Chinese Make Dino Soup

Chinese villagers in Henan province dug up a ton of fossilized dinosaur bones, using them to make traditional medicines, including soup and poultices. The villagers, not entirely inaccurately, believed that they were ‘dragon bones’ from flying dragons. Once they learned of their value to paleontologists, the villagers donated the uneaten bones to the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

The calcium-rich bones were used as a treatment for dizziness and leg cramps. The bones were also ground into a paste that was applied directly to broken bones. (More dinosaurs stories.)