Interpretation of fossils in folk culture

["L. Hagman" <lhagman@u.washington.edu>]

A couple of months ago there was a thread on this list about the 
interpretation in premodern times of dinosaur fossils as dragon bones in 
various cultures, especially China.

Here's an interesting native Alaskan variation on the theme:

The Yup'ik people of southwestern Alaska believed in a tusked creature 
called quugaarpaq, which was said to travel underground, turning to stone 
when it came in contact with air. People occasionally found evidence of 
its existence in the mastadon tusks exposed on riverbanks each spring. 

Lorri Hagman
Editor
University of Washington Press