Your Daily Dinosaur: High Ancient Medieval Pottery: Is the Eastern Han Dynasty Extinction of the dinosaurs?

By Chris Parker

Job 40 15 “Look at Behemoth, which I made along with you and which feeds on grass like an ox. What strength it has in its loins, what power in the muscles of its belly!
Its tail sways like a cedar; the sinews of its thighs are close-knit. Its bones are tubes of bronze, its limbs like rods of iron.
It ranks first among the works of God,"

The headline quoted is the actual headline from the Chinese Auction site from which this ancient artifact came. "Is the Eastern Han Dynasty Extinction of the dinosaurs?"
Did the extinction of the dinosaurs occur no sooner that after the end of the Eastern Han dynasty-rather than 65 million years ago? The question is asked by the Chinese auction site of archaeological materials and art because it is clear what these two animals depicted represent.

How long ago did the Eastern Han Dynasty and apparently "dinosaurs" co-exist?

“Regarded as a continuation of the Western Han Dynasty (206 BC - 24 AD), the Eastern Han Dynasty (25 AD - 220 AD) was established by Liu Xiu, who became the Emperor Guangwu. With Luoyang in Henan Province as its capital city, the dynasty was reined over by 12 emperors in a span of 195 years.” Travel China Guide

The Eastern Han Dynasty in China spanned even the time of Christ.

The animals on the top of the vase appear to be a stylized pterodactyl and a quadruped sauropod or prosauropod dinosaur.

In my view, the artist was familiar enough with his subjects, as were his audience that he could play with the images. Somehow, that civilization was able to produce high art with a recognizable depiction of a long-tailed pterosaur or a Pteranodon, including bone or crest protruding from its head and a long “reptilian tail”—as opposed to a common bird tail.

From the Website:
“Price: -
Item No: S01375548 Year: Eastern Han Specifications: High

Here we’ve provided comparisons of the Han Dynasty creatures with that of modern drawings of a pterodactyl and prosauropod dinosaurs.

As you can see the Han version even with its stylization looks very much like our modern conception of what a pterodactyl looked like.

The artist must have seen more than one of them alive approximately 1800 years ago. At least that’s my humble opinion.
Unfortunately, the seller has not posted additional information on the provenance of the piece.

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