Content uploaded by Gerard Dariusz Gierlinski
Author content
All content in this area was uploaded by Gerard Dariusz Gierlinski on Mar 28, 2015
Content may be subject to copyright.
217
Harris et al., eds., 2006, The Triassic-Jurassic Terrestrial Transition. New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science Bulletin 37.
FOOTPRINT OF AN LARGE, EARLY JURASSIC ORNITHISCHIAN FROM
THE ANCIENT SACRED SITE OF KONTREWERS, POLAND
GERARD D. GIERLINSKI1 AND KONRAD Z. KOWALSKI2
1Polish Geological Institute, Rakowiecka 4, 00-975 Warsaw, Poland, E-mail: gierlinski@yahoo.com;
2Al. Niepodleg³oœci 15/35, 02-653 Warsaw, Poland, E-mail: konrad@profoto.waw.pl
Abstract—A Hettangian dinosaur footprint has been found near ancient petroglyphs in the Polish village of
Kontrewers on the northern slope of the Holy Cross Mountains. This association of rock art with a dinosaur
footprint in a place of possible occult gatherings is unique in Europe. Besides its intriguing association, the
discovered ichnite is the earliest occurrence of a large ornithischian footprint referable to Moyenisauropus karaszevskii
in Polish Liassic strata.
INTRODUCTION
Kontrewers is a sparse, low population, rehabitated village that
was burned down by the Nazis during World War II. Kontrewers is
located 12 km south west of the Soltyków track-bearing outcrop in the
Zagaje Formation (Gierlinski 1991, 1994; Gierlinski and Sawicki, 1998;
Gierlinski and Pienkowski, 1999; Gierliñski and Niedzwiedzki, 2002;
Gierlinski et al., 2001, 2004). The northern part of Kontrewers lies on an
elevated patch of early Hettangian alluvial and lacustrine deposits of the
Zagaje Fm. (formerly labeled, on the geological map of Krajewski [1962]
as the Coal and Ore-bearing Series). According to local tradition, this
elevated point was a sacred site of occult gatherings in ancient times (E.
Gassowska and L. Wiewióra, unpubl. report for Voivodship Conserva-
tor of Monuments in Kielce, 1989). In 1988, the owner of this site, the
late Mr. Henryk Gaciaz, notified the Voivodship Conservator of Monu-
ments in Kielce, that petroglyphs had been found on a rock slab on his
grounds. The ensuing archeological investigation and some preliminary
fieldwork carried out by Gassowska’s team in August and September,
1989 revealed no further archeological data.
In May, 2005, independent of the previous studies of this area,
one of us (G.D.G.) found at the locality a sandstone slab bearing a
dinosaur footprint. Both slabs - the one with the petroglyphs and the
second one with the footprint - are large blocks of yellowish sandstone
of the Zagaje Formation. Both exhibit similar, highly eroded surfaces
covered partially by a brown, limonitic patina about 1 mm thick. This
suggests that both objects were exposed to the same environment for a
similar, presumably long period of time. Exact dating methods should be
attempted in further archeological research, beyond the scope of this
preliminary report.
So far, documented associations of fossil tracks with rock art
include examples from Lesotho (Lockley, 1991; Ellenberger et al., 2005),
Brazil (Mayor and Sarjeant, 2001) and Utah (Lockley, 1991; Mayor and
Sarjeant, 2001; Staker, 2005, this volume). However, such an association
has not been hitherto reported from Europe.
FOOTPRINT DESCRIPTION
The footprint (Fig. 1) is preserved as a mold on an isolated slab
found at GPS coordinates N 51º03.323' and E 20º30.671'. A plaster cast
of the print is stored at the Geological Museum of the Polish Geological
Institute in Warsaw, Poland, cataloged as Muz. PIG 1560.11.68.
The footprint is large, tridactyl, and slightly longer (24 cm) than
wide (22 cm). The digits are highly divaricated (II – IV = 60º), the angle
between the axes of digits II and III (34º) is wider than between digits III
and IV (26º). The digits are relatively short and thick; the fourth toe is the
longest. The length of the second digit is 68% the length of the fourth
digit, while the length of the third is 80% of that of the fourth digit. These
features and proportions correspond closely to those of Moyenisauropus
karaszevskii Gierlinski, 1991, an ornithischian ichnotaxon hitherto known
from slightly younger (late Hettangian) coastal deposits of the Przysucha
Ore-bearing Formation of Gliniany Las near Mniów in Poland.
PETROGLYPH DESCRIPTION
The petroglyphs (Fig. 2) were carved on the surface perpendicu-
lar to the bedding plane of the Zagaje Formation sandstone slab, found at
GPS coordinates N 51º03.300' and E 20º30.627'. A replica of the
petroglyphs is cataloged as PMA/MR/2656 and housed at the State
Archeological Museum in Warsaw, Poland. The surface with petroglyphs
slopes toward the northwest and comprises four, obviously man-made
engravings, as well as erosional structures. There are two engraved sil-
houettes and two carved symbols. The anthropomorphic figures depict
a pair of backpacked flute players with horn or antennae-like structures
above their heads. The larger (27 cm high) silhouette is an ithyphallic
male, while below it, a smaller (20 cm high) figure is labeled with a half-
moon symbol, which suggests it represents a female. The same lunar
symbol is known from the Bronze Age engravings of Valcamonica in
Italy (Citroni, 2001, fig.16). A second symbol, located to the left of the
supposed female figure, resembles Y-shape carvings from Bronze Age
sites in Sweden (Coles, 2000, pl. 98) except that pair of eye-like dots lie
between the fork of the Y-shape. Nevertheless, these symbols alone are
not enough to determine a Bronze Age for the Kontrewers petroglyphs.
The lunar symbolization of femininity seems to have been widely dis-
tributed since the Neolithic (W. Borkowski, personal commun., 2005),
while the Y-shaped symbol differs from Swedish ones by its “two eyes”
motif that is common, for instance, on Neolithic ritual vases in all coastal
regions of Atlantic Europe (De Laet, 1994). Moreover, the Kontrewers
silhouettes of two “horned” flute players do not fit well any other
European rock art, despite the fact that the flute seems to have been used
in Neolithic Europe (Doumas, 1994).
FIGURE 1. Moyenisauropus karaszevskii Gierlinski 1991, Muz. PIG
1560.11.68, from the Zagaje Formation of Kontrewers, Poland.
218
DISCUSSION
The Soltyków track assemblage of early Hettangian, Zagaje For-
mation alluvial plain deposits is dominated by large sauropod and theropod
ichnotaxa (Gierlinski and Sawicki, 1998; Gierlinski and Pienkowski, 1999;
Gierliñski et al, 2001, 2004). In contrast, the marginal-marine deposits of
the Zagaje Formation at Gromadzice has produced numerous, medium-
sized ornithischian tracks (Gierlinski and Pienkowski, 1999; Gierlinski
and Niedzwiedzki, 2001, 2004) that also occur, albeit as bigger speci-
mens, in the late Hettangian track assemblage of the Gliniany Las la-
goonal deposits of the Przysucha Ore-bearing Formation (Gierlinski,
1991, 1999; Gierlinski and Pienkowski, 1999). The Kontrewers find is
the first large ornithischian footprint from the Zagaje Formation. All of
these intriguing ornithischian ichnites were assigned to the controversial
ichnogenus Moyenisauropus Ellenberger 1974, originally known only
from the Lower Jurassic of Lesotho. Specifically, the tracks pertain to
the new ichnospecies M. karaszevskii (Gierlinski, 1991). Earlier, Olsen
and Galton (1984) considered Moyenisauropus a junior synonym of
Anomoepus Hitchcock 1848. However, they ignored the fact that the
type Moyenisauropus ichnospecies, the relatively robust form M. natator
Ellenberger 1974, does not fit well a gracile Anomoepus morphotype,
even if other specimens referred to Ellenberger’s Moyenisauropus should
be indeed referred to Anomoepus. Thus, the new specimens from the
Lower Jurassic of Poland necessitated an emendation of the
Moyenisauropus ichnotaxon. As a result, Moyenisauropus is represented
by fewer specimens, but the ichnotaxon remains valid (Gierlinski, 1991).
Abundant Polish Hettangian ornithischian tracks comprises vari-
ous distinct forms. There are classic, gracile forms pertaining to
Anomoepus (Gierlinski and Pienkowski, 1999, pls. II2, III4; Gierlinski et
al., 2004, fig.12A), including the medium form named Anomoepus
pienkovskii Gierlinski, 1991 (Fig. 3B). Larger tracks resemble the hereto-
fore exclusively African Moyenisauropus natator (Fig. 3C), and the most
robust footprints Moyenisauropus karaszevskii (Fig. 3D). There is there-
fore an allometric series of ornithischian ichnotaxa progressing from tiny
Anomoepus scambus Hitchcock 1848 footprints made by basal ornithis-
chians (Fig. 3A) to Moyenisauropus (Figs. 3C, D), distinguished by only
two phalangeal pads on digit III, of presumed scelidosaur origin
(Gierliñski, 1999). If this four stage series reflects phylogenetic rather
than ontogenetic (or both) changes in pedal morphology, each of these
four sister morphotypes qualifies as a distinct ichnotaxon, the nomencla-
ture of which would follow ICZN conventions and present ichnological
philosophy. However, Thulborn (1994) and, more recently, Olsen and
Rainforth (2003), did not share this view, referring all Liassic ornithis-
chian tracks to Anomoepus. Moreover, Olsen and Rainforth (2003) found
only one valid ichnospecies of Anomoepus, A. scambus Hitchcock 1848,
that encompasses almost all other specimens referred to either Anomoepus
or Moyenisauropus. These authors claimed that no morphological differ-
ences between Ellenberger’s Moyenisauropus material and Hitchcock’s
Anomoepus can be substantiated. They did not prove their claim by a
comparison of the Moyenisauropus type ichnospecies (i.e., M. natator)
with the Anomoepus footprints from the Connecticut Valley. Olsen and
Rainforth (2003) stated that the fusion of the distal and penultimate on
Moyenisauropus pedal digit III is due only to preservational mode, and it
is also seen in some Newark Anomoepus specimens. Their conclusion is
far-fetched, because no Anomoepus specimen from Connecticut Valley
demonstrates that feature as clearly as M. natator and M. karaszevskii.
Inconsistently with their lumping attempt, Olsen and Rainforth went on
to suggest that the robust Polish forms represented either a different
ichnospecies within Anomoepus or a new ichnogenus, but hesitated to
label the Polish material formally. They were simply not fully convinced
that the Polish specimens should be referred to A. scambus (partly
because of its allegedly worse preservation; actually the Polish foot-
prints are often preserved equally well or even better than typical New-
ark material). On the other hand, Olsen and Rainforth were convinced
that the African M. natator should be synonymized with A. scambus,
even though it definitely does not appear more gracile than the Polish A.
pienkovskii and M. natator. In short, the Moyenisauropus concept should
not be rejected until the conclusions based only on the Newark material
are proven by a thorough revision of tracks from Lesotho, Poland and
Moyenisauropus-like footprints described from France by Le Loeuff et
al. (1999).
The petroglyphs from Kontrewers seem to present an even more
intractable conundrum than that surrounding Moyenisauropus. Despite
the aforementioned evidence of a Neolithic or Bronze Age motif for the
petroglyphs, E. Gassowska and L. Wiewióra (unpubl. report for
Voivodship Conservator of Monuments in Kielce, 1989) interpreted the
anthropomorphic silhouettes as dancing devils related to some unknown,
much younger, Middle Ages ritual. These authors, in their report, have
cited local beliefs of occult gatherings in that place in ancient times. Such
an interpretation may indicate a connection between the petroglyphs
and the dinosaur footprint. Dinosaur tracks have indeed been regarded as
“the devil’s imprints” in local folklore (Mayor and Sarjeant, 2001, p.
149). Thus, it is possible that the presence of a dinosaur footprint in
Kontrewers led to the use of the site for alleged occult ritual during the
FIGURE 2. Petroglyphs, PMA/MR/2656, on a slab of Zagaje Formation
sandstone from Kontrewers, Poland.
FIGURE 3. Early Jurassic ornithischian footprints of the Anomoepus-
Moyenisauropus plexus. A, Anomoepus scambus Hitchcock 1848, AC 52/
10, from the Turners Falls Ss. of the Lily Pond Quarry, Massachusetts. B,
Anomoepus pienkovskii Gierlinski 1991, Muz. PIG 1560.11.28, from the
Przysucha Ore-bearing Fm. of Gliniany Las, Poland. C, Moyenisauropus
natator Ellenberger 1974, Muz. PIG 1651.11.3, from the Zagaje Fm. of
Gromadzice, Poland. D, Moyenisauropus karaszevskii, Muz. PIG 1560.11.9,
from the Przysucha Ore-bearing Fm. of Gliniany Las, Poland.
219
Middle Ages, and that the petroglyphs substantially post-date the Bronze
Age. Alternatively, petroglyphs may simply accentuated the mysteri-
ous, perhaps supernatural, character of the fossilized footprint. In other
words, petroglyphs might only represent the glyph maker’s interpreta-
tion of the track maker, whichever the age and the mythology of the
people who interpreted the track.
In general, petroglyphs are commonly associated with Europeans
of the Stone and Bronze Ages. During those times, the Holy Cross Mts.
region was inhabited mainly by several Neolithic cultures (W. Borkowski,
personal commun., 2005). Thus, some Neolithic culture of the region,
rather than Middle Ages occultists or pagans, is more likely responsible
for the petroglyphs. Yet, there are no figures of backpacked flute playing
devils in Polish folklore, nor “horned” flute players on numerous samples
of the Neolithic pottery from Poland, and there is nothing similar among
the Neolithic pictographs in the famous Krzemionki flint mine
(Krukowski, 1939; Zurowski, 1962) or in any other European rock art
site.
The Kontrewers figures appear convergent on the flute player
images popularly known as Kokopelli from the Four Corners region of
the United States (e.g., Malotki, 2000). Their style is slightly different
from the majority of Kokopelli glyphs: they exhibit a more upright
posture, relatively larger head, shorter torso, and longer neck and legs
than the American figures. Generally, Kokopelli images show bent hunch-
backed silhouettes with a hump rather than a backpack.
On the other hand, however, there are some intriguing entomorphic
(insect-like) features to the Kontrewers figures. The “horns” above the
heads of the figures are very elongate and slightly lanceolate. Basically,
they could be interpreted as insect antennae rather than horns. The flute
is not separate from the head, but instead, as is visible in the larger male
figure, is integrally connected with the head, like a proboscis. Those
entomorphic features strongly resembles the Kokopelli meaning in Hopi
mythology. The Hopis, who are not Kokopelli makers, identify the
hunchbacked flute player petroglyphs as maahu, the cicada (Malotki,
2000).
To our knowledge, there are no entomorphic gods or enchanted
beings known among the European cultures, including the Celtic, Ger-
man and Slavic mythologies of peoples once inhabiting Poland.
A connection between the flute player engravings and the dino-
saur tracks is not firm in Kontrewers (nor in the southwestern United
States). But if a supernatural meaning to the petroglyphs (Lewis-Will-
iams, 2002) is assumed, then the presence of fossil footprints might have
inspired shamans to choose the site for sacred rock art (Lockley, 1991),
whatever the engraved images may represent.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
We express our thanks to Beata M. Piechnik, who first noticed the
similarities between the Kontrewers petroglyphs and Kokopelli. We are
indebted to Monika Wojtala and Zbigniew Cisak for their help with
fieldwork and hospitality in Kontrewers. We are also grateful to Wojciech
Borkowski and Jacek Tomaszewski from the State Archeological Mu-
seum in Warsaw for their valuable comments and suggestions. Helpful
criticisms were also provided by the reviewers, especially Jerry D. Har-
ris from the Dixie State College.
REFERENCES
Citroni, M.C., 2001, Elementi della tradizione iniziatica sciamanica in alcune
incisioni rupestri della Valcamonica, in La Guardia, R., ed., Secondo
Convegno Internazionale di Archeologia Rupestre: Comune di Milano,
p. 9-14.
Coles, J., 2000, Patterns in a rocky land, rock carvings in south-west Uppland,
v. 1: Uppsala, Department of Archeology and Ancient History, 246 p.
De Laet, S.J., 1994, Europe during the Neolithic, in De Laet, S.J., ed.,
Prehistory and the beginnings of civilisation, history of humanity, v. 1:
Paris, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization,
p. 490-500.
Doumas, C., 1994, The Aegean during the Neolithic, in De Laet, S.J., ed.,
Prehistory and the beginnings of civilisation, history of humanity, v. 1:
Paris, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization,
p. 501-510.
Ellenberger, P., 1974, Contribution à la classification des Pistes de Vertébrés
du Trias: les types du Stormberg d’Afrique du Sud (II): Paleovertebrata,
Memoire Extraordinaire, 201 p.
Ellenberger, P., Mossman, D.J., Mossman, A.D. and Lockley, M.G., 2005,
Bushman cave paintings of ornithopod dinosaurs: Paleolithic trackers
interpret Early Jurassic footprints: Ichnos, v. 12, p. 223-226.
Gierlinski, G., 1991, New dinosaur ichnotaxa from the Early Jurassic of the
Holy Cross Mountains, Poland: Paleogeography, Paleoclimatology, Pa-
leoecology, v. 85, p. 137-148.
Gierlinski, G., 1994, Early Jurassic theropod tracks with the metatarsal
impressions: Przeglad Geologiczny, v. 42, p. 280-284.
Gierlinski, G., 1999, Tracks of a large thyreophoran dinosaur from the
Early Jurassic of Poland: Acta Palaeontologica Polonica, v.44, p. 231-
234.
Gierlinski, G. and Niedzwiedzki, G., 2002, Enigmatic dinosaur footprints
from the Lower Jurassic of Poland: Geological Quarterly, v. 46, p. 467-
472.
Gierlinski, G., Niedzwiedzki, G. and Pienkowski, G., 2001, Gigantic foot-
print of a theropod dinosaur in the Early Jurassic of Poland: Acta
Palaeontologica Polonica, v. 46, p. 441-446.
Gierlinski, G. and Pienkowski, G., 1999, Dinosaur track assemblages from
Hettangian of Poland: Geological Quarterly, v. 43, p. 329-346.
Gierlinski, G., Pienkowski, G. and Niedzwiedzki, G., 2004, Theropod track
assemblage in the Hettangian of Soltyków, Poland, and its
paleoenvironmental background: Ichnos, v. 11, p. 95-213.
Gierlinski, G. and Sawicki, G., 1998, New sauropod tracks from the Lower
Jurassic of Poland: Geological Quarterly, v. 42, p. 477-480.
Hitchcock, E., 1848, An attempt to discriminate and describe the animals
that made the fossil footmarks of the United States, and especially New
England: Memoirs of the American Academy of Arts and Science, v. 3, p.
129-256.
Krajewski, R., 1962, Odrowaz sheet: detailed geological map of Poland,
Polish Geological Institute, scale 1:50,000, 1 sheet [in Polish].
Krukowski, S., 1939, Krzemionki Opatowskie: Warszawa, Muzeum Techniki
i Przemyslu, 134 p. [in Polish]
Le Loeuff, J., Lockley, M.G., Meyer, C.A. and Petit, J.-P., 1999, Discovery
of a thyreophoran trackway in the Hettangian of central France: Comptes
Rendus de l’Academie des Sciences, Paris, Sciences de la Terre et des
Planètes, v. 328, p. 215-219.
Lewis-Williams, D., 2002, The mind in the cave: London, Thames &
Hudson Ltd., 320 p.
Lockley, M., 1991, Tracking dinosaurs: a new look at an ancient world:
Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 238 p.
Malotki, E., 2000, Kokopelli: the making of an icon: Lincoln, University
of Nebraska Press, 161 p.
Mayor, A. and Sarjeant, W.A.S., 2001, The folklore of footprints in stone:
from Classical Antiquity to the present: Ichnos, v. 8, p. 143-163.
Niedzwiedzki, G. and Niedzwiedzki, D., 2004, New finds of dinosaur tracks
with metatarsal impressions from the Early Jurassic of Poland: Przeglad
Geologiczny, v. 49, p. 649-650 [in Polish with English summary].
Niedzwiedzki, G. and Niedzwiedzki, D., 2004, New finds of dinosaur tracks
with metatarsal impressions from the Lower Jurassic of the Holy Cross
Mountains, central Poland: Przeglad Geologiczny, v. 52, p. 237-242 [in
Polish with English summary].
Olsen, P.E. and Galton, P.M., 1984, A review of the reptile and amphibian
assemblages from the Stormberg of South Africa, with special emphasis
220
on the footprints and the age of Stormberg: Palaeontologia Africana,
Haughton Memorial Volume, v. 25, p. 87-100.
Olsen, P.E. and Rainforth, E.C., 2003, The Early Jurassic ornithischian
dinosaurian ichnogenus Anomoepus, in Letourneau, P.M. and Olsen,
P.E., eds., The great rift valleys of Pangea in eastern North America v.
2: sedimentology, stratigraphy and paleontology: New York, Columbia
University Press, p. 314-368.
Staker, A.R., 2005, Earliest known dinosaur trackers: Tracking Dinosaur
Origins: St. George, Dixie State College, Abstracts with Programs, p. 23-
24.
Staker, A.R., this volume, The earliest known dinosaur trackers of Zion
National Park, Utah: New Mexico Museum of Natural History and
Science, Bulletin 37.
Thulborn, R.A.,1994, Ornithopod dinosaur tracks from the Lower Jurassic
of Queensland: Alcheringa, v. 18, p. 247-258.
Zurowski, T., 1962, Krzemionki Opatowskie, pomnik starozytnego
górnictwa: Rocznik Swietokrzyski, v. 1, p. 17-96. [in Polish]
