2,000 year old fossil collectors

[free4rms]

I just came across this article about newly discovered 2,000 year old graves and a pyramid in Mexico. During the excavation, archeologists found meg teeth that the inhabitants had once collected. Here is a quote from the article:

"Deer antlers and bones that may belong to dogs, coyotes, deer, fish and birds were buried with the bodies, perhaps as animal companions for the underworld, the researchers said. There's also evidence that the inhabitants of the site were fossil collectors; among the numerous prehistoric remains were the fossilized teeth of a long extinct Megalodon-type shark."

Here is a link to the whole article:

www.nbcnews.com/science/mysterious-2-000-year-old-graves-pyramid-ruins-found-mexico-6C10626146

Free4rms

[grayfingers]

That's pretty cool. Reminded me of the Greeks.

Greek Giants

"Before there were any humans on Pallene, the story goes that a battle was fought between the gods and the giants. Traces of the giants' demise continue to be seen to this day, whenever torrents swell with rain and excessive water breaks their banks and floods the fields. They say that even now in gullies and ravines the people discover bones of immeasurable enormity, like men's carcasses but far bigger."

--Greek historian Solinus, c. AD 200

The Battle With the Gods

According to Greek myth, the giants were the children of Uranus (the Sky) and Gaia (the Earth) but were almost never born. Afraid the giants would be too powerful, Uranus would not allow them to be born, imprisoning them in Gaia's womb. Uncomfortable, Gaia convinced her older son Kronos to attack Uranus; he did and the blood that spilled on Gaia released the giants from their prison.

Kronos took power, but was soon overthrown by the god Zeus. The giants were enraged by the defeat of their savior and brother, and they took up trees as clubs and boulders as missiles, waging war on Zeus and the other Greek gods in an epic battle--the Gigantomachy. But the giants were ultimately defeated and buried under mountains, where their tormented shivers were said to cause earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.
Seeing Is Believing

The people of Tingis (modern-day Tangier, Morocco) once boasted that their city's founder was a giant named Antaeus who was buried in a mound south of town. To test the claim, Roman soldiers dug into the mound in 81 BC. Much to their surprise, an enormous skeleton surfaced--which they then reburied with great honors. Modern scientists confirm that ancient elephant fossils are common in the area.
www.amnh.org/exhibitions/past-exhibitions/mythic-creatures/land-creatures-of-the-earth/greek-giants

[jamesp]

I find shark's teeth in ancient camps in Florida Vance. Also quartz crystals and Hematite. The Hematite is to make red ochre. The Crystal River is named after the quartz crystals found in ancient camps along that river. I think there is not a naturally occurring quartz crystal in all of Florida.

[Deleted]

Great story. Thanks Vance
Jim

[Geoff]

I wonder if natives ever used shark teeth as an alternative to knapped arrow and spear heads.

[jamesp]

Yep. www.flmnh.ufl.edu/envarch/monroe/gallery_IQ-29.htm

[RickB]

Here's a photo of five points my brother in law dug up in his yard a few years ago while doing some gardening. He lives several miles from the GA coast near the small town of Midway. The two points on the left are made of quartz and the two on the right are made of chert. The point in the middle is one you don't see very often. Rick B

[vegasjames]

That one in the center is part of a shark tooth. From what I can see in the shape I would say a Carcharodon genus, most likely megalodon.

[jamesp]

The quartz is hard to find in south Georgia. May have been brought from north GA.

The coastal plain chert is probably from 80-100 miles out. The coast is not with much chert.

And the fossilized shark's tooth is awesome find, made into an artifact.