Thousands of years before the Jurassic Park movies inspired a legion of creative fans, early humans were paying homage to dinosaurs. According to Gizmodo, a team of researchers have identified petroglyphs next to fossilized dino tracks in Brazil, that seem to imitate or comment on the ancient footprints.
There's no date on the drawings, but in nearby Pedra do Alexandre there is archeological evidence of burial grounds going back almost 10,000 years. The rock engravings are primarily circles and a three-pronged shape, similar to the feet of therapods, bipedal bad boys like T. Rex.
The proximity of the petroglyphs to the fossilized footprints reveals "active engagement with the fossil material," the team wrote, "suggesting that these traces not only caught the attention of the native community but were meaningful and became integrated into their knowledge repertoire."
The team's results, printed in Scientific Reports, reference other dino-influenced art around the world, including a Polish footprint that may have been a site for occult ceremonies. It seems that, just like velociraptors, we humans have always had a bottomless appetite for the awe-inspiring thunder lizards.
Previously: A four-year-old girl discovered this perfectly preserved dinosaur footprint
