Evolution Cruncher Chapter 13
Ancient Man Part 2
Even *Richard Leakey, the foremost hominid bone hunter of the past 20 years has begun to question what it is all about. When asked on television to name our ancestor, he walked over to a chalkboard and drew a large question mark.
"By 1989, [Richard] Leakey sought to distance himself from his original theory, insisting any attempts at specific reconstructions of the human lineage were premature."—*R. Milner, Encyclopedia of Evolution (1990), p. 218.
Brain size points to the conclusion that most of the skulls are those of apes while a few are actually people...
"British anatomist Sir Arthur Keith refused to accept the African australopithecine fossils as human ancestors because their brains were too small. Human qualities of mind, Keith proclaimed, can only appear when brain volume is at least 750 cubic centimeters, a point nicknamed ‘Keith’s rubicon’ (dividing line). And, at 450cc., Australopithecus africanus didn’t qualify . .
"In Keith’s day, the Homo erectus skulls at 950cc. could comfortably be included as humans, since their range overlaps our own species (1,000-2,000cc.). But the Homo habilis skulls discovered later measured about 640cc., just on the other side of the rubicon. Skulls of Australopithecus adults are about 500cc., which is larger than chimps but smaller than Homo habilis."—*R. Milner, Encyclopedia of Evolution (1990), p. 249.
BABY APES AND GIANT MONKEYS—Yet another problem—and a highly significant one—concerns the fact that immature apes have skulls which are like those of human beings.
"Adult chimps and gorillas, for instance, have elongated faces, heavy brow ridges, powerful jaws, small braincase in relation to overall skull and other characteristic proportions. Baby apes have flat faces, rounded braincase, light brow ridges, proportionately smaller jaws, and many other bodily features strikingly like human beings."—*R. Milner, Encyclopedia of Evolution (1990), p. 325.
The full implication of this point is of the highest significance, yet it has been acknowledged by few evolutionary anthropologists. Consider these three facts:
(1) It is well-known that many extinct animals were gigantic in size. (See chapters 12 and 14, Fossils and Strata and Effects of the Flood, for more on this.) (2) Young apes have skulls which are shaped similarly to those of humans. (3) Relics of what once was an amazingly large ape have been found (see quotation below).
Put together those facts, and what do you have? The possibility that anthropologists today could come across skulls which are shaped much like those of human beings, yet with small braincases (in the 400-900cc. range),—which are actually immature giant apes!
"[A giant ape lived] during the mid-Pleistocene, about 300,000 years ago. This massive primate probably stood nine feet tall and weighed about 600 pounds, if the rest of the creature was in scale with its teeth and jaws. It was named Gigantopithecus (gigantic ape) because its jawbone and teeth are five times larger than that of modern man.
"In 1935, remains of Gigantopthecus were accidentally discovered in a Hong Kong pharmacy by G.H.R. von Koenigswald, a Dutch paleontologist. Chinese apothecaries have always stocked unusual fossils, which they call ‘dragon’s teeth,’ for use in ground-up medicines. Von Koenigswald regularly searched these drugstores for curiosities and was amazed to find an enormous tooth with an ape-like (Y-5) dental pattern. When more teeth began to show up, a field search began, which has since yielded hundreds of Gigantopithecus teeth and jawbones from various sites in China and Pakistan; other parts of the skeleton, however, have not yet been found.
"There are tantalizing reports that bones of the two species [giant ape and human beings] are mingled at the site [in north Vietnam where research scientists are now finding Gigantopithecus bones]."—*R. Milner, Encyclopedia of Evolution (1990), p. 192.
The search for hominid skulls has usually occurred in areas well able to preserve skulls of both apes and men for thousands of years. But relatively few have been found, simply because time only goes back a few thousand years.
Yet some of those skulls could be immature giant apes. These would appear to be small-brained creatures that are quite similar to humans, yet bear a number of differences.
In addition, there is also another possibility: giant monkeys. Just as giant apes could be found, so giant monkeys could have once existed. The discovery of a skull of a giant monkey would also appear human-like, small-brained, yet with some variant features.
MASS SPECTROMETER BREAKTHROUGH—A newly-developed research tool, the mass spectrometer, provides more dating that is more accurate than the other dating methods.The following statement by Brown is highly significant. It tells us this: (1) The very expensive mass spectrometer machine actually counts C-14 atoms, and gives more accurate totals. (2) Every organic specimen has some radiocarbon atoms, therefore none are more than a few thousand years old. (3) The earliest skeletal remains in the western hemisphere have been dated by this method, and found to be only about 5,000 years old.
"Several laboratories in the world are now equipped to perform a much improved radiocarbon dating procedure. Using atomic accelerators, the carbon-14 atoms in a specimen can now be actually counted. This gives more precise radiocarbon dates with even smaller specimens. The standard, but less accurate, radiocarbon dating technique only attempts to count the rare disintegrations of carbon-14 atoms, which are sometimes confused with other types of disintegrations. This new atomic accelerator technique has consistently detected at least small amounts of carbon-14 in every organic specimen—even materials that evolutionists claim are millions of years old, such as coal. The minimum amount of carbon-14 is so consistent that contamination can probably be ruled out. If the specimens were millions of years old, there would be virtually no carbon-14 remaining in them.
"Eleven human skeletons, the earliest known human remains in the western hemisphere, have recently been dated by this new accelerator mass spectrometer technique. All eleven were dated at about 5,000 radiocarbon years or less! If more of the claimed evolutionary ancestors of man are tested and are also found to contain carbon-14, a major scientific revolution will occur and thousands of textbooks will become obsolete."—Walter T. Brown, In the Beginning (1989), p. 95.
The problem is that when orthodox science discovers that a new procedure will topple major evolutionary foundations, a cover-up occurs. It is likely that the mass spectrometer technique will never be permitted to be applied to major ancient archaeological or pre-archaeological materials, such as ancient hominid bones. To do so would reveal their recent age. (For more on this, see the radiocarbon cover-up section in chapter 21, Archaeological Dating. [Due to a lack of space, we had to omit this chapter, but it is on our website.])
"Modern man, Homo sapiens, is the only hominid on Earth today; all living humans belong to this one species."—*R. Milner, Encyclopedia of Evolution (1990), p. 215.
The name, Homo sapiens, is Latin for "the wise one."
CLOCKS AND CALENDARS—Evolutionists view all of time since the first life appeared on Planet Earth to be likened to a giant clock, with each "hour" representing 50 million years, and the entire length of "12 hours" totaling 600 million years. On this imaginary clock, invertebrates appeared at 3 o’clock, amphibians at 5, and reptiles at 6. Mammals originated at 9,—and mankind at a few minutes before 12.Placed on a calendar of 365 days, with the origin of the earth on January 1, the oldest abundant fossils would be November 21,—and the emergence of man would be 11:50 p.m. on December 31.
This "December 31, 11:50 p.m." date is supposed to be equivalent to 3 million years ago, and man is supposed to have stopped evolving over 100,000 years ago.
But if evolution is random, tenacious, inherent, progressive, continual, and never-ending,—then why did it stop 100,000 years ago?
In addition, if man is supposed to have lived here for a million years, why do human historical dates only go back less than 5,000 years?
EVOLUTIONARY TIMETABLE—First, here are the actual facts which evolutionists ignore: (1) Using historical, archaeological, and astronomical data, dates for early mankind are found to only go back to about 2250 B.C. (The mass spectrometer takes humans back to 3000 B.C., but radiocarbon dating is unreliable for reasons explained in chapter 6, Inaccurate Dating Methods.)Second, here is the data which the evolutionists use:
(2) Using results of the notoriously inaccurate carbon 14, the earliest dates for mankind are extended back to about 15,000 years ago. (3) To this is added fossil evidence—and that evidence is dated according to the contrived date settings worked out in the 19th century. This carries dates back to 3 million years ago.With that background, you should be better able to understand the following evolutionary timetable of your supposed ancestors:
Based on fossil strata dating, cave artifacts and cave paintings:
Eolithic Age (Dawn Stone Age)—"Animalistic culture, hand-to-mouth eating habits, etc., using natural stone." Date: 3 million years ago.
Paleolithic Age (Old Stone Age)—"Savagery culture, food-collecting habits, etc., using chipped stone." Date: 1 million years ago.
Based on carbon 14 dating of organic materials found near metal artifacts:
Mesolithic Age (Middle Stone Age)—"Barbarism, incipient agriculture, using wood-stone composite materials." Date: 15,000 years ago.
Neolithic Age (New Stone Age)—"Civilization, village economy, using polished stone." Date: 9,000 years ago.
Copper Age—"Urbanization, organized state, using polished stone." Date: 7,500 years ago.
Bronze Age—"Urbanization, organized state, using metal." Date: 7,000 years ago.
Iron Age—"Urbanization, organized state, using metal." Date: 5,000 years ago.
It is of interest that all of these living patterns can be found today. Many groups using "Dawn, Middle, or New Stone Age" methods and materials can be found in New Guinea, southern Philippines, and other primitive areas.
We will now look at evidences of early man that conflict with evolutionary theory:
To begin with, let us examine two skeletal finds of REAL "ancient mankind"! Both are sensational, but neither will ever be mentioned in a textbook for reasons to be explained below.
GUADELOUPE WOMAN—Well, you say, I’ve never heard of this one." No, because it is never discussed by the evolutionists.It is a well-authenticated discovery which has been in the British Museum for over half a century. In 1812, on the coast of the French Caribbean island of Guadeloupe, a fully human skeleton was found, complete in every respect except for the feet and head. It belonged to a woman about 5 foot 2 inches [15.54 dm] tall.
What makes it of great significance is that fact that this skeleton was found inside extremely hard, very old limestone, which was part of a formation more than a mile [1.609 km] in length! Modern geological dating places this formation at 28 million years old—which is 25 million years before modern man is supposed to have first appeared on earth!
Since such a date for a regular person does not fit evolutionary theory, you will not find "Guadeloupe Woman" mentioned in the Hominid textbooks. To do so would be to disprove evolutionary dating of rock formations.
When the two-ton limestone block, containing Guadeloupe Woman, was first put on exhibit in the British Museum in 1812, it was displayed as a proof of the Genesis Flood. But that was 20 years before Lyell and nearly 50 years before Darwin. In 1881, the exhibit was quietly taken down to the basement and hidden there.
CALAVERAS SKULL—In 1876, 130 feet [39.6 dm] below ground, "Calaveras Skull" was found in the gold-bearing gravels of the Sierra Nevada Mountains of California. The skull was completely mineralized, was authenticated by a physician as equivalent to a modern man, and certified by an evolutionist (*J.D. Whitney, chief of the California Geological Survey), as having been found in Pliocene stratum. That would mean that this person lived "over 2 million years ago,"—thus disproving evolutionary theories regarding both rock strata and the dating of ancient man. Literally dozens of stone mortars, bowls, and other man-made artifacts were found near this skull.*Dr. W.H. Holmes, who investigated the Calaveras skull, presented his results to the Smithsonian Institute in 1899:
"To suppose that man could have remained unchanged physically, mentally, socially, industrially and aesthetically for a million of years, roughly speaking (and all this is implied by the evidence furnished), seems in the present state of our knowledge hardly less than a miracle! It is equally difficult to believe that so many men should have been mistaken as to what they saw and found."—*W.H. Holmes, quoted in H. Enoch, Evolution or Creation (1966), pp. 124-125.
THE CASTINEDOLO SKULL—For many years, the oldest skulls of man known to exist have been those found at Calaveras, in California, and the perfectly human skull in Castinedolo, Italythe perfectly human skull in Castinedolo, Italy. *Arthur Keith, one of the group that announced Piltdown Man to the world, said this:"As the student of prehistoric man reads and studies the records of the Castinedolo finds, a feeling of incredulity is raised within him. He cannot reflect the discovery as false without doing injury to his sense of truth, and he cannot accept it as a fact without altering his accepted beliefs (i.e. his belief in the evolution of man). It is clear that we cannot pass Castinedolo by in silence: all the problems relating to the origin and antiquity of modern man focus themselves round it."—*Sir Arthur Keith, The Antiquity of Man.
THE MOAB SKELETONS—Two skeletons were found in Cretaceous rock that supposedly dates back to 100 million years in the past.
Moab, Utah is located in eastern Utah on the Colorado River, close to the Colorado border. The Big Indian Copper Mine had been digging into this rock for several years, when the quality of ore became too poor to continue excavation. Work was stopped about 15 feet [45.7 dm] below the surface of the hill. Mr. Lin Ottinger, a friend of the mine superintendent, received permission to dig for artifacts and azurite specimens. Accompanied by friends from Ohio, he dug and found a tooth and bone fragments, all obviously from human beings. Tracing them to their source, he uncovered one complete skeleton. At this, he stopped and notified W. Lee Stokes, head of the geology department of the University of Utah, who sent the university anthropologist, J.P. Marwitt, to investigate.
Working with Ottinger, Marwitt found a second skeleton. The bones were in place where they had been buried, undisturbed, and still articulated (joined together naturally)—indicating no pronounced earth movement. They were also green from the malachite (copper carbonate) in the surrounding sandstone.
These two skeletons were definitely Homo sapiens, and definitely ancient. They were found in Cretaceious strata (supposedly 70-135 million years ago). The bodies were obviously buried at the time of the emplacement of the sandstone rock, which itself had been completely undisturbed prior to uncovering the skeletons.
"Black bits of chalococite, a primary type of copper ore, are still in place [on the skeletons when found]. Chemical alteration changes this to blue azurite or green malachite, both carbonated minerals formed in the near surface or oxidized areas of the earth’s crust. This diagenesis takes time."—Clifford L. Burdick, "Discovery of Human Skeletons in Cretaceous Formation" in Creation Research Society Quarterly, September 1973, p. 110.
The bones, clearly ancient, were then tested for age, and found to be only several thousands years old:
"University of Arizona personnel performed the Micro K Jell Dahl or nitrogen retention test on the bones, and found them comparatively recent in origin, that is well within Biblical time limits."—Ibid.
Additional details of this find will be found in the Burdick article, quoted above.
Let us now consider additional evidences in regard to early man:
HUMAN FOOTPRINTS—In the chapter on Fossils, we discussed fossil animal tracks; but human footprints have also been found.Human footprints have been found in supposedly ancient rock strata. Evolution says that man did not evolve until the late Tertiary, and therefore cannot be more than one to three million years old. But human footprints have been found in rocks from as early as the Carboniferous Period, which is "250 million years old."
"On sites reaching from Virginia and Pennsylvania, through Kentucky, Illinois, Missouri and westward toward the Rocky Mountains, prints, from 5 to 10 inches long, have been found on the surface of exposed rocks, and more and more keep turning up as the years go by."—*Albert C. lngalls, "The Carboniferous Mystery," in Scientific America, January 1940, p. 14.
The evidence clearly shows that these footprints were made when the rocks were soft mud. Either modern man lived in the very earliest evolutionary eras of prehistory, or all rock dating must be shrunk down to a much shorter time frame—during all of which man lived.
"If man, or even his ape ancestor, or even that ape ancestor’s early mammalian ancestor, existed as far back as in the Carboniferous Period in any shape, then the whole science of geology is so completely wrong that all the geologists will resign their jobs and take up truck driving. Hence for the present at least, science rejects the attractive explanation that man made these mysterious prints in the mud of the Carboniferous Period with his feet."—*lbid.
These are human footprints, not ape prints. Apes and men have quite different footprints. The apes have essentially four hands with an opposable big toe that looks like a thumb. They also have a gait that is different and a tendency to drop on all fours and "knuckle walk."
THE LAETOLI TRACKS—Human tracks from Laetoli in East Africa are described in the April 1979 issue of National Geographic and the February 9, 1980, issue of Science News. The prints look just like yours and mine. Evolutionists admit that they look exactly like human footprints, and say they are in "3.5 million year old" rock,—but refuse to accept them as made by humans, because to do so would destroy all their strata dating theories. One desperate scientist rented a trained bear and had him dance around in wet mud, in the hope the print would look like the human prints found in solid shale. His conclusion was that the Laetoli prints were identical to those of regular people.*Mary Leakey, the wife of the famous anthropologist *Louis Leakey and mother of *Richard Leakey, found these fully human footprints in rock which dates to nearly 4 million years ago.
"Mary Leakey has found at Laetoli in Africa, footprints which are considered to date from nearly 4 million years ago, and are identical with the footprints of modern humans except that they are somewhat smaller. [Mary O. Leakey, "Footprints Frozen in Time," National Geographic, 155 (4): 446-457(1979)]. They might, in fact, be identical with the footprints of a modern female, of an age in the teens. Moreover, Mary Leakey and Dr. Johanson have found teeth and jawbones which, except that they are again a little smaller, are of virtually identical appearance with those of modern humans. These remains, found at Laotoli and Hadar, date from about 3.75 million years ago. Johanson found also at Hadar the bones of a hand, ‘uncannily like our own’ dated to about 3.5 million years ago."—W. Mehlert, "The Australopithecines and (Alleged) Early Man," in Creation Research Society Quarterly, June 1980, p. 24.
"[In 1982, Richard Leakey] was also convinced from the famous foot prints at Laetoli that the genus Homo existed 3.75 million years B.C. (700,000 years before Lucy)."—A.W. Mehlert, News note, Creation Research Society Quarterly, December 1985, p. 145 [emphasis his].
"At a site called Laetoli in Kenya, 30 miles [48.27 km] south of Olduvai Gorge, in 1976-1978, she [Mary Leakey] made what she considers the most exciting discovery of her career: preserved footprints of three hominid individuals who had left their tracks in soft volcanic ash more than three million years ago. It is a remarkable record of ‘fossilized’ behavior, establishing that very ancient man-like creatures walked exactly as we do."—*R. Milner, Encyclopedia of Evolution (1990), p. 270.
The evolutionists are astounded at the find, but cannot believe the evidence before them: that humans were alive when such "ancient strata" was formed and saber-toothed tigers lived. On the same level with the footprints, were prints of extinct creatures, such as the saber-toothed cat. Here are additional comments in the National Geographic article:
" ‘They looked so human, so modern, to be found in tuffs so old,’ says footprint expert Dr. Louise Robbins of the University of North Carolina, Greensboro. The best-preserved print shows the raised arch, rounded heel, pronounced ball, and forward-pointing big toe necessary for walking erect. Pressures exerted along the foot attest to a striding gait. Scuff marks appear in the toe area, and a fossilized furrow seams the foot-print." [page 452] "The footsteps come from the south, progress northward in a fairly straight line." [page 453] "The crispness of definition and sharp outlines convince me that they were left on a damp surface that retained the form of the foot." [page 453] "The form of his foot was exactly the same as ours." [page 453] "[On the same level with the footprints and close to them] Trackers identified gazelles and other creatures almost indistinguishable from present-day inhabitants, but the saber-toothed cat and the clawed chalicothere, both now extinct, roamed with them." [page 454] "Dr. Louise Robbins of the University of North Carolina, Geensboro, an anthropologist who specializes in the analysis of footprints, visited Laetoli and concluded: ‘Weight bearing pressure patterns in the prints resemble human ones’ [page 456]."—*Mary D. Leakey, "Footprints in the Ashes of Time," National Geographic, April 1979, pp. 452-456.
THE GEDIZ TRACK—The scientific journal, Nature (254(5501):553 [1975]) published a photograph of a footprint which was found in volcanic ash near Demirkopru, Turkey, in 1970. The print is now in the Stockholm Museum of National History. The print was of a man running toward the Gediz River, and scientists estimate its stratigraphic location as being 250,000 years ago. This print is not as clear as the Glen Rose tracks.
THE GLEN ROSE TRACKS—In a Cretaceous limestone formation (dated at 70-135 million years ago) near Glen Rose, Texas, are to be found some remarkable human footprints of giant men. You can go look at them for yourself. (But when you arrive, ask one of the old timers to tell you where to search. As soon as they are exposed, they gradually begin eroding away.)Glen Rose is located in north central Texas, about 40 miles [64.36 km] southwest of the Fort Worth-Dallas metropolitan area. The area has little rainfall, and for several months each year the Paluxy River is completely dry. From time to time the river changes its course. This occurs at those times when the quiet river becomes a raging torrent. Because the river has such a steep slope (a drop of 17 feet [51.8 dm] per mile [1.609 km]), it is the second-swiftest river in Texas and quite dangerous in time of heavy rainfall.
It was after the terrible flood of 1908, when the river rose 27 feet [82.3 dm] that the prints first began to be noticed. The new riverbed brought to view a flat rock bottom with animal and human prints in what was once wet mud, which had turned to stone.
Clifford L. Burdick, a mining geologist, and *Roland T. Bird, a paleontologist with the American Museum of Natural History, carefully examined and reported on the footprints.
The present writer is over six feet [18.2 dm] tall and has a foot that is about 10½ inches [26.67 cm] in length (he wears a size 12 shoe). The Glen Rose tracks are 15 inches [38.1 cm] long, and were probably made by people 8.3 feet [25.38 dm] tall.
"Yes, they apparently are real enough. Real as the rock could be . . the strangest things of their kind I had ever seen. On the surface of each was splayed the near-likeness of a human foot, perfect in every detail. But each imprint was 15 inches long."—*Roland T. Bird, "Thunder in His Footsteps," in Natural History, May 1939, p. 255.
(As mentioned later in this study, some of the human tracks found at Glen Rose are 21½ inches [54.6 cm] long—and thus would have been made by humans about 11.8 feet [25.38 dm] tall.)
During his research at the Paluxy River Bed near Glen Rose, Dr. Bird found not only human footprints, but also, by them, trails of large three-toed carnivorous dinosaurs, and the tracks of a gigantic sauropod. Each print was 24 x 38 inches [60.9 x 96.5 cm] in size, 12 feet [36.57 dm] apart, and sunk deeply into the mud! Both man and dinosaur were apparently running.
In 1938, under Bird’s supervision, a trail of Brontosaurus tracks were taken from the bed and shipped to the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. C.L. Burdick’s findings were published in the Spring 1957 issue of The Naturalist.
The so-called "Cretaceous Period" is the only time when the dinosaurs were supposed to have lived. It is said to have spanned 65 million years, dating from 135 million to 70 million years ago. Man is said to have appeared no earlier than 3 million years ago. The "Glen Rose formation," as it is known by geologists, is dated as "Early Cretaceous," or 120 million years ago
...This formation is described as limestone, alternating with clay, marl, and sand, and in various shades of brownish yellow and gray. Its thickness is 40 to 200 feet [121.9-602.6 dm]. Preservation of such tracks in limestone provides conclusive proof of rapid formation. As soon as the tracks were made, a layer of clay, sand, and gravel washed in and filled them so they would not dissolve away. Also, if the tracks were not quickly covered they would erode away. There is no room here for hundreds or millions of years. As soon as the tracks are exposed today, they quickly erode away.
The prints were made and covered and preserved fast! It may well be that the prints were being covered by rising, turbulent water, which, after covering them with sediments, washed out temporarily as the earth may have moved up or down. It was a time of geologic catastrophe on a massive scale.
Tracks are found in several of the layers of limestone, as they are exposed by river erosion. Man tracks have been found in layers BELOW that of the dinosaur prints!Another striking evidence of the genuiness of these tracks is called "mud push-up."
These footprints show "mud push-up" where the toes pushed up the mud in front and on the sides. This would not occur if these were "erosion markings," as some evolutionists claim. Lamination markings, indicating that the foot pressed through different colored clays beneath it, are also to be seen on many of the human and animal tracks.Over a hundred human footprint trails have been studied in the Paluxy River area. Most of the footprints are unshod, but some appear to have some kind of covering on the foot. Some marks are of children’s feet, but always going somewhere with adults. Some are of giants. Each one will have length of strides to match the footprint size. Quite a few of the tracks are 16 inches [40.64 cm] in size, but several of the trails are of a man with a seven-foot [21.3 dm] stride and a footprint of 21½ inches [54.6 cm] in length.
We estimate the 16-inch [40.64 cm] tracks to have been made by 8.8-foot [27.06 dm] tall people, and the 21½ inch [54.6 cm] tracks were made by a person 11.94-foot [36.39 dm] in height.
"An anthropological rule of thumb holds that the length of the foot represents about 15 percent of an individual’s height."—*Mary D. Leakey, "Footprints in the Ashes of Time," National Geographic, April 1979, p. 453.
C.N. Dougherty, a local chiropractor in the Glen Rose area, in 1967 wrote a book, Valley of the Giants. He has located, described, and photographed many of the human prints.
THE PALUXY BRANCH—That might be the end of the matter, but in August 1978, accompanied by two friends, Fred Beierle decided to spend the afternoon searching for tracks. in August 1978, accompanied by two friends, Fred Beierle decided to spend the afternoon searching for tracks. Then he found something unusual in the Paluxy riverbed: a charred branch partly embedded in Cretaceous rock."I was looking for more tracks around what is commonly called the number two crossing, a section of the river, adjacent to the Robert Mack farm, where there are many dinosaur tracks. In the same formation as the dinosaur tracks, about 200 meters [218.6 yd] downstream from them, we found a charred branch from a tree embedded in the Cretaceous rock. The branch was about 2 inches [5.08 cm] in diameter and 7 feet [21.34 dm] long. It had apparently fallen into the soft, mud-like material which later became limestone, and while the branch was burning. It had quickly been buried, but had continued to smolder for some time, thus being converted into charcoal, and had remained when the mud hardened into limestone."—Fredrick P. Beierle, "A New Kind of Evidence from the Paluxy," in Creation Research Society Quarterly, September 1979, p. 87.
The three men decided that the branch had fallen off a tree which had been hit by lightning. For centuries that branch had been completely encased in Cretaceous rock, said to be the part of the Mesozoic Era (135-170 million years ago) when dinosaurs were walking on the earth. The fact that the wood was charcoal and not ash indicates that it was burning when it fell, and then covered while still burning.
The wood clearly showed the cracks often seen in half-burned wood. It lay east-west, at nearly a right angle to the river. The branch was 2.26 m [2.47 ft] in length. Its eastern tip was concealed, and only the upper part was exposed; the rest was embedded in the rock. The thicker eastern section was about 5 cm (1.968 in] wide while most of the rest was about 2.5 cm (.98 in] in diameter.
Beierle sent a sample of the wood to *Reisner Berg of UCLA to have it radiodated. The carbon 14 test result which came back gave a date for the burned wood of approximately 12,800 years.
Corrected, this would agree with Flood chronology. (See chapter 6, Inaccurate Dating Methods, for radiocarbon dating problems.) Therefore, the dinosaur tracks, found in the area in the same Cretaceous rock must be no older than 12,000 years.
"The test showed that the wood is about 12,000 years old. Now, the mud must have hardened into rock after the branch fell into it. But the tracks in the rock must have been made in the mud only a very short time before it hardened, or else they would never have remained. So the tracks in the rock must be no more than about 12,000 years old.
"Nobody, as far as I know, has disputed that the dinosaur tracks found at the river are genuine. Thus, there must have been dinosaurs living about 12,000 years ago. This conclusion, it will be noted, follows whether or not the human tracks, of which many have been found, are genuine. On the other hand, when the dinosaur tracks have been shown to be comparatively recent, there is no reason to doubt that human tracks might be found in the same place."—*Op. cit., pp. 88, 131.
THE ANTELOPE SPRINGS TRACKS—Trilobites are small marine creatures that are now extinct. Evolutionists tell us that trilobites are one of the most ancient creatures which have ever lived on Planet Earth, and they existed millions of years before there were human beings.
William J. Meister, Sr., a drafting supervisor by trade (and, by the way, a non-Christian), made a hobby of searching for trilobite fossils in the mountains of Utah. On June 1, 1968, he found a human footprint, and there were trilobites in the same rock! The location was Antelope Springs, about 43 miles [69.19 km] northwest of Delta, Utah.
Breaking off a large, two-inch thick piece of rock, he hit it on edge with a hammer, and it fell open in his hands. To his great astonishment, he found on one side the footprint of a human being, with trilobites right in the footprint itself! The other half of the rock slab showed an almost perfect mold of a footprint and fossils. Amazingly, the human was wearing a sandal!
The footprint measured 10¼ inches long by 3½ inches wide at the sole [26.035 x 8.89 cm], and 3 inches wide [7.62 cm] at the heel. The heel print was indented in the rock about an eighth of an inch [1.676 cm] more than the sole. It was clearly the right foot, because the sandal was well-worn on the right side of the heel. Several easily visible trilobites were on the footprint. It had stepped on them, pressing them underfoot.
No chance of hand-made "carvings" here, as the evolutionists charge at Glen Rose. The footprint was located halfway up a 2,000-foot mountain face, and Meister had to stop to rest many times as he climbed. Where he found the print, he had to make footholds to stand on, in order to search for trilobites.
Meister mentions that he told Burdick and Carlisle about the site. This is what happened next:
"The first week in August. Dr. Clifford Burdick. well-traveled consulting geologist of Tucson, Arizona, visited the site of the discovery at Antelope Springs with Mr. Carlisle [a graduate geologist at the University of Colorado]. On this visit Dr. Burdick found a footprint of a barefoot child in the same location as my discovery. He showed me this footprint August 18.
"The day before, my family and I had met Dr. Burdick at Antelope Springs. While there we found another sandal print. Dr. Burdick continued, and on Monday, August 19, he informed me by letter that he had found a second child’s footprint.
"In addition to my discovery and that of Dr. Burdick, a friend of mine, George Silver, digging alone in this location, discovered more footprints of a human or human beings, also shod in sandals. His specimen, which he showed to me (I also showed this specimen to Dr. Melvin Clark), had two footprints, one about a half inch [2.54 cm] above and on top of the other.
"Finally Dean Bitter, teacher in the public schools of Salt Lake City, discovered other footprints of human beings wearing sandals much like those found by George Silver and me. Both Dr. Cook and I have seen his specimens found at Antelope Springs, some distance from the site of my discovery."—William J. Meister, Sr., "Discovery of Trilobite Fossils in Shod Footprint of Human in ‘Trilobite Beds’ - A Cambrian Formation - Antelope Springs, Utah," in Why Not Creation? (1970), p. 190.
As a result of finding the footprints, Meister became a Christian.
*Leland Davis, a consulting geologist, analyzed the strata and the footprints it had been found in—and found them to be "consisting almost entirely of Cambrian strata"! This is the oldest regular fossil-bearing stratum on the planet!
You can find a complete description of the Antelope Springs footprint discoveries in the book, Why Not Creation? pp. 185-193.
OTHER GIANT PEOPLE—Similar giant human footprints have been found in Arizona, near Mount Whitney in California, near White Sands, New Mexico, and other placesSimilar giant human footprints have been found in Arizona, near Mount Whitney in California, near White Sands, New Mexico, and other places.But, in addition, several other giant human footprints—and even skeletal remains—have been found.
At White Sands, New Mexico, a prehistoric giant walked across a drying lakebed, leaving sandaled feet tracks, with each track approximately 22 inches [55.8 cm] in length.
"The remains of giants were found in Java, twice the size of gorillas, and later the petrified remains of a giant were found in South Africa and reported by the world-renowned anthropologist, Robert Broom. [Based on those finds] Dr. Franz Weidenreich (1946) propounded a new theory to the effect that man’s ancestors were actually giants. Dr. [Clifford] Burdick also tells about one of the unsolved mysteries of the Great White Sands National Monument near Alamogordo, New Mexico. Here is an area of about 175 acres consisting of alabaster, white as snow. It is believed that this gypsum was precipitated as arid winds dried up an inland sea. As this muddy sediment was beginning to harden, some prehistoric giant apparently walked across the drying lakebed, leaving a series of tracks made by sandaled feet. There are 13 human tracks, each track approximately 22 inches [55.8] long and from 8 to 10 inches [20.32-25.4 cm] wide. The stride is from four to five feet [121.9-152.4 cm]."—H.R. Siegler Evolution or Degeneration: Which? (1972), p. 83.
THE ARIZONA TRACKS—Ancient track marks are technically known as ‘ichnofossils." Recently two new clusters of them have been located in Arizona.
In the late 1960s, a private plane flown by Eryl Cummings made an emergency landing on a dirt road along the Moenkopi Wash, near the Little Colorado River of northern Arizona. While there, Cummings discovered in sandstone some fossil tracks which appeared to be that of a barefoot human child. Near it were some dinosaur tracks. Cummings recognized the strata as belonging to the Kayenta, which evolutionists date to about 190 million years in the past. He wanted to return to the location, but never had the time or funds for an expedition. Years passed.
In 1984, Lorraine Austin found similar tracks not far from Cumming’s site and told Paul Rosnau about them. That same year, Rosnau visited the area (later designated as site-1). Here he located many human tracks, dinosaur tracks, and a hand-print of a child that had slipped and put his hand down to catch himself.
Learning about Cumming’s discovery, Rosnau received directions to his site, which turned out to be about 3 km [1.86 mi] from site-1. In 1986 he searched for the Cummings site but was unable to locate the trackways, apparently because the dirt road had been widened and they had been eradicated. But about 100 mi [160.93 km] west of the road, he found dozens of man tracks. This location was named site-2.
Thirty full pages of information on this discovery will be found in a two-part article by Paul Rosnau, Jeremy Auldaney, George Howe, and William Waisgerber, in the September and December 1989 issues of Creation Research Society Quarterly. A number of photographs are included.
The Arizona tracks are located in the Glen Canyon Group, which is part of late Triassic to early Jurassic strata and supposedly date to 175 to 100 million years in the past.
At least 300 tridactyl dinosaur tracks have been found there, a cloven-footed hoof print of a mammal, bivalves (clams of the Unlo complanatus, a freshwater bivalve which still lives in American lakes), large amphibians, lungfish, and 3 ungulate-like tracks (domestic sheep or wild big horn sheep).
Over 60 human tracks were mapped and photographed. A number of the human tracks were in stride areas, some were standing still with left and right foot near each other, all the rest were walking and going somewhere. In some instances, a shoe or something similar seemed to be on the feet. Here are some interesting comments by the authors:
"[Describing one of the tracks:] The other was an almost perfect barefoot track, typical of tracks made in soft mud. It has a deep heel, an arch almost level with the surface, a deep ball, and toe angle."—Op. cit., part 2, p. 81.
"Similarly, a lone, indistinct, eroded dinosaur track would not be considered authentic, but in an area of distinct tracks it would be accepted as one of many genuine tracks. The trails of man-tracks we have located together with the details of the human toot—toes, ball of foot, arch, heel and taper of toes—rule out chance formations of nature in a great many of our discoveries."—Op. cit., p. 91.
"[Here are] two characteristics of authentic human footprints: (1) on hard surfaces they will assume an hourglass shape; (2) on wet surfaces the heel and ball of the foot will make prominent impressions while the arch will not be prominent. I submit that at site-2 at Tuba City there are tracks that meet both these qualifications."—Ibid.
"Among the impressions there are 30 that are better than the accepted human tracks displayed in the San Bernardino County Museum in Redlands, California."—Ibid.
"There is a predominance of fossil bones and tracks of flesh-eating animals such as the phytosaurs, dinosaurs Dilophosurus, and Coelophysis. In normal ecological systems, there are always more plant -eaters. Does this indicate that these carnivorous animals had come down to the area to eat the dead killed in a cataclysm?"—Op. cit., p. 93.
A remarkable number of the tracks had sandals or something shoe-shaped on them.
"(1) There are trackways with repeated barefoot tracks while others have shoe prints which are always headed in the same direction and in reasonable stride with each other. (2) Some are almost identical, existing side by side with the right distance and angles to each other. (3) There are impressions with sharp, shoe-shaped outlines. (4) There is an unusually high percentage (22 percent) of foot and shoe-like impressions in groups . . (8) There are other print pairs with strikingly identical features, always near each other."—Op. cit., p. 92.
OTHER HUMAN PRINTS—Many other human tracks have been found in "ancient" strata—where they are not supposed to be located.
Footprints were found in sandstone near Carson City, Nevada. The prints were clear and well-defined, with a report being given in the *American Journal of Science (also see *Herbert Wendt, In Search of Adam, 1956, pp. 519-520).
Footprints were found in sandstone near Berea, Kentucky, about 1930, and were carefully analyzed by a state geologist. Some of the prints were in a walking stride. Distinct right and left impressions were found, each with five toes and a distinct arch. The prints could not have been carved, since some of them were partly covered by a sandstone strata overlay.
Miners digging into a coal seam in Fisher Canyon, Pershing County, Nevada, found a shoeprint. The imprint of the sole is so clear that traces of sewed thread are visible. The coal bed it was found in supposedly dates back to 15 million years, while man is not thought to have evolved into being until about 1 million years ago. (Andrew Tomas, We Are Not the First, 1971, p. 24.)
Footprints were found close to a lake near Managua, Nicaragua. They were located 16 to 24 feet [48.77-73.15 dm] below the surface, beneath 11 strata of solid rock. Evolutionists have been in a running controversy about those Nicaraguan prints for over a century. (It is a controversy they would rather run from.) Initially, the prints were dated at 200,000 years; but, since the feet were perfectly modern, the age was reduced to about 50,000 years. The only geologist to visit the location also found traces of domesticated dogs and horses with the prints. But when Europeans came to America in the 16th century, they found no dogs or horses. Polished stone artifacts and projectile points were also found nearby.
Carbon 14 testing has recently been applied to the prints—yielding a 3000 B.C. date. But this would mean that, in very recent times, a most terrible catastrophe caused those thick layers of 11 rock strata above the prints to form. To make matters worse for the evolutionists, fossils and mastodon bones have been found in the strata above the human prints.
Harvard University has a sandal print that was found, next to human and animal tracks, near the city of San Raphael.
Other human tracks have been found in South America; New Harmony, Indiana; St. Louis, Missouri; Herculaneum, Missouri; and Kingston, New York (Creation Research Society Quarterly, March 1971, p. 205).
HUMAN REMAINS IN COAL——The remains of people and their productions have been found in coal, although it is supposed to date back to very early prehistoric times—millions upon millions of years in the past (300 million years ago is the date generally given). Evolutionists are very quiet about these astonishing facts.It is very understandable how this could happen, since the vast forests of the ancient world were turned into coal and petroleum at the time of the Flood, recorded in Genesis 6 to 9.
1 - The Freiberg Skull. A fossilized human skull was found in solid coal in Germany in 1842. When the coal was broken open, the skull was found inside.
"In the coal collection in the Mining Academy in Freiberg [Saxony], there is a puzzling human skull composed of brown coal and manganiferions and phosphatic limonite . . This skull was described by Karsten and Dechen in 1842."—*Otto Stutzer, Geology of Coal (1940), p. 271.
Presumably Tertiary in age, the coal would have far predated the appearance of man, according to evolutionary theory.
2 - Juvenile Jaw. The jawbone of a child of about six years of age was found in coal in Tuscany in 1958. It had been flattened like a piece of sheet iron. In this instance, it was found by an expert: Johannes Hurzeler of the Museum of Natural History in Basel, Switzerland (*Harroux, One Hundred Thousand Years of Man’s Unknown History, 1970, p. 29).
3 - Two giant human molars were found in the Eagle Coal Mine at Bear Creek, Montana, in November 1926. (*Frank Edwards, Stranger than Science, p. 77.)
4 - Human Leg. A coal miner in West Virginia found a perfectly formed human leg that had changed into coal (Creation Research Society Quarterly, March 1968, p. 147).
MAN-MADE REMAINS IN COAL—A variety of man-made objects have also been found in coal. Here are four of them:1 - Gold Chain. In 1891, a lady in Morrisville, Illinois, accidentally dropped a shovelful of coal onto the floor while carrying it to her stove. A large chunk of coal broke open, exposing an intricately structured gold chain "neatly coiled and embedded."
Originally reported in the Morrisonville, Illinois Times, of June 11, 1891, the 10-inch [25.4 cm] chain was found to be composed of eight-carat gold. When the coal broke apart, part of the chain remained in each piece, holding them together. Thus there is no possibility that the chain had been dropped into the pile of coal.
2 - Steel Cube. In 1885 at lsidor Braun’s foundry in Vocklabruck, Austria, a block of coal was broken and a small steel cube fell out. It had a deep incision around it and the edges were rounded on two of its faces. The owner’s son took it to the Linz Museum in Austria, but later it was lost. A cast of the cube still remains at the museum (Andrew Tomas, We are not the First, 1971, p. 44).
3 - Iron Pot. In 1912, two employees of the Municipal Electric Plant in Thomas, Oklahoma were working with some coal that had been mined near Wilburton, Oklahoma. One chunk was too large for the furnace, so it was hit with a sledge and it immediately broke open. An iron pot fell out, leaving an impression (mold) of its shape in the coal. An affidavit was filled out by the two witnesses and the pot was photographed. The pot has been seen by thousands of people. (Creation Research Society Quarterly, March 1971, p. 201.)
4 - Child’s Spoon. While still a child, in 1937, Mrs. Myrna A. Burdick, together with her mother found a child’s spoon in soft Pennsylvania coal. A picture of it is to be found in Creation Research Society Quarterly, for June 1976 (page 74). Her address was listed as 1534 Kearney Street, Casper, Wyoming 82601.
5 - Wedge-shaped Object. A wedge-shaped metallic object was found inside a piece of coal (Proceedings of the Society of Antiquarians of Scotland, Vol. 1, No. 1, p. 121).
MAN-MADE OBJECTS IN ROCK—Objects made by people have also been found in non-coal materials. These formations are dated by paleontologists to millions of years in the past. Here are eight of these discoveries:1- Iron Nail. David Brewster found an iron nail in a Cretaceous block from the Mesozoic era. A report on the find was made by the British Association in 1845-1851, in which it was stated that a nail was found in a block of stone from Kingoodie Quarry, North Britain. The block containing the nail was eight inches [20.32 cm] thick and came from below the surface. The last inch of the nail, including the head, was imbedded in the stone, but the remainder, which was quite rusted, projected into some till (Sir David Brewster, Report of Meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science, Vol. 14, *Charroux, One Hundred Thousand Years of Man’s Unknown History, 1970, p. 181).
2 - Gold Thread. In a rock quarry near Tweed, below Rutherford Mills, England, workmen were quarrying rock when they discovered a gold thread embedded at a depth of eight inches [20.32 cm] in stone. A piece of the object was sent to a nearby newspaper, the Kelso Chronicle (London Times, June 22, 1844, p. 8, col. 5).
3 - Iron Nail. Probably while searching for gold, Hiram Witt found a piece of auriferous quartz in California in 1851. When it was accidentally dropped, an iron nail with a perfect head was found inside the quartz. The London Times of 1851 carried a report on it.
(Before concluding this item, we will mention a parallel item: Quartz does not require millions of years to form. Quartz crystals were found in a Nevada mine which could have been formed only within the previous 15 years. In the same area, a mill had been torn down and sandstone had formed around it in that length of time. A piece of wood with a nail in it was found in the sandstone.)
4 - Silver Vessel. Workmen were blasting near Dorchester, Massachusetts in 1851; and, in a bed of solid rock, they found a bell-shaped metal vessel. The vessel had inlaid floral designs in silver, and showed a remarkably high degree of craftsmanship. A report on this find was later printed in the Scientific American (June 1851).
5 - Metal Screw. A mold of a metal screw was found in a chunk of feldspar (Springfield Republican; reprinted in London Times, December 24, 1851, p. 5, col. 6).
6 - Metal Bowl. An intricately carved and inlaid metal bowl was blasted out of solid puddingstone (Scientific American, June 5, 1852).
7 - Iron Nail. In the 16th century, Spanish conquistadors came across an iron nail about six inches [15.24 cm] long solidly incrusted in rock in a Peruvian mine. Iron was unknown to the Indians there. The Spanish Viceroy kept the mysterious nail in his study as a souvenir, and an account of this find is to be found in a letter in Madrid Archives [see archival year 1572] (*Andrew Tomas, We are Not the First, 1971, pp. 28-29).
MAN-MADE OBJECTS FOUND IN THE GROUND—In locations in the earth far too deep to have been made by human beings (according to evolutionary theory) or in strata which is dated as being very ancient, man-made objects have been found:1 - Doll. In 1889, workmen were boring an artesian well near Nampa, Idaho A small figurine of baked clay was extracted from a depth of 320 feet [81.28 dm]. Just above the statuette, the drill, inside a 6-inch [15.2 cm] tube, had cut through 15 feet [45.7 dm] of basalt lava. Called the "Nampa image," the object may have anciently been a doll or an idol (Immanuel Velikovsky, Earth in Upheaval,1955). (As mentioned in chapter 14, Effects of the Flood, parts of northwest America have thick layers of volcanic material, probably laid down just after the Flood).
2 - Bronze Coin. A bronze coin from a depth of 114 feet [347.47 dm] was found near Chillicothe, Illinois by well drillers in 1871. This remarkable discovery reveals that ancient peoples lived in America before the time of the Indians, that they had coins, and that immense upheavals and changes in the land took place as a result of a catastrophe (*Frank Edwards, Strangest of All, 1962, p. 101).
3 - Tiled Paving. In 1936 a resident of Plateau City, Colorado (close to Grand Junction) was digging a cellar. At a depth of 10 feet [30.48 dm] he found paved tile that was laid in some type of mortar. Nothing elsewhere in the valley was anything like it. The tiles were found in a Miocene formation, which would normally date them at 25 million years old (*Frank Edwards, Strangest of All, 1962, pp. 100-101).
4 - California Finds. During the gold rush in the middle of the last century, miners in California found a number of unusual objects. These were either found fairly deep in the ground or in "prehuman levels" of strata. It is of interest that these ancient peoples were themselves able to bore into mountains for gold and silver. One of their shafts was 210 feet [640 dm] deep into solid rock. An altar for worship was found in one of them.
Here are more items found in California:
"[In California was found] A mortar for grinding gold ore at a depth of 300 feet [914 dm] in a mining tunnel; a mortar and pestle weighing 30 pounds [13.6 kg], beads, perforated stones; a 40-pound [18 kg] oval granite dish. One human skull was found at a depth of 130 feet [396 dm] under five beds of lava and tufa separated by layers of gravel. Evidently man came before the lava flows, and deep canyons have been cut by rivers since the lava flows.
"An amazing number of stone relics have been found among the bones of the camel, rhinoceros, hippopotamus, horse, and other animals. The findings are almost always in gold-bearing rock or gravel."—Creation Research Society Quarterly, June 1974, p. 23.
An elaborately carved rock and other worked stones weighing up to 800 pounds [362.8 kg] were found hundreds of feet below the surface, and reported in a California newspaper (* Frank Edwards, Strange World, 1964).
MAN-MADE MARKINGS ON PETRIFIED WOOD—Scientists believe that petrified wood is millions of years old. The Petrified Forest in Arizona contains some of the largest examples of such materials. Man-made pre-mineralization markings have been found on specimens of petrified wood in various localities.
1 - Shaped Wood in India. Several years ago, small pieces of hand-worked petrified wood was found in India. The wood clearly was shaped prior to fossilization, and was later reported in a journal on anthropology (*Anthropos, 1963-64; 1969, 921-40).
2 - Cut Wood in Lombardy. Several petrified pieces of wood were found in Lombardy, Italy. Prior to mineralization, these pieces had been hacked by a cutting instrument. The wood was dated to the Pliocene Epoch, which is considered to be prior to the appearance of man (*Journal of the Transactions of the Victoria Institute, 13:343).
MAN-MADE MARKINGS ON BONES—Bones of animals have been found with man-made markings animals have been found with man-made markings on them, and are thought by scientists to have predated mankind in the localities in which they were recovered,1 - Cuttings on Rhinoceros Bone. The fossilized bone of a rhinoceros had man-made cutting marks on it. The bone was found at a site near Paris, and no rhinoceros has lived in Europe throughout recorded history.
2 - Formed Rhinoceros Horn. A sharp tool was apparently used on a rhinoceros horn that was found in Ireland (*Robert F. Heizer, Man’s Discovery of His Past, 1962).
3 - Notched Dinosaur Bones. This discovery came as a distinct surprise to the paleontologists: Two saurian [dinosaur] bones were found, both with distinctly scored markings at regular intervals. The cuts appeared as if made by knives of some sort. Since the bones came from a Jurassic deposit, it was decided that the markings could not have been made by human beings (*Journal of the Transactions of the Victoria Institute, 23:211-3).
In summary of the above finds: (1) All historical dates only go back several thousand years and indicate a young age for mankind. (2) Because of the locations where they have been found, human fossil remains, tracks, and man-made objects, show that "prehistoric eras and epochs"
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