Folklore Traditions and Paleontology

Folklore Traditions and PaleontologyThe scientific process frames information exploitation empirical reason, a system that extracts valuable and seemingly unbiased facts of spirit while a lot affording less room for sources of know takege that defy its rigid methodology. As a result, information coming from oral histories, myth and ritual is non always regarded as valuable, or at least non as valuable as that which stinkpot be tested in a laboratory setting. Even so, traditions of folklore and so-called pure scholarship d induce interacted across time, and the focus of this paper will be to question in what ways folklore has informed research in the field of dodoology. How did traditions of myth yarn-dye early impressions of dinosaur fossils, has folklore ever aided paleontologists spend a penny, and how brace dinosaurs shaped myth itself these argon all questions I intend to answer, focusing mostly on fossils and folklore endemic to North America and East Asia.Lik e every other field, recognition reflects the changing perspectives of pot through different time periods. By examining the persona folklore plays in paleontology, I am overly interested in track larger themes of skepticism toward non- westbound sources, conflicts between scientific and cultural beliefs, and how scientists understanding of what constitutes logical information changes. It would be shortsighted to state the slip evidently as one pitting European viewpoints against those of essential Ameri arse and Asian cultures. solution with Georges Cuvier and the theory of extinction, then later with Charles Darwin and the theory of evolution, Hesperian psyches themselves amaze desire had to contend with the Christian narrative of intelligent design. As scientist and historian Adrienne mayor points out, even virtually Western folklore owe their beginnings to dinosaur fossils. I will be drawing lots of my material from mayors 2013 book Fossil Legends and the First Americans which discusses the sp atomic number 18 obstacles encountered in accessing and publishing information from natural sources. All of this is to register how threefold perspectives often shape scientific studies and how the cut and dry methodology we often associate with Western research is often much nuanced than it appears.Dinosaur fossil finds create occurred as capacious as people waste walked the Earth, and it is not impress to see how myths from nearly the world take shape from encounters with dinosaur corpse. Robert plan in 1677 was possible the first to put a fossil discovery in scientific terms, though not without mythical overtones. Part of a femur later described as croaking to Megalosaurus was called Scrotus Humanum by Robert Plot who included it in his book The Natural History of Oxfordshire. Coming long before dinosaurs were understood with any accuracy, Plot discusses multiple sources for the turn out, which he does bed as a thigh bone. He sta rts by suggesting it belonged to a roman war elephant, then compares it to myths of giants, both in the Bible and in to a greater extent(prenominal) novel history. Goliath features as evidence in Plots analysis on with a giant believed to bewilder been in the Tartar army that invaded easterly Europe in 1575 a Man of ordinary stature readiness go upright between his legs when he did stride (Plot). He concludes that the bone is very likely a man or womans, one whose sorting was perhaps wiped out by the Flood because the skeletons of modern humans have not shrunken by any remarkable degree.Apart from Robert Plots scriptural references, his other observations are a blend of history and hearsay. Biblical references themselves are myths of their proclaim kind, not so much in the sense of beingness fantastical, simply insofar as they are stories used to explain reality. interpreted in that light, they are equivalent to the myths about dinosaurs arising in native Australian Ameri can and Chinese folklore traditions. Given his time and place, myths naturally informed his judgement, even in a scientific study. The other notable feature of Plots observation is the idea that a catastrophe, such as the biblical Flood, was responsible for the disappearance of whatever could have had such a vast femur. Georges Cuvier, who made a huge contri neverthelession to the study of paleontology about a century afterward Plot, similarly appealed to the idea of catastrophes wiping out species, a view kn take in as catastrophism. He used catastrophism to reason the phenomenon of extinction, an idea that at first conflicted with Cuviers own sense of the world as created perfectly by theology. Why would a species go extinct if it was part of the divine creation, or why would God make it go extinct? The discovery of dinosaurs and the resulting theories about life did much in reshaping Western notions of natural history.though nearly beliefs were upset by these large fossils, others were stabilized and encouraged. Cuvier, presumably after reconciling with the reality of extinction, developed his views on catastrophism largely with the dish of Native American sources. Having never traveled to North America, he relied on interpretations of indigenous folklore, journals and actual fossil specimens direct by natural scientists (Mayor). Mayor discusses how Cuvier had amassed a considerable trove of material, among which were fragments of mastodont tusks recovered from a branch of the Susquehanna River as it so happened, the Delaware and Lenape name for that subsection of the river is chemung, which translates to place of the horns (Mayor). Though it is not unmortgaged to what extent paleontologists have been led to excavation sites by the help of indigenous folklore, or in this sheath a simple translation and interpretation, it seems fairly likely that corroborations such as these foldd facilitatory in some regard.Of course, what proved doubly helpfu l to Cuviers burgeoning theories was the existing Native American tales about the fossils they had set in motion, which came to his attention through the work of Rembrandt Peale. Peale published a large amount of Native folklore, including the legend that the olympian creatures to whom the fossils belonged had once roamed the Earth, but were destroyed by a lighting move of the good Spirit in a brief but destructive moment. Similar lore about the grandfather buffalo existed, no interrogation because Natives had encountered the giant skeletons of Pleistocene bison which were widespread (Mayor). All this information reached Cuvier, who cited Peale in his own work and used Native myths of violent catastrophes to bolster his theories behind their extinction (Mayor). Again, though it is difficult to tell how much Native lore squeeze Cuviers views, the very fact that he referenced their myths is what a skeptical scientist powerfulness deem an ad hoc hypothesis, convenient for how it upholds the perspective he already finds compelling. while Mayor shows how myths were useful to Cuviers understanding of North American natural history, on with that of other figures like Thomas Jefferson, Phil Senter in a 2013 article discusses how myths have also been used more than recently to debunk scientific theories. Senters persona titled Dinosaurs and pterosaurs in classical and roman art and literature? An investigating of young-earth creationist claimsfocuses on how fossil observations made during the antediluvian classic civilizations have been re-interpreted by modern Christians looking to debunk the theory of evolution. Illustrations that Senter describes as reflecting encounters with Mesozoic reptile skeletons are claimed instead to be those of mammals and reptiles green today in an sweat to cast doubt on the separation of humans and such animals by millions of years (Senter). As this case clearly shows, mythology is a tool that can also be used to discredi t perception. Though this may, for some, be more incentive to steer clear from incorporating folklore into scientific narratives, Senter proves that it can be save with a little research. If not to improve the popular understanding of a subject by expanding the context in which it is studied, then folklore go uped through science presents a way to overturn misconceptions at odds with commonly real scientific theories.Folklore in paleontology, or what Mayor calls fossil legends, can also work the other way around, aiding our understanding of myth creation itself. For instance, the Western myth of griffins is possibly the result of traders along the silk route in interchange Asia encountering skulls belonging to Protoceratops (Mayor Heaney). Instead of myths informing the study of dinosaurs and the history of paleontology, as is the case with Native American folklore and fossils discovered in North America, this is an example of how paleontology can contribute to the study of m yth and ancient cultural exchange. Though this particular connection between griffins and dinosaurs is disputed by some archeologists, it does not detract from the reality that mythology and science taken together can agree the multiple fields of study, such as anthropology and history in general (Tartaron). Another example of fossils informing cultural myths can be instal in the popular beliefs of flying dragons in China. According to paleontologist Dong Zhiming in his 1992 book Dinosaur Faunas of China, dinosaur trunk from the Jurassic to Cretaceous Periods continue to be regarded as belonging to mythical dragons (Zhiming). In some parts of China, fossil remains are still extracted, crushed into powder, and consumed with the belief that they contain magical better properties (AMNH).Similar beliefs were present in Lakota Native American culture. Beginning around the time of distinguish and Marshs in famous Bone Wars, contact between indigenous figures and paleontologists was renewed. James Cook, a hunter who was friendly with the Lakota Sioux and who was shown a giant chatter fossil by a man named Afraid of His Horses, introduced Othniel Marsh to famous Lakota Chief Red Cloud and persuaded the Sioux that Marsh was interested in swot, not gold. Marsh became good friends with Red Cloud, and incorporated the Lakota view that large fossils belong to extinct Thunder Beasts in his naming of Brontosaurus Thunder reptilian (Mayor). Mayor also discusses Cooks ranch in Nebraska where Native Americans and paleontologists on a regular basis interacted, but from which there is a frustrating lack of evidence this instant linking Native folklore and experience to major excavation sites. In spite of that, the fellowship of Marsh and Red Cloud is also testament to the role Native Americans personally helped in palaeontological efforts. Though their myths did not accord with the scientists views, which by this time had outgrown Cuviers speculations, they show a cl ear awareness of fossils.Without getting into larger questions of discovery and what defines a paleontologist, I cannot help but underscore, as Mayor does in her book, the highly contrasting views that many a(prenominal) Western scientists showed toward indigenous history. George Rogers Clark of the Lewis and Clark parade once wrote, I see no reason why indigenous tradition should not be received as good History, at least as good as a great part of ours, but the very(prenominal) broadmindedness was not forthcoming in other authorities. George Gaylord Simpson, professor at capital of South Carolina and Curator at the American Museum of Natural History, could not have been more dismissive of Native American claims to fossil discovery Indians certainly found and occasionally collected fossil cram but these discoveries are no real part of paleontological history (Mayor). This quote is one of Simpsons many showing his blatant disregard for work done outside the good example of tradi tional scientific methodology. It is not an overstatement to suggest that he was simply racist. Yet this is equally a part of the history of fossil discoveries, and it is charge discussing to see how much naturalists and paleontologists across time may have measuredly limited their own cognition by abandoning non-conforming sources of information. Many of paleontologys major travel forward were, and still are, occasioned by untraditional methods of accessing information.Folklore is hard pressed on its own to describe where fossil remains may be found, but the example of Marsh, as well as his nemesis Edward Drinker Cope, proves that it was at the very least a tool of communication between Western scientists and Native guides. Cope was not as intrepid as Othniel Marsh, but he did travel to the Badlands in South Dakota where he arranged to have a Sioux scout lead him to where the remains of Thunder Birds and Water Monsters could be found. At one spot, he recovered the skull of a duc k-billed dinosaur as well as fossils from 21 other dinosaur species (Mayor). By accepting folklore as a means of communication, Cope and Marsh were able to receive help in finding these bones, not to mention persuade understandably hostile Natives that they were not interested in appropriating their land. Suffice it to say that someone who disregarded the possibility that Natives had any knowledge of fossils would not have been so prospering as to be led to major excavation sites, or at least not on friendly terms.As the Sioux tradition regards monsters from the ancient prehistoric as having been killed by divine lightning, they avoid touching the bones lest they incur a similar fate. This type of special, even sacred approach to the unknown is paralleled by the Chinese belief in the magical properties of dinosaur (dragon) bones. It is the personal credit line of a less enlightened scientist to denigrate these cultural understandings of the deep past simply because they lack th e same framework as Western scientific inquiry. Even within the sterile and precise parameters of paleontology, is there not some deep-seated awe of dinosaurs and the world they occupied? Is this not comparable to that of people who relate to it in terms of myth and lore? Yet other larger point to be gleaned from this comparative study of folklore and paleontology is how consequence can exist in multiple forms. The legend of Thunder Birds is as real to Native Americans as the efforts of geologic dating and excavation are to Western minds. To prioritize one over the other is to overlook the droll and intrinsic value of each as a system of knowledge in itself.The absurdity of disregarding non-Western fossil legends is increased all the more when one finds how the Greeks and Romans, the forbears of all Western civilization, also drew upon mythology in their own discoveries of fossils. In another book by Adrienne Mayor, The First Fossil Hunters, she discusses how the Greeks also drew upon the oral culture of Homer and Hesiod. Much like Robert Plots speculations, Greek myths of monsters, giants, and titans were well known and held a place closer to reality than any modern reader of the classics ability understand (Mayor). As such, giant bones found around the Mediterranean Sea also came with convenient explanations. Or like the example of dragon myths in China, it is even more likely that their myths themselves came from fossil discoveries. Interestingly enough, the Greeks also were of the opinion that lightning smote the oversized monsters of the past the modern consensus in the scientific community about the actual demise of the dinosaurs by asteroid collision is not very far off from this common myth. Yet again, the distinction between relied-upon science and the myths of world cultures come to remarkably similar conclusions despite accessing different knowledge sources in the process.Coming, at last, back off to the question of whether folklore has played a role in paleontology, the answer is yes. This role, however, is label by a departure from traditional scientific method what folklore adds to science instead comes via interpersonal relations, interpretive meanings and subjective experiences. In the case of Marsh, Cope and the Sioux, folklore itself may not have lead the naturalists to their excavation sites, but a respect for the tradition as it was, clearly did play a role. The predominate evidence presented in this paper shows that myths work indirectly, and indeed interdependently with paleontology. The examples of Chinese dragon lore and Western myths of griffins shows that working backward through paleontology can also explain myths. Incorporating myth and legend into the study of dinosaurs and their fossil remains creates a more interdisciplinary, and therefore deeper, study of dinosaurs and their histories. In the more nuanced paleontological discussions going on today about dinosaur appearance and primitive characteris tics, it becomes clear how much scientists own subjectivity was formerly at play in the depiction of dinosaurs. Without evidence of feathers, for instance, scaly reptilian images become the norm, images that might have simply made the most sense to scientists rather than being by trial and error proven. Myth functions in much the same way.Robert Plot and Georges Cuvier, by fashioning conclusions using biblical myth as well as Native American folklore, in Cuviers case, are excellent examples of how folklore influenced the early study of dinosaurs. Indeed, the foot fathers of paleontology are still extolled in spite of their now-ridiculous sounding evidence, which shows the racial discrimination lurking behind other naturalists work when they discredited on sight the knowledge of indigenous peoples. What I have especially tried to show is how folklore and fossil legends represent unique and equally valuable sources of information. Though their content might not be directly relatab le to the study of a particular fossil in a specific period, there is ample evidence to show that having at least a respect for other traditions experiences with fossils can prove beneficial in unseen ways. We should never forget how ridiculous some formerly common beliefs about dinosaurs seem to us now, such as naked and sometimes anthropomorphic renderings made in the recent and outside past. Myth and folklore surround us and inform our thinking in more ways that we are aware of. Acknowledging this and respecting those traditions for what they are can only move on our understanding.Works CitedAMNH. Natural History of Dragons. AMNH. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Mar. 2017. .Asia-Pacific Dinosaur Bones used as Medicine. BBC News. BBC, 06 July 2007. Web. 23 Mar. 2017. .Mayor, Adrienne. The First Fossil Hunters Paleontology in Greek and Roman times. Princeton, NJ Princeton UP, 2000. Print.Mayor, Adrienne. Fossil Legends of the First Americans. Princeton Princeton UP, 2013. Print.Mayor, A., H eaney, M. (1993). Griffins and Arimaspeans. Folklore, 104(1-2), 40-66.Plot, Robert. The Natural History of Oxford-shire. Newport Pagnell Minet, 1677. Print.Senter, Phil. Dinosaurs in Greco-Roman Art? Palaeontologia Electronica. N.p., 2013. Web. 23 Mar. 2017. .Tartaron, T. F. (2014). Cross-Cultural Interaction in the Greek land Culture Contact Issues and Theories. In Encyclopedia of Global Archaeology (pp. 1804-1821). customs duty New York.Zhiming, Dong. Dinosaurian Faunas of China. Chinese Ocean Press, 14 Mar. 2017. Web. 22 Mar. 2017. .