Ichthyosaur Fossil Found in Roman Britain Pit

COLCHESTER, ENGLAND—Phys.org reports that a 100 million-year-old marine reptile fossil was found in a pit, along with the possible remains of a cat; a horse tooth; pottery; and a ligula, a Roman spoon used to retrieve perfumes or medicines from long-necked bottles. The Roman artifacts have been dated to the second century A.D. “In several parts of the English coastline, an isolated, perhaps heavily wave-worn, ichthyosaur vertebra washed out from the base of a cliff is a commonplace find, usually of little bearing,” said Patrick Spencer of the Colchester Archaeological Trust. “In this instance, however, the wholly unexpected context of the vertebra made it entirely exceptional,” he explained. Rock still adhering to the fossil indicates that it came from the east Kent coast, where there was once a Roman quarry. A person working in the quarry may have picked up the fossil out of simple curiosity, Spencer said. Or, “this may have concerned Greco-Roman folklore and mythology, with the vertebra perceived as the tangible remains of a mythological creature or giant,” Spencer surmised. To read about a trilobite fossil uncovered in Roman Spain that may have been fashioned into an amulet, go to "Fossil Force."