Mesozaic Era, which are divided up into three periods: Triassic (245-208 million year ago), Jurassic (208-144 million years ago), and the Cretaceous (144-65 million years ago). The Cretaceous period, and the whole Mesozaic Era, ended abruptly 65 million years ago. That's when the giant meteor crashed into the Yucatan of Mexico. Or, the current thinking goes, was just one of several global meteor impacts in that time frame. These impact events threw up enough ash to dim the sun and kill off enough plants and smaller animals, that the larger dinosaurs relied on for food. This started the gradual extinction of all the dinosaurs.

So do we have any solid evidence, then, that man and dinosaurs lived in the same time frame before these meteor-killers, and possibly even intermingled? The answer, based on research of a ancient dried up seashore in North Texas, is Yes.

The Dinosaur Valley State Park in Texas, is well known for petrified-in-mud dinosaur and human tracks. Eastward-dipping limestones, sandstones, and mudstones, were deposited from approximately 113 million years ago on, along the shores of an enlarged Gulf of Mexico that covered most of central and southeast Texas. Ice Age glaciers never reached down into Texas. And there is no historical evidence of either volcanic or earthquake activity in East Texas. So it is unlikely any anomolous finds here can be explained away due to glaciation or other natural scattering or repositioning events.

Besides, seashores have long been preferred habitation sites, especially by people, due to the easy access to ocean food supplies, as well as a milder climate where land meets ocean. Plus, it's entirely possible that the nearby mega-meteor 65 million years ago, quickly fired and buried these mud tracks, protecting and preserving them.

This ancient seashore has turned up some remarkably well preserved dinosaur prints and tracks in fossilized mud. There have also been tracks of barefoot human prints found alongside some dinosaur tracks, or on the very same level of petrified (and now exposed) mud. These tracks don't indicate that the human and dinosaur were on the ancient mud flat at the exact same time, but one after the other in a short timeframe. This is compelling proof that mankind walked with the dinosaurs. And these tracks can't be so easily explained away, since the prints of man and dinosaur were found on the same fossilized and dated mud slab.

Like many anomolous finds that are disturbing and unexplainable by conventional science, Texas and the scientific community officially deny that these are preserved human footprints from around 100 million years ago. You have to venture into nearby Glen Rose, Texas, and visit the Creation Evidence Museum to see the human fossilized prints. The Creationists use the human fossilized prints as evidence for an instant creation of Earth. But open-minded evolutionists can quickly see the importance of this ignored evidence of modern-sized humans walking the Earth at the same time as the dinosaurs.

The impact of that six-mile-across meteor that helped end the days of the dinosaurs about 65 million years ago, occurred south of sea-flooded Texas, on the tip of the Mexican Yucatan. Just like the unusual sequence of events that preserved the Laetoli prints in Africa, the evidence suggests that a thick layer of sediment or ash from the monster meteor's impact covered, buried and preserved the area now being exposed with footprints in the Texas Dinosaur Valley State Park.

In 1969, one Stan Taylor discovered one human footprint and a single dinosaur print next to it in petrified mud along the Paluxy River, in what would later be the Texas Dinosaur Valley State Park. He got permission to begin excavating, since the Park had not yet been established. Using construction equipment to lift away tons of overlaying stone, he eventually uncovered human and dinosaur tracks that criss-crossed in the same general direction along that ancient seashore.

His excavation ended in 1972, when the Dinosaur Valley State Park was formally opened to the public. He had found a total of 14 sequential barefoot human tracks, on the same petrified mud platform as 134 dinosaur tracks.

These ancient Texas footprints appear to be flat-footed, much like the Laetoli prints, with more pressure on the foot arch. However, the smaller Laetoli prints are more pigeon-toed, or the heel and big toe curving toward each other. The larger Texas prints weren't pigeon-toed.

I compared one Texas footprint to a three-dimensional scan of one of the 3.6 million year old Laetoli footprints. One Laetoli print shows a bare right foot, with a slightly extended outward big toe. The Texas footprints also show an extended outward big toe visible in some prints. This is probably a normal splayed-toe print made by humans who never wore shoes. Or at least an understandable characteristic of an upright adult walking on a mushy medium, stepping down and widening his foot-contact to not slip.

These Texas human prints also alternate right and left, like the Laetoli prints, indicating upright bipedal walking. Only the Texas prints are the consistent size of 11 1/2 inches in length. So these were not small proto-prints like the Laetoli prints in Africa. The Texas prints were made by a full grown adult human, comparable to adult males today.

In July of 2000, amateur archaeologist Alvis Delk found a peculiar loose slabe with both human and dinosaur fossilized prints. It was under some rocks against the bank of the Paluxy River, one mile north of the Dinosaur Valley State Park. He carried the slab home, and added it to his amateur collection of fossilized footprints.

This particular slab, sold in 2008 to the Creation Evidence Museum, shows a human footprint, with a three-toed dinosaur print stepping partially into that human print soon after, and at a perpendicular angle. It has been verified by a Spiral CT scan. You can see a nice photo of the slab and the scan results, at http://www.bible.ca/tracks/delk-track.htm.

Both dinosaur and human prints on this slab appear to have the necessary toe or front of foot depth. This indicates a forward pushing-off of both "feet", as the human then dinosaur continued the process of walking, by taking another step. Of special note, is the depth of the human's right foot big toe, which is also slightly extended outward.

The human footprint in the Delk track is mis-shapen, however, since the middle toe of the dinosaur print pushed mud up into the middle of the human print, thus raising the imprint of the arch. So it's impossible to tell if this human print was flat-footed or not. Although the human making this print did not appear to be pigeon-toed.

The overlaying dinosaur print on this slab is also well preserved. The three large toes appear to have quickly sliced thru the mud and human print. The back part of the dinosaur print is nearly invisible, except for a small ridge of mud in the middle, pushed backwards. So it appears that the dinosaur was running, or moving fairly fast. (And small vegetarian dinosaurs probably always traveled rapidly in the open, in case they drew the attention of a meat-eater dinosaur.)

To the Creationists, these prints prove the Genesis statement of "There were giants on the Earth in those days, and also afterwards ..." (Genesis 6:4) To the open-minded evolutionist, that verse could also mean that well developed humanoid Extra-Terrestrials were living on Earth at the time. And they had little or no genetic link to the native hominins whose footprints were preserved much later than the Mesozaic Era, only 3.6 million years ago.

And the added phrase of "... and also afterwards ..." may allude to the fact that these ET-people survived, or were rescued after that monster meteor impact 65 million years ago. (Although the Creationists think it was the global flood of Noah that was the defining event before "afterwards", which some "giants" managed to survive.)

Another interesting point, is that if these grown human adults were indeed ETs "walking with the dinosaurs" 100 million years ago, why were they barefoot? First of all, we need to get past the idea that any ETs on Earth "must be advanced". These ExtraTerrestrials were possibly on Earth by accident, either marooned by a crashed spacecraft, or dropped off as exiles. Our planet was especially lush and bountiful in those ancient days. If it could have supported monster lizards known as dinosaurs, it could also have supported "accidental" human life as well.

Thus bare human feet and chasing dinosaur meat for food, possibly just indicates these ET-humans' retrograde lifestyle. On the other hand, it's possible the ET-humans intentionally went barefoot on the seashore, which people do all the time at beaches today. As hunters stalking dinosaur prey, they sensibly needed firm and quiet footing on muddy ground, so they could focus on chasing their dino-dinner.

So these human and dinosaur prints preserved in the same levels of ancient seashore mud in East Texas, need to be taken seriously. These petrified footprints of man and extinct beast may be the best evidence that mankind's history on this planet is older and more complicated than anyone thought. Serious research is called for, not more denials and sputterings of "impossible". It was not only possible but highly probable that some form of humans co-existed with the dinosaurs. And these petrified mud flats are the undeniable evidence.

Besides, if we on Earth can't embrace and understand our more incredible ancient evidence, how can we expect to be ready to face the future of what we'll find in Space?

THE END



Marilyn K. Martin
marilynpsychic@yahoo.com

RESOURCES:
http://www.lanl.gov/quarterly/q_spring03/asteroid_text.shtml
http://www.freewebs.com/fossilsoftexas/
http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/spdest/findadest/parks/dinosaur_valley/
http://scienceblogs.com/laelaps/2010/03/famous_footprints_yield_new_in.php
http://www.bible.ca/tracks/taylor-trail.htm
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/evolution/library/07/1/l_071_03.html
http://www.indiana.edu/~ensiweb/lessons/footsteps.html
http://www.kidcyber.com.au/topics/dino_eras.htm
http://www.answers.com/topic/gradualism
http://www.answers.com/topic/catastrophism
http://www.forbiddenhistory.info/?q=node/92
http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/GG/swgqz.html
http://paranormal.about.com/od/ancientanomalies/ig/Most-Puzzling-Ancient-Artifact/Impossible-Fossils.htm