Hovind Claims 50,000 Peruvian Ica Stones Depict Humans Riding Dinosaurs
"They have found 50,000 of these stones carved by the Ica Indians. Many of these dinosaurs, of these rocks, had dinosaurs carved on them. Would you say they're trying to depict a Triceratops? And a Stegosaurus above it?"
About this episode
Host Dr. James Koons moderated a heated debate between Kent Hovind, a Baptist preacher and young Earth creationist known as Dr. Dino, and skeptic Eamon on whether humans lived alongside non-avian dinosaurs. Hovind argued dinosaurs coexisted with humans based on Biblical literalism, historical dragon legends, ancient artwork from multiple civilizations, and alleged living specimens in remote locations. He presented Renaissance paintings, Peruvian Ica stones, Cambodian temple carvings, and aboriginal Australian petroglyphs as evidence humans depicted dinosaurs. Hovind also cited University of Chicago biologist Roy Mackal's Congo expeditions claiming locals identified sauropod dinosaurs as living creatures called Mokele-mbembe. Eamon countered with mainstream geology, explaining the geologic column, law of superposition, and radiometric dating of igneous rocks surrounding fossil layers. He systematically challenged each of Hovind's visual examples, arguing Renaissance artists poorly depicted even familiar animals like cats, and that the Ica stones were documented 1960s forgeries by Basilio Ussuchuia. Eamon accused Hovind of lying when confronted with Wikipedia sources, and created a bingo card of Hovind's recurring debate tactics. The exchange grew contentious with personal attacks, including Hovind threatening to call Eamon's mother and declaring victory before requesting to end early. Hovind made a surprising claim that all matter was created 13.772 billion years ago in the Big Bang, contradicting typical young Earth timelines, while simultaneously rejecting radiometric dating of geological layers. No physical fossil evidence of human-dinosaur coexistence was presented.
Key takeaways
- Hovind claimed 50,000 Peruvian Ica stones depict humans with dinosaurs, which Eamon identified as documented 1960s art forgeries by Basilio Ussuchuia.
- Hovind cited University of Chicago biologist Roy Mackal's Congo expeditions reporting living 15-20 foot Apatosaurus-like creatures identified by isolated villages.
- Eamon explained radiometric dating uses igneous rock layers surrounding fossils to establish absolute ages, creating index fossils for the geologic column.
- Hovind presented Renaissance paintings, Cambodian temple carvings, and aboriginal petroglyphs as evidence humans depicted dinosaurs from direct observation.
- Eamon countered that Renaissance artists poorly depicted even familiar animals like cats, undermining reliability of artwork as dinosaur evidence.
- Hovind unexpectedly accepted Big Bang timeline of 13.772 billion years for matter creation while rejecting geological layer dating, creating internal contradiction.
- The debate deteriorated into personal attacks with Hovind threatening to call Eamon's mother and declaring himself winner before requesting early termination.