Over the last two days of writing I have speculated about two personalities who I feel have been the real life influence behind the fictional movie character of Indiana Jones. There are, I accept, many more candidates to my two front runners and some may champion them and be able to put forward a good and convincing case for their favourite.
In this blog I will document the life and times of the second of my two choices and leave it to you to make up your mind between them.
Roy Chapman Andrews was born in Wisconsin, USA in 1884 and even in his earliest years he expressed an interest in being an explorer.
He grew up in an interesting era of discovery of previously unknown and uncharted parts of the world, its flora, fauna, archaeology and hidden secrets. He took a job as a taxidermist and with his savings he arrived in New York City in 1906 determined to work at the Museum of Natural History. There were no formal appointments to be had but Andrews took on a cleaning job on the premises just to be there
His determination was beyond question and he progressed to the collecting team which gave him free rein to travel the globe in search of exhibits. After securing superb specimens of marine mammals for the Museum he wrote about them in academic journals and earned a Masters Degree from Columbia University.
In 1909 he travelled to the Dutch East Indies to observe and collect native species not just of marine life but also reptiles and insects. There was danger on the jungle trails and Andrews had to contend with giant pythons and venomous snakes but proved he could survive being a good handler of rifle and pistol.
In the 1920's he developed a new interest in fossils and he persuaded the Museum of Natural History to support an expedition to Outer Mongolia where Andrews was convinced that there were fantastic opportunities to excavate the remains of dinosaurs in what was one of the cradles of natural life and human development.
Mongolia was a vast and sparsely inhabited region dominated by the Gobi Desert, a parched and sunblistered area of shifting sands with overnight freezing temperatures. The idea of an expedition had its sceptics but members of the expedition were amassed covering a wide range of disciplines and specialities including cartographers and zoologists.
A fleet of American made Dodge vehicles were shipped out as the main transport along with a locally assembled caravan of 125 camels to carry food and supplies. It was to be a 5 year expedition in that part of Asia using Peking for wintering, rest and relaxation.
Political instability and civil unrest were rife in Mongolia from Chinese influence and also in the upheaval in the wake of the Russian Revolution.
Fossil finds were quick to follow and in 1922 the first big discovery was the full skeleton of a kind of giant rhinoceros from the ice age. In its living years the monster will have stood seventeen feet high and twenty four feet long. Andrews hunch was proving to be founded in fact. Shipped back to New York the remains were celebrated as one of the greatest events in the history of paleontology...or at least to date.
His most famous find came in the following year. What was at first thought to be just a natural rock formation upon investigation was found to be fossilised eggs and shell fragments. The rocks cradling the find were Cretaceous and yet this period had been thought to have little bird life and so the only explanation was that they were dinosaur eggs. Excavation revealed the body of a small toothless dinosaur later named oviraptor on top of the nest site and intial speculation was that it was attempting to steal the eggs attributed to a protoceratops. Fifty years of research later scientists realised that the oviraptor was in fact guarding the eggs as a parent or sibling.
Many fossils were just close to the surface in the absence of any previous human activity but others were embedded in cliffs and on the edges of steep slopes. There was also a concentration of poisonous vipers on the dig sites and these were a constant peril to the expedition members. In one confrontation some forty seven snakes were killed and the site was abandoned.
Samples of Mongolian finds were sent back to America from the great stock of fossils took some time to be examined in detail. One unidentified reptile skull after 2 years of examination was excitedly reported as a mammal which in the age of the dinosaurs was extremely rare and indeed thought to have become extinct but could now be seen to be distant ancestors of living species of the current era.
Over seven momentous days several more mammal skulls were found with Andrews calling that week the most valuable seven days in the whole history of Paleontology.
This work was continuing against a backdrop of unrest in Mongolia, so much so that it was necessary to mount a machine gun on one of the vehicles. Flying the Stars and Stripes did usually give safe passage through local incidents but in 1926 the expedition returning to Peking were heavily fired upon by Chinese troops and fortunately escaped any injuries.
The Chinese authorities became increasingly suspicious that national treasures were being stolen and the post revolutionary Russians accused him of spying. Planned returns had to be cancelled for two years before Andrews managed to get back to Inner Mongolia but only for the collected specimens to be impounded. It took six weeks of negotiations for them to be released.
In 1930 there was success with the discovery of a fossil graveyard of mastodons and other notable remains of the prehistoric era.
From scrubbing floors at the Museum of Natural History Andrews career path led him to became Director some 32 years later in recognition of his great contribution to his scientific speciality. Even today the Gobi fossils are still providing a wealth of information and data and current Museum teams are welcomed by the Mongolian government to further the great legacy of Roy Chapman Andrews.
Source document; Virtual Exploration Society 2001
No comments:
Post a Comment