Dinosaurs became extinct millions of years before humans appeared. At least that's what is commonly believed.
But there are curious drawings and figures found all over the world that contradict this theory. They so accurately convey the images of dinosaurs familiar to us that the question arises - could not ancient people have seen dinosaurs? Or is all this evidence a hoax?
Let's take a look at some of these artifacts.
Mexican figurines of Acambro
A huge secret warehouse of prehistoric figurines was discovered in 1944 on the land of a German immigrant named Waldemar Julsrud in Mexico.
The man hired a local farmer to dig up all the figurines for him. As a result, Dzhulsrud became the owner of about 33 thousand small figurines, some of which strongly resemble dinosaurs.
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Some of the figurines have been radiocarbon-dated. The result showed that they were made in 2500 BC.
If they are really real, then obviously the ancient peoples of Mexico knew about a wide variety of dinosaur species. However, most scientists are inclined to believe that the farmer made most of the figurines with his own hands, since he received money from Dzhulsrud for each of them.
Stegosaurus Angkor Wat
Angkor Wat in Cambodia is the largest temple complex in the world.
It was originally dedicated to the Hindu god Vishnu, but later became Buddhist.
On one of the temples you can see a curious carving, which made a lot of noise. It depicts an animal with plates on its body, similar to a stegosaurus.
Some believe that the animal actually looks like a rhinoceros, and that the plates on the back are nothing more than "amateur art" of the carver.
Nevertheless, the stegosaurus Angkor Wat remains an interesting mystery today.
Ica stones from Peru
A set of these andesite rocks was found in Peru in the 1960s.
Most of the stones depict plants and representatives of the animal world. But some of them are covered in wonderful detailed dinosaur drawings.
Other stones have also puzzled scientists, demonstrating medical procedures that were not known at the time, such as heart transplants and caesarean sections.
Ica stones were discovered not far from his ranch by a local resident. However, he later stated that he had carved them himself.
But after a while, the man began to claim that he had slandered himself, fearing that he would be arrested for selling archaeological artifacts.
In general, it is still unclear where in this story is true and where is fiction.
Dinosaur Anasazi, petroglyph from Utah
At Utah's National Natural Bridges Monument, numerous petroglyphs are found on the rocks.
The images on the rocks were made by representatives of the Anasazi people - Indians who lived in this region as early as 1500 BC. Today their descendants are the Pueblo, Hopi and Zuni tribes.
Many of the petroglyphs created by Anasazi are curious and mysterious, but the most controversial of them is the dinosaur.
The image shows a creature that resembles a dilodocus, a four-legged dinosaur that went extinct over 65 million years ago.
True, skeptics argue that in the image of a snake, and the legs below the animal are nothing more than spots and weathering in the rock.
But since dinosaur fossils were found in Utah, the question arises - did the ancient people know about their existence and extinction?