What Happened to Pre-Flood Man?

One subject that has perplexed creationists for some time is the definite rarity of pre-Flood human remains, either of bones or of artifacts.  Though occasional reports of the discoveries of “ooparts” (short for “out of place artifacts”) and bones of giant humans spread about the lines of modern media, there is often a lack of credibility or even evidence of outright fraud in those reports.  But even if there is a basis for concerns about conspiracies that hide proofs of the Bible, no one can doubt that the evidence itself is scarce. Why?

For answers, let’s review the Biblical account.  After “the mountains were covered” (Genesis 7:20) by water, the “waters prevailed on the earth one hundred and fifty days.” Genesis 7:24. So, the Flood waters raged upon the earth’s surface for a full five months after the last place a human could survive was covered.  That would mean that their drowned bodies were thrashed about in the waters for many weeks before the Flood waters “receded” (see Genesis 8), no doubt leaving what remains there might still be lying upon the ground.  And God sent a “wind” (Genesis 8:1) that helped dry out the earth, but may have provided some dust to bury the remains for hygienic purposes. They would not have become fossilized, because they were at the top of the earth layers, not buried beneath hundreds of feet of material on the way to fossilization.

Why do we think they were at the tops of mountains?  Because we have in the fossil layers a number of preserved footprints of animals (like dinosaurs) made in mud that eventually became stone.  And in many cases it can be shown that the animals were trying to find higher ground amid rising waters. 

Look at this piece of Permian layer Coconino sandstone, in which there is preserved several sets of lizard footprints made in much water and going in a singular direction, likely trying to escape the Flood.  Since the Flood took months to reach the highest mountains people would have had time to both ascertain their threat and move to the very highest mountain tops.

The Biblical test may also help us in explaining this scarcity of human remains.  Genesis 6:7 points out that God determined to “destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth.” The Hebrew word “emcheh” means to “wipe off.”  That is, there would be precious little left of man when God literally “wiped him from the face of the earth.”