Scanning the news headlines and something rather odd caught my eye with a teaser dealing with villages actually eating dinosaur bones. This not only made me sick to my stomach, but also made me think, “where are they getting the bones from” and “isn’t that a major health issue?” In this article, additional details follow including what they are eating and where they come from are presented, as well as answer why they are eating them in the first place.
In the central part of China, villagers are taking part in an activity that involves one of the most ancient examples of out geological and archeological record. The inhabitants in this village have discovered and excavated the bones of dinosaurs, which they have been boiling them to make soups, as well as grounding them to create a powder that aids traditional medicine practices. Why, you ask? The villages believe the bones are that from a flying dragon that is thought to possess great healing powers.
Until last year, the fossils were being sold and bartered within the Henan province, claiming they were “dragon bones.” According to a scientist in the area, the specimens sold for about 4 yuan (the equivalent of 50 cents in the United States) for each kilogram (the equivalent of 2.2 pounds in the United States). A professor of the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences also stated that when the villages found out that the bones really came from dinosaurs and not their precious “flying dragons,” they immediately donated about 200 kilograms (440 pounds) to the academy so that scientists may conduct research on the find.
The villagers truly believed they had found the bones of a dragon , the kind that soar through the air. If you’re wondering what these so-called “dragon” bones have the power to do , the villagers turned to them as an extra ingredient that was boiled with other items to reap the benefits of such a calcium-rich resource. Concoction were made and often fed to children, who suffered from dizziness, and was used as a treatment to make leg cramps subside.
Sometimes, the bones were ground up and transformed into a paste that was directly applied to fractures and other types of injuries. It has been a fairly common practice, as villagers have been continuing this same act since the last two decades.
When scientists descended upon the Ruyang County situated in Henan, they learned a plant-eating dinosaur measuring 60 feet tall once dwelled in the area. It is estimated at living about 85 million to 100 million years ago. On Tuesday, local officials displayed the find for the first time to the public. The region also produced an additional two dinosaur fossils, where scientists also came in contact with a large deposit of fossilized dinosaur eggs.