The enormous dinosaurs that once roamed our planet all died out about 66 million years ago. Fossils of these extraordinary animals are rare. Recently, wealthy collectors have expanded into natural history—and are acquiring unique fossil skeletons for private collections. The remains of ancient creatures are an important part of our history; they are irreplaceable and their value for science is priceless.
Ancient people with hunting and gathering lifestyles were making fired clay pottery as far back as at least 20,000 years ago. This is surprising! Until recently, scholars believed that pottery appeared only when people adopted sedentary, farming lifestyles. Except that isn’t what actually happened.
Dinosaur fossils are on spectacular display at Dinosaur National Monument, on the border of Colorado and Utah. A recent blog post on Volcano Café stirred my interest in the dinosaurs found in the Monument quarry, plus the movie "Jurassic Park", and what happens to dinosaur fossils found on private land.
Teeth reveal a vast amount of information about the creatures that once used them. From information about who was eating whom among dinosaurs, to the diets of our ancestors, to possible speaking ability in Neanderthals, teeth reveal valuable information. I’ll share some of those stories in this post.
Footprints have many stories to tell. Humans once shared a world with giant creatures, and footprints can be a window into those interactions. From the ancient tracks found in White Sands National Park recently to those found in Africa decades ago, tracks provide reliable evidence of occupation.
Who left the earliest footprints in rocks that we can admire today? From the giant tracks of enormous dinosaurs to the delicate prints of small lizards and birds, I think footprints are fascinating. Tracks preserved for tens of millions of years, as well as those left within hours, can tell interesting stories about people, animals, and their interactions.
Dogs have been human companions for thousands of years. As the first animal species domesticated, dogs altered human relationships with the natural world and profoundly influenced the course of early human history. New data indicate that dogs most likely accompanied the first explorers as they traveled southward from Siberia and fanned out across the Americas.
Forests of bull kelp, with thick floating masses of brownish-green fronds, have been swaying in ocean waves along the Pacific coasts of the Americas for eons. This marine ecosystem, rich in fish, shellfish, marine mammals, birds and seaweed, made it feasible for the earliest people to migrate by boat southward from Eurasia to South America. We know their route as the Kelp Highway.
Large populations of mammoths and mastodons once roamed the landscape, and their relatively young and well-preserved fossil remains are widely distributed. Notable traces of these giant animals have been found practically in my central California neighborhood.
Rock art by ancient Native American artists includes images of large mammals that are now extinct, the hunting weapons that people used, and much more. We can learn valuable information about ancient lives, traditions, and landscapes from rock art images when they are fit into the context of cultures and time.
