“Dinosaur” wall carving from Ta Prohm, near Angkor Wat and built by the king Jayavarman VII in the late 1100s [1200×900]
by Remote_Finish_9429
“Dinosaur” wall carving from Ta Prohm, near Angkor Wat and built by the king Jayavarman VII in the late 1100s [1200×900]
by Remote_Finish_9429
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Several different theories have been advanced to explain its presence. Some maintain it’s a recently-carved hoax, while others say that the ancient Khmers could have unearthed a fossil and figured out what kind of creature it belonged to. One theory has it that the image actually shows a cow or rhino with a palm tree in the background – the palm’s fronds being easily mistaken for the fin-like blades running down a stegosaurus’s back [Source](https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/dinosaur-angkor-wat)
Fern leaf motifs are common all over Ta Prohm, and they’re often used as background for various figures. If you visit you’ll see that all over the site and the rest of Angkor Wat.
This is 100% some other animal in front of quite literally one of the most common stylistic flourishes in the site.
Many ancient peoples found dinosaur fossils, and it’s pretty easy to put them together.