[SunkenCiv]

The ancient Greeks and Romans recorded what were apparently fossil forms, including various extinct elephant-type critters which were the source for Cyclops legends. On at least one occasion, the supposed bones of some specific mythological character were found, and given proper reburial. :’)

[Verginius Rufus]

Adrienne Mayor wrote a book about the Greeks and their reactions to fossils--The First Fossil Hunters. She is now at Stanford (wife of Prof. Josiah Ober, chairman of Classics and Political Science at Stanford).