People and Dinosaurs: Living like the Flintstones
So, you wake up one morning in the Stone Age and go to work at the stone quarry by your house. You mount your dinosaur that is used to pick up rocks, and you start working your eight-hour shift. Now, many people will recognize that this scenario is from the popular animated sitcom, The Flintstones. You realize that early human beings probably didn’t use dinosaurs in this means, nor have them for pets, like the Flintstones’ pet, Dino. But that’s ok right? Its fiction based off of reality...
…or is it?
Did early humans in habit the earth at the same time as dinosaurs? Could a Flintstones type scenario ever have happened? As much as I would want to believe that early humans co-existed with dinosaurs, possibly hunting them or even being hunted, this was never a possibility.
According to Ian Tattersall, the “Age of Dinosaurs” began in the Mesozoic Age, which started about 250 million years ago, and ended about 65 million years ago (1). Though there is much debate as to how the non-avian dinosaurs disappeared at the end of the Cretaceous Period (the last period of the Mesozoic Age) about 65.5 million years ago, it is a fact that the large majority of dinosaurs did not make it to the beginning of the Cenozoic period (beginning about 65.5 million years ago).
Now, you’re asking yourself, what about humans? When did the first humans come into the picture? Though there were many hominid, or human-like, ancestors that came into being about 5 million years ago, the earliest Homo sapiens (or human) migrated to Europe about 40,000 years ago (1)(2).
Now all these numbers might be confusing, but what they say is that dinosaurs were extinct for approximately 60 million years before the earliest human-like ancestor ever walked on Earth. A scenario like one of The Flintstones never even had the possibility of happening. This is why the studies of paleontology and archaeology are separated. Since archaeology studies human past, it unfortunately has nothing to do with dinosaurs. The idea of humans and dinosaurs co-existing is a cool idea indeed, but it will forever be a part of fiction and dreams.
Sources:
(1) Tattersall, Ian. Paleontology: A Brief History of Life. West Conshohocken: Templeton Press, 2010. Print.
(2) Fancher, Jason M. "Do Archaeologists Dig Dinosaur Bones?". Society for American Anthropology, n.d. Web. 11 Apr. 2012. <website>
…or is it?
Did early humans in habit the earth at the same time as dinosaurs? Could a Flintstones type scenario ever have happened? As much as I would want to believe that early humans co-existed with dinosaurs, possibly hunting them or even being hunted, this was never a possibility.
According to Ian Tattersall, the “Age of Dinosaurs” began in the Mesozoic Age, which started about 250 million years ago, and ended about 65 million years ago (1). Though there is much debate as to how the non-avian dinosaurs disappeared at the end of the Cretaceous Period (the last period of the Mesozoic Age) about 65.5 million years ago, it is a fact that the large majority of dinosaurs did not make it to the beginning of the Cenozoic period (beginning about 65.5 million years ago).
Now, you’re asking yourself, what about humans? When did the first humans come into the picture? Though there were many hominid, or human-like, ancestors that came into being about 5 million years ago, the earliest Homo sapiens (or human) migrated to Europe about 40,000 years ago (1)(2).
Now all these numbers might be confusing, but what they say is that dinosaurs were extinct for approximately 60 million years before the earliest human-like ancestor ever walked on Earth. A scenario like one of The Flintstones never even had the possibility of happening. This is why the studies of paleontology and archaeology are separated. Since archaeology studies human past, it unfortunately has nothing to do with dinosaurs. The idea of humans and dinosaurs co-existing is a cool idea indeed, but it will forever be a part of fiction and dreams.
Sources:
(1) Tattersall, Ian. Paleontology: A Brief History of Life. West Conshohocken: Templeton Press, 2010. Print.
(2) Fancher, Jason M. "Do Archaeologists Dig Dinosaur Bones?". Society for American Anthropology, n.d. Web. 11 Apr. 2012. <website>