Brazil: Mysterious ancient symbols found carved next to dinosaur tracks

Unknown prehistoric symbols found carved in rocksnext to dinosaur tracks 66 million years old, in Serrote do Letreiro, Paraíba, a rural state on the eastern edge of Brazil.

These symbols shed light on ancient humans’ interest in dinosaurs, scientists say.

“People usually think that the natives were unaware of their surroundings or had no curiosity about the world they lived in. But this is not true. It is very clear that they were interested in the traces. We’ll never know if they knew about dinosaurs, but it’s clear that they did they were curious about the prints and they thought they had some meaning,” said Leonardo Troiano, an archaeologist at the Institute of National Historical and Artistic Heritage in Brasilia.

THE age of the petroglyphs has not yet been determined.

However – according to the scientific study published in March in the journal Scientific Reports – radiocarbon dating has found burials in the age range between 9,400 and 2,620 years old. This means the tribes that carved the symbols on the rocks must have lived during that time.

Ta designs vary – some have shapes that resemble plantswhile others look like geometric shapesincluding squares, rectangles and circles.

Circles have crosses or lines within them, which may look like stars, Troiano said.

However, what these signs mean remains a mystery.

“Everything seems abstract. “They definitely represented something to the people who made them, but we don’t know what it is,” he said.