Ammonite

by

Siri 🙂 and 🙂 Selma come storming into our office with red cheeks. “Did you read, they found a mega-sized fossil, an eleven-metre-long ichthyosaur skeleton in the Midlands, the Sea Dragon of Rutland. The head alone weighs a tonne!”
The discovery of an ichthyosaur skeleton in 1811 made Mary Anning of Lyme Regis famous and she was just 12 years old at the time. Some 50 years later Charles Dickens wrote an article about her. She was really special, surviving a lightning strike as a child and at a time when women were not taken for granted, she became one of the world’s leading palaeontologists, to whom Tracy Chevalier dedicated her novel “Remarkable Creatures” and whose life was filmed in 2020 as “Ammonite“.

Siri 🙂 und 🙂 Selma kommen mit roten Bäckchen in unser Büro gestürmt. “Habt ihr gelesen, die haben ein megagroßes Fossil, ein elf Meter langes Ichthyosarier-Skelett in den Midlands gefunden, den See-Drachen von Rutland. Allein der Kopf wiegt eine Tonne!”
Mit dem Fund eines Ichthyosaurier-Skelett 1811 wurde Mary Anning aus Lyme Regis berühmt und da war sie gerade 12 Jahre alt. Etwa 50 Jahre später schrieb Charles Dickens einen Artikel über sie. Sie war wirklich besonders, als Kind überlebte sie einen Blitzschlag und einer Zeit, in der Frauen nicht für voll genommen wurden, wurde sie zu einer der weltführenden Paläonthologin, der Tracy Chevalier ihren Roman “Remarkable Creatures” widmete und deren Leben 2020 als “Ammonite” verfilmt wurde.

To supplement the family income, Mary trades in ammonites and belemnites, among other fossils. On the Jurassic Coast around Lyme Regis, fine ammonites can still be found. At the beginning of the 19th century, fossil hunting had become an addiction. Siri 🙂 and 🙂 Selma also showed these symptoms when we visited Lyme Regis. You find an ammonite and you are infected by the search-and-collect virus.

Um das Familieneinkommen aufzubessern handelt Mary u.a. mit Ammoniten und Belemniten. An der Jurassic Coast um Lyme Regis herum, kann man noch feine Ammoniten finden. War zu Beginn des 19. Jh. das Suchen von Fossilien als Sucht ausgebrochen, so zeigten Siri 🙂 und 🙂 Selma als wir Lyme Regis besuchten, auch diese Symptome. Man findet einen Ammonit und schon ist man vom Such-und-Sammelvirus angesteckt.

We were not alone in Lyme Regis on a wet and cold day in January.

Ammonites have fascinated people since time immemorial. In the Middle Ages, they were seen as sculpted snakes, which is why they were called snake stones. They were also attributed to saints like Hilda of Whitby and St Patrick, who banned snakes from their territory. They were also said to have healing powers. People were convinced that if you kept them in the kitchen, the milk would not turn sour. Our Bookfayries tried this out, but when they tasted the milk after two weeks, they had to puke, cursing.

Die Ammoniten haben seit ewigen Zeiten die Menschen fasziniert. Im Mittelalter sah man sie als eingerolle Schlangen, weswegen man sie Schlangensteine nannte. Man führte sie ferner auf Heilige wie Hilda von Whitby und St. Patrick zurück, die Schlangen von ihrem Gebiet verbannten. Man sagte ihnen zugleich Heilkraft nach und war überzeugt, dass wenn man sie in der Küche aufbewahrte, die Milch nicht sauer wird. Unsere Buchfeen haben das ausprobiert, als sie jedoch von der Milch nach zwei Wochen probierten, mussten sie sich jedoch fluchend übergebend.

Siri and Selma found this beauty in Lyme Regis

The ammonites became extinct about 60 million years ago in the Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction when about 3/4 of all plant and animal groups died out due to a massive comet impact. Since they were widespread in the Jurassic seas, they are found today especially often on the English Jurassic Coast, in southern Germany and in Madagascar, from where they come highly polished as gemstones in the shops. The largest, with a diameter of 2 m, were found in Germany. Siri 🙂 and 🙂 Selma, however, only found ammonites with a diameter of 20 – 25 cm, which are the most common. Ammonite shells are a naturally occurring example of the Fibonacci Sequence, which makes them appear harmonious.

Die Ammoniten starben von ewa 60 Mio. Jahren im Cretaceous-Paleogene Aussterben aus, als etwa 3/4 aller Pflanzen- und Tiergruppen durch einen massiven Kometeneinschlag ausstarben. Da sie weitverbreitet in den jurassisten Meeren waren, findet man sie heute bes. häufig an der englischen Jurassic Coast, in Süddeutschland und in Madagaskar, von wo sie hochpoliert als Schmucksteine in die Läden kommen. Die größten mit einem Durchmesser von 2 m fand man in Deutschland. Siri 🙂 und 🙂 Selma fanden allerdings nur Ammoniten mit einem Durchmesser von 20 – 25 cm, was die häufigsten sind. Faszinierend ist, dass ihre Spirale als Grundspirale nach der Fibonacci Reihe ausgebildet ist, was sie harmonisch erscheinen lässt.

One of our polished Ammonites from our collection

The discovery of these fossils challenged the creationist view of the Church at the time, according to which, for example, Bishop Ussher ‘calculated’ that the world was created on 23.10.4004 B.C.E. as it is today, and that in one week. One of the first to speak out against this was the Scottish geologist James Hutton, who said that creation “has neither beginning nor end“. “To fabricate all this in one week looks rather sloppy“, said Siri 🙂 and 🙂 Selma and Masterchen referred to Immanuel Kant, who wrote “creation is never complete” (A General Natural History of the Heavens).

Die Funde dieser Fossilien stellte die damalige kreationistische Auffassung der Kirche in Frage, nach der z.B. Bischof Ussher ‘berechnete’, dass die Welt am 23.10.4004 BCE so geschaffen wurde wie sie heute ist und das in einer Woche. Dagegen sprach sich als einer der Ersten der schottische Geologe James Hutton aus, der meinte, dass die Schöpfung “weder Anfang noch Ende hat“. “In einer Woche das alles zu fabrizieren, sieht doch ziemlich dahingeschlampt aus” meinen Siri 🙂 und 🙂 Selma dazu und Masterchen verwies auf Immanuel Kant, der schrieb, dass die Schöpfung niemals vollendet sei.

Mary Anning, who died of breast cancer in 1847, was quoted by Louis Agassiz, who caused an uproar with his theory of the ice ages, in his book on fossils, and Charles Lyell, who greatly influenced Huxley and Darwin, sought her advice. Such a life, apart from breast cancer, is what our book fairies dream of.

Mary Anning, die 1847 an Brustkebs starb, wurde von Louis Agassiz, der mit seiner Theorie der Eiszeiten einen Aufstand verursachte, in seinem Buch über Fossilien zitiert und Charles Lyell, der Huxley und Darwin maßgeblich beeinflusste, suchte ihren Rat. Von so einem Leben, abgesehen vom Brustkrebs, träumen unsere Buchfeen auch.

With kind regards from the sunny coast

Mit lieben Grüßen von der sonnigen Küste
The Fab Four of Cley
🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

P.S.
A tongue twister about Mary Anning that Siri 🙂 and 🙂 Selma love
“She sells seashells by the seashore“
 

© Text and illustrations, Hanne Siebers and Klausbernd Vollmar, Cley next the Sea, 2022

136 thoughts

  1. Lovely post, Klausbernd. I have a small ammonite from Robin Hood’s Bay. But I cheated – I bought it in a shop. Don’t forget that Norfolk has its own fossils as well as mammoths of course. Yesterday I walked with friends on West Runton beach and we found a few small belemnites and I found a broken echinoid (sea urchin fossil). Of course, all these fossils are just put there to test our faith – the world was actually created in 4004BC. I’m joking (honest) but there are some who still might believe this. All the best from a chilly Norwich. Laurence

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • Dear Laurene,
      we go sometimes to West Runton for fossil hunting. As you did, we found mostly belemnites there and one complete echinoid. More fossils we found at the beach at Happisburgh. I was there when they found these ancient footprints. I wouldn’t have noticed them.
      Of course, there is a fossil distributor with lots of helpers who spread all those fossils around the beaches here and in Devon to test who is a real believer – or as Siri 🙂 expressed it “who is the king of the fools”. You only get this title when you believe our earth is flat at the same time.
      Thanks for commenting.
      Keep well and happy
      The Fab Four of Cley
      🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

      Like

  2. That was very interesting. I like fossils, but mostly my interest centers around what they tell me about human evolution. You touched on that with the section about the discovery of these fossils futzing (good American word) with the Creationist evolution timeline.

    Intriguing post, as usual.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    • Thanks, dear Jacqui 🙏 🙏
      Well, the first humans occurred about two mio. years ago but these fossils are at least more than 50 mio. years older. We find it interesting what people project on fossils and the personalities of fossil hunters. We met several in Southern Germany who felt where fossils are like dowers. In old Germanic cultures, ammonites were seen as a product of lightning.
      Wishing you all the best and thanks for your kind words
      The Fab Four of Cley
      🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

      Like

  3. In Alberta (Canada) in 2017 we bought an ammolite pendant. As Wikipedia explains: “Ammolite is an opal-like organic gemstone found primarily along the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains of North America. It is made of the fossilized shells of ammonites.”

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    • Thanks, dear Steve.
      Ammonites are found nearly everywhere. You find many at the Jurassic Coast/England, on the Schwäbische Alp in Southern Germany and in Madagascar and Alberta where they are mined in an industrial way. The biggest ones come from the big warm sea (Molasse Meer) which is now the Schwäbische Alp. Most of the polished ones are from Madagascar or Alberta where the biggest producers for polished ammonites are.
      Keep well
      The Fab Four of Cley
      🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

      Liked by 2 people

  4. Fascinating details about these Ammonite hunters, and what beautiful fossils. I’ve seen them in shops on necklaces and now they are even more intriguing. I love the history as well as how fossils baffle the anti-evolutionists. 🙂

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    • Dear Wallace,
      thank you very much for commenting.
      These ammonites are beautiful, aren’t they? At the same time, they are like a window in times so far back that we can’t imagine it.
      All the best
      The Fab Four of Cley
      🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

  5. Wonderful post, photos and commentary! Former childhood fossil searcher here, my congrats to Siri and Selma for their remarkable find! Childhood me would have been over the moon at such good fortune. And this phrase in your text speaks volumes “…at a time when women were not taken for granted…” All my best to the Fab Four of Cley 😊 😊 😊 😊

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • Dear Babsje,
      well, Siri 🙂 and 🙂 Selma proudly showed their best finds. Mostly they found broken ammonites, but some of these ammonite parts must have belonged to ammonites with at least a diameter of 1 meter. Around our beaches, they found lots of belemnites which were seen as the devil’s fingers. This is what thrilled our dear Bookfayries most.
      We have found quite some special fossils mostly on the beaches around the Runtons in Norfolk, on the Jurassic Coast and in Southern Germany. And where did you search for fossils?
      Keep healthy and happy
      xxxx
      The Fab Four of Cley
      🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

      Like

    • Dear Pete,
      Siri 🙂 and 🙂 Selma thought we have to be back “with a bang” now. And for months they wanted proudly to present their best fossils and here they are!
      With lots of love to you and Ollie
      xxxx
      The Fab Four of Cley
      🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

  9. Lieber Klausbernd!
    Mal wieder einiges gelernt, Dank dafür. Gerade der Hinweis auf die mathematische Seite des Ganzen fand ich interessant.
    Diese Art von Sucht ist mir auch nicht bekannt, denn bei den langen Spaziergängen am Meer, gerade in Oliva/Sp, findet sich immer etwas an ungewöhnlichen Muschelformen. Und die gilt es zu finden. Ich habe immer das Gefühl, das wir eimerweise Muscheln aus Spanien an den Niederrhein karren.
    Liebe Grüße
    Jürgen

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • Lieber Jürgen,
      das wird ja zukünftige Paläonthologen mächtig vewirren. Wie kommen diese Fossilien spanischer Muscheln an den Niederrhein? Gab es da ein verbindendes Meer?
      Man kann ja an z.B. an stark erodierten Gehäusen von Einsiedlerkrebsen auch diese Grundspirale deutlich erkennen, allerdings brauchen die noch ein paar millionen Jahre, um so schöne Fossilien auszubilen. Uns erstaunt es immer wieder, wie die Natur nach solch mathematischen Formprinzipien wie z.B. die Fibonacci Reihe schafft. Es zeigt zudem, dass mathematisch klare Formprinzipien von uns als schön bewertet werden. Das lässt mich Novalis’ Ausspruch aus “Heinrich von Ofterdingen” erinnern, “Gott ist Mathematik”, eine Ansicht, die so mancher Frühromantiker teilte.
      Mit lieben Grüßen vom sonnigen Meer
      The Fab Four of Cley
      🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

  10. How wonderful! I always loved Ammonites, as a teenager, I used to go ‘auf die Alb’ and we found plenty. Not such big ones though as Siria and Selma. A visit to Lyme Regis is necessary now to have a look again after all these years and find a couple more. Mary Anning was certainly a remarkable woman. Thanks for this lovely post and the memories it prompted for me. Much love Ute

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • Dear Ute,
      die Alb and especially the Alb-Abbruch is ideal for fossil hunting. Have you ever been to Holzmaden? There we saw the most impressive fossils. As a student, I took part in a paleontological excursion to the Alb. I found a fossiled fish but in the end, all students had to hand over our finds to the professor.
      If you watch the film “Ammonite” about the life of Mary Anning you will be shocked at how women were treated during this period. It was impossible for her to get officially acknowledged, all her acknowledgement came from individuals. Even her finds in the British Museum didn’t show her name.
      Thanks for your comment that’s very much appreciated.
      Are you from Swabia?
      With much love xxxx from the sunny coast
      The Fab Four of Cley
      🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

      Liked by 2 people

    • Hi Klaus Bernd, thanks for the film tip, I shall find it to watch. I love things like that. We had ‘Geologie ‘ in Secondary school and I found it fascinating so we often went on excursions with my friends. However we used to go tracking- ‘wandern’ a lot with my parents also and found interesting rocks etc. Yes I am from Swabia- born in Rottweil and grew up in Reutlingen near Stuttgart. I love my ‘Spätzle’ too. 🙂 Greetings from not so sunny London.

      Liked by 1 person

    • Dear Ute,
      it’s funny, the second subject I studied in Kiel and Münster and at both universities, there were lots of students from Swabia. I noticed that people from Swabia – at least the Swabian students – never change. Even in Kiel they kept their dialect and ate their Spätzle they got sent from their homes.
      I didn’t have Geology in my secondary school but I got a degree in Geology specialising in palaeontology. We usually made our excursions to the Alb.
      With lots of love xxxx
      Klausbernd
      The Fab Four of Cley
      🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

  11. I feel a bit of a failure because I never actually found one. I obviously didn’t look hard enough. Or maybe Siri and Selma got there first. I don’t begrudge them a little of earth’s beauty. Have a lovely weekend, happy foursome!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • Dear Jo,
      unfortunately, you can forget finding fossils when Siri 🙂 and 🙂 Selma have been there before. You have to keep far away from them or get up early in the morning preferably after a strong rain because Siri 🙂 and 🙂 Selma are night owls loving to sleep long.
      Thanks and wishing you all the best
      The Fab Four of Cley
      🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

  12. Interesting! I read “Pearl Earring” years ago, and enjoyed it, and likewise the movie, but none of Chevalier’s other books – – now your post has persuaded me I’ll have to get a copy of “Remarkable Creatures.” Many times in museums and shops around the U.S., I’ll see beautiful polished slices of ammonites, like your sample, but always from Morocco, not England I think.
    I am not a collector, but have one nice example, that I keep side-by-side with a slice of fossilized tree. I think if you love reading history, there’s also always a place for “historical fiction,” the past providing an almost limitless stream of fascinating times & situations for the fiction writers’ imaginations to take off, and I think can be valued for evoking aspects of the past in our minds, when the writers are knowledgeable and essentially faithful to the era, even as they invent. It’s difficult sometimes to not catch yourself niggling over anachronisms and overly-simplified aspects of history, but sometimes spotting the slipups can be a good-humored sport in itself.
    Enjoyed your photo of Lyme Regis, too. Happy fossil-hunting! RPT

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    • Dear Robert,
      Chevalier wrote quite some novels. We like most “The Girl with the Pearl Earring” and “Remarkable Creatures”. I noticed her first when I wrote my last book about colours as she wrote a novel about blue.
      We are not so much into reading historical fiction. The problem with this genre is that there are quite often the historical facts and fiction so intermingled that the reader doesn’t know what is what. Chevalier keeps quite near to the historical facts in “Remarkable Creatures” except for the love story between the two women. But for most historical fiction the past is a screen for the projections of the author.
      Thanks for your comment.
      Keep well
      The Fab Four of Cley
      🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

      Like

  13. Fab Four of Cley,
    Finding fossils can truly be addictive. I do understand Siri and Selma’s interest. I myself have always been interested in archaeology, including having a 1956 edition of ‘The Testimony of the Spade’ by Geoffrey Bibby. I’ve read it, but I found Archaeology magazines to be more interesting. Your discoveries and collection is off to a grand start.
    I wish you all future luck in your hunt!
    GP

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    • Dear GP
      “The Testimony of the Spade” is so well and entertainingly written. Unfortunately, we came across this book not before later in our age. As a teenager, we were taken by Ceram’s “Gods, Graves and Scholars” which made us want to study archaeology – what we didn’t. But our dear Master made a degree in palaeontology and took part in many fossil hunting excursions.
      Not far from where we live there was a land connection between continental Europe and England. If you are lucky you can find here quite special fossils. They found a skeleton of sabre-toothed tigers and mammoths just a couple of miles from our beach in Runton.
      We wish you a great week weekend and many happy moments
      The Fab Four of Cley
      🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

    • Dear GP,
      that was the book boys used to read in Germany. The classic gift for a boy around the age of 12 and older.
      Ceram, by the way, was the pseudonym of the German Kurt Wilhelm Marek, an editor of the Rowohlt publishing house.
      We don’t know why it was seen as a boy’s book but we suppose that was the zeitgeist. Adventure stories – archeology was told as a big adventure – were for boys only.
      Fortunately, these times are gone.
      All the best
      The Fab Four of Cley
      🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

  14. Wonderful discovery, dear Klaus! I adore artefacts of the kind. They awake imagination & breath with the true time, true history silent & powerful. Thank you for this wonderful post!

    Best wishes from snowing Moscow. 🙂 🙂 🙂
    Maria

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • Good morning, dear Maria,
      unfortunately, we have no snow here but light frost and sunshine.
      Amazingly, these fossils are million years old, so old that we can’t imagine it, older than mankind. Nature’s design is so beautiful, isn’t it?
      Thank you very much for liking our post.
      With love ❤ from
      The Fab Four of Cley
      🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

    • Hi, dear Alessandra,
      indeed, I saw pictures of the collection of ammonites at the Smithsonian. Most of them are quite special and big ones. You were so lucky working there, we envy you – just a bit 😉
      Thanks for commenting
      The Fab Four of Cley
      🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

    • Thanks for commenting, dear Cindy,
      do you know where your large ones are coming from? The biggest I saw was found in southern Germany (Alb) and had a diameter of two meters. But that’s extraordinary large. Most of the ammonites have a diameter of around 30 cm. In Lyme Regis we saw some for sale with a diameter of one meter.
      They are a window into an unimaginable past.
      Have a happy weekend
      The Fab Four of Cley
      🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

      Like

    • Dear John,
      it’s always lucky to find a fossil in great condition. Most of the finds are part of a fossil or broken ones or they are hard to get out of the rock and to prepare.
      Thank you very much for liking our post.
      Wishing you a happy weekend
      The Fab Four of Cley
      🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

  18. Great post, Klausbernd. I would become addicted to the search for these fossils if I found them on the beach too. Beachcombing is such an enjoyable pastime anyway. Wonderful images, especially the brown-toned one in the last image in this post.
    The weather on the beach looks rather dreary though. I’m surprised there are so many people walking on the beach on what looks like a very cold and overcast day.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • Dear Vicki,
      we have been there in January. That’s a great time for fossil hunting as you have strong rain showers then which wash these fossils free. Mary Anning made her great finds after strong rain showers.
      Most of the people in this picture are fossil hunters. One visits the Jurassic Coast for fossil hunting.
      Thanks for your comment.
      Wishing you all the best
      The Fab Four of Cley
      🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

  19. I love that there is no beginning and no end to creation. Lovely. And that picture of the beach!!! Oh my it’s so beautiful and atmospheric and peopled. I love to find fossils and would search for them in Lyme Regis if I were in England.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    • At the Jurassic Coast as well as in Southern Germany fossil hunting is a family sport. Whole families are out there looking for ammonites or belemnites or really special fossils.
      Darwin agreed that there is neither beginning nor end to creation as well. Well, in a way there is the beginning that we call the Big Bang.
      Thanks and keep well
      The Fab Four of Cley
      🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

      Like

  20. Siri and Selma must travel to Alberta, Canada.

    What I found confusing is that the terms ammonite and ammolite are used interchangeably. As you know, ammolite refers to the gem-quality material made from fossils of particular species of ammonites, which are found in the Bearpaw Formation which extends from Alberta to Saskatchewan in Canada and south to Montana in the US.

    I looked up Bearpaw Formation and was surprised by the diversity of well-preserved ammonite fossils: Placenticeras meeki, Placenticeras intercalare, Hoploscaphites, and Sphenodiscus, the baculite Baculites compressus and the bivalve Inoceramus.

    Another wonderful post, which reminds me that we are only a small part of Earth’s narrative. Many thanks for introducing me to the brilliant Mary Anning who changed the way we viewed prehistoric life and the history of the Earth, even though she was not eligible to join the Geological Society of London.

    Sending much love and many hugs to my dear friends, The Fab Four of Cley!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • Our dear friend Rebecca,
      indeed, ammonite and ammolite are the same fossils but ammolites are highly prepared and polished. It’s a marketing trick to give them another name and sell them as precious stones. For us, they are not the real thing. It’s a marketing concept. Well, we are quite conservative in this respect as we think one has to find an ammonite oneself and they don’t need to be that well polished and prepared. Most ammonites one finds are okay, they are ‘the real thing’.
      We read about the ammolites from Alberta and Siri 🙂 and 🙂 Selma thought they have lost their magic with all this preparing and polishing. But to find an ammonite there in Alberta would be special. It’s like with Rock Christalls who are mined with big machinery in Brasil. They are reasonably priced but as many people say they have lost their magic. The powerful Rock Christalls come from the Alps but they are at least ten times more expensive than those from Brasil.
      Thanks a lot for your comment.
      Wishing you and your family a happy weekend, hugs and love
      The Fab Four of Cley
      🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

    • I share Siri and Selma’s thought that the magic has been lost. Like you, I appreciate a conservative approach! When we touch an ammonite we are stepping back into ancient times. While it may seem far-fetched, I feel that the place where an ammonite has rested for over the millennium is a sacred space. Sending hugs and love back to my dear friends, The Fab Four of Cley.

      Liked by 2 people

    • Dear Rebecca,
      finding and touching an ammonite and other fossils is like looking at the stars. It’s looking back in time. You could see it as a time travel.
      Wishing you a happy Sunday, lots of love ❤ ❤ xxx
      The Fab Four of Cley
      🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

      Liked by 2 people

  24. Danke für diese spannende Bio- und Geologielektion mit den wunderbaren Abbildungen dazu.
    Hier in unserer Gegend am Jura-Südfuss sind bei Aushubarbeiten schon mal Haifischzähne oder Rückenwirbel zu finden. Auch unsere Kinder haben früher ein paar davon “ausgebuddelt”.
    Ich denke, unsere Erde wird einfach immer ein spannendes Forschungs- und Betätigungsfeld bleiben.
    Einen lieben Gruss zu euch,
    Brigitte

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • Ja, liebe Brigitte, das geben wir dir recht.
      Im Jura gab’s im heutigen Süddeutschland ein warmes Meer, das ideal für diese Tiere war, die millionen Jahre späre zu Fossilien wurden.
      Es gibt erstaunlich viele Kinder auch hier, die eifrige Fossilsucher sind.
      Wir grüßen dich ganz lieb vom kleinen Dorf am großen Meer
      The Fab Four of Cley
      🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

      Like

  25. Good morning my dear fabulous friends,
    The Rutland Sea Dragon certainly made it to the news in Norway, what a find!
    And you have true beauties in your collection, Siri and Selma. Amazing! You should come to Svalbard – here researchers have unearthed a tropical forrest dating back some 380 million years. These ancient fossil forests are thought to be partly responsible for one of the most dramatic shifts in the Earth’s climate in the past 400 million years.

    I suppose you have seen the post by your explorer friend Rolf Stange; “The devonian forest in Munindalen”? I’ll add the link, just in case ..
    https://www.spitsbergen-svalbard.com/2020/09/22/walk-in-the-forest-near-pyramiden.html

    Wishing you all a great weekend, take care and stay safe and healthy
    Klem
    Per Magnus x

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • Dear Per Magnus
      thanks a lot for this link. We knew that there are fossils under the ice of Greenland and Svalbard but we didn’t know about this devonian forest. We have to research this, especially the role those forests played within the global climate.
      This Rutland Sea Dragon is the biggest fossil that was ever found in the UK. They will dig out the whole skeleton this coming summer.
      Wish you a happy weekend as well, stay healthy and lively
      KLEM 🤗
      The Fab Four of Cley
      🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

      Like

  26. Dear friends,
    the quote at the end sums it up nicely, what an interesting post. Love you ammonites!
    I was also intrigued by Per Magnus’ comment and nice to read from your friend Rolf Stange again too.
    Mesozoic dinosaur fossils are exceptionally rare in Scandinavia, but we have a Jurassic spot in Skåne – in the Kristianstad Basin where dinosaurian remains were found.

    I have read “Remarkable Creatures” and also seen the atmospheric film. Excellent!
    I assume you have seen the filmed version of “The French Lieutenant’s Woman by John Fowles”?
    If not, I’d recommend it, it will take you back to the Jurrasic Coast – Charles Smithson is a Darwinian and amateur geologist who has come to Lyme Regis, “armed with his wedge hammers and his collecting-sack”, to hunt for fossils. He is out searching for relics of the echinoderm, or petrified sea-urchin, when he encounters Sarah Woodruff, the fascinating fallen woman of the title, and is smitten.

    What are you four reading at the moment?
    Talk to you soon!
    Kram
    Annalena Xx

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • Our dear friend Annalena,
      thanks a lot for your comment.
      What we are just reading? Our dear Master reads “Shackleton”, the biography by R. Fiennes. Although we don’t see Fiennes as a great explorer. He did too much senseless stuff but he wrote this biography pretty well. And he reads “The Taking of Annie Thorne” by C.J. Tudor, quite a spooky story. Dina is reading “The Rain On My Face” by Q. Quatermain aka Martin Evans. A novel about the life in Cley about ten years ago in which our Master is one of the protagonists. Siri 🙂 started “The Morning Star” by K.O. Knausgård and our Master will join her in one or two days when he has finished his two books. Selma found an old book, a kind of gothic novel “Dr Haggard’s Desease” by P. McGrath. She just has a look if we will keep this book or donate it to our church bookstalls. The title reminded us of Rider Haggard the author who lived as a gentleman farmer in Norfolk and his novel “She” was read and quoted by C.G. Jung and S. Freud.
      We didn’t see the film “The French Lieutenant’s Woman”, we read the book a long time ago. Thanks for telling us, we see it within the next few days. We always look for films we watch together in the evenings and we are especially happy about films that relate to the topic we are blogging about.
      Wishing you a happy weekend, stay healthy
      The Fab Four of Cley
      🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

      Like

  28. Time and the ages have developed and changed nearly everything.
    To actually see it represented in our times through fossils for us to see
    allows us a better picture of how it went down. Thank you for sharing
    those (great) pictures! hugs to everyone, Eddie

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • Dear Fraggle,
      broken ammonites and belemnites and parts of them are just lying around. But one has to search for really nice and complete pieces.
      Thanks for liking Dina’s photography.
      Have a happy weekend
      The Fab Four of Cley
      🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

  30. Dear Klausberndt. I enjoyed your post very much. I shared it with my husband who is a trained geologist although he never worked in that field. 😦 So it is not surprising that he knew of Mary Anning. You have inspired me to check out Tracy Chevalier’s book. When I wa studying your ammonite, my husband pulled up a Youtube clip, Mososaur and Ammonite animation clips: Ancient New Zealand. See! Much excitement here too. It is all happening in Rutland by the sound of it.

    Mit lieben Grüßen von der sonnigen Australien.
    Untidy Tracy.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • Good afternoon, dear Tracy,
      this Rutland fossil is the hype just now. People are fascinated by Dinosaurs as you can see in the success of the film “Jurassic Park” as well. What’s that big is fascinating and what’s that old, older than one can imagine. We suppose this incredible age makes people hunt fossils.
      Mit lieben Grüßen von der sonnigen Küste Norfolks – unfortunately, we don’t have any snow but at least sunshine and very light frost.
      Keep happy and healthy
      The Fab Four of Cley
      🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

  31. Lieber Klausbernd und Team, was für ein interessanter Beitrag, die tollen Bilder eingeschlossen ,zu den Ammoniten und deren Geschichte! In Deutschland haben wir tatsächlich schon welche gefunden, aber spezialisiert sind wir vor allem auf “Amanita” oder Knollenblätterpilz! Von Mary Anning und ihr beeindruckendes Leben hatte ich vorher noch nie gehört. Habt vielen Dank :)und cari saluti Martina

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • Guten Abend, liebe Martina,
      Ammoniten und Belemniten finden man relativ einfach auf der Alb. Die besonderen Plätze in Deutschland sind bei Holzmaden und Solnhofen, aber auf der ganzen Alb kannst du sie finden, da dort vor millionen von Jahren ein warmes Meer war, das nord-alpine Molassemeer, in dem diese Tiere lebten.
      Amanita zu sammeln WOW das stelle ich mir aufregend vor. Die haben, wenn ich mich dunkel erinnere, eine tödliche Dosis Amanitin, von der augenscheinlich ihr Name stammt.
      Übrigens alle Romane von Tracy Chevalier finden wir lesenswert. Sie war übrigens eine Absolventin des weltberühmten Studiums für kreatives Schreiben der Universität in Norwich.
      Mit ganz lieben Grüßen vom kleinen Dorf am großen Meer
      The Fab Four of Cley
      🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

    • Wir waren damals im Umkreis von Ulm in den Ferien, Klausbernd, und so denke ich, dass das hinkommt! Vom Molassemeer war allerdings nichts mehr zu sehen:), aber es gab anscheinend immer wieder Zeiten wo es im Norden viel wärmer war.
      Als Kind hatte ich einmal einen Knollenblätterpilz im Körbchen, so dass mein Grossvater, der Pilzkontrolleur, alle meine gesammelten Pilze wegwarf.
      Von Tracy Chevalier habe ich nur “Das Mädchen mit dem Perlenohrring”gelesen, aber ich habe nun natürlich “Remarkable Creature” auf meiner Liste dazugefügt.
      Habt’s gut und bis bald
      Martina

      Liked by 1 person

    • Liebe Martina,
      das warme Meer nördlich der Alpen ist längst verschwunden, geblieben sind einzig die vielen Fossilien. Ja, früher war in der Gegend viel los, wie z.B. der Meteoreinschlag, der das Nördlinger Ries schuf.
      Da hast du ja großes Glück gehabt, dass dein Großvater Pilzkontrolleur war.
      Mit lieben Grüßen vom heute grauen Dorf am grauen Meer
      The Fab Four of Cley
      🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

  32. I’ve never discovered an ammonite, although they can be found in northern parts of Texas. For some years I did have access to a private property in our hill country where I found several fossilized bivalves (Cucullaea) and both large and small gastropods which I believe to be Tylostoma. I know where there’s one very large fossil that certainly looks like an ammonite, but it’s firmly embedded in the surrounding limestone, and I wasn’t willing to dig it out, or to share its location. The last time I was in the area, it still was there.

    I’d never heard of Mary Anning, but I know and admire Tracy Chevalier’s writing, and look forward to reading Remarkable Creatures. Such an interesting post!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • Dear Linda,
      the oldest fossiled sea snails (Tylostoma) are about 170 mio. years old and you find them, as you did, preferably in limestone.
      To get an embedded ammonite out of limestone surroundings needs a specialist. But as you did, the best is to leave it there.
      Chevalier studied creative writing at our university of East Anglia/Norwich. Because that institute produced such a lot of world-famous authors Norwich became the title ‘World City of Literature’ by the Unesco.
      Thanks for commenting and keep well
      The Fab Four of Cley
      🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

      Liked by 2 people

  34. I have the highest regard for Mary Anning and know Lyme Regis well. Neither “Remarkable Creatures” nor “Ammonite” offers an accurate depiction of her life story. What concerns me about these fictional accounts is that they become accepted versions a life. Here is a review I wrote about a new book covering her life story in an accurate way: https://philipstrange.wordpress.com/published-stuff/resurgence-and-ecologist-magazine/

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    • Dear Philip,
      unfortunately, your link doesn’t work, it says that there is a software problem on your side.
      Anyway, we don’t know how much Mary Anning’s life is idealized in all the books about her life. It’s always hard to say how much a real and what is fiction in a novel about a person. We suppose what’s important is that the text transports the feeling of the time and the surroundings of the person, that it documents the zeitgeist.
      Thanks for commenting
      The Fab Four of Cley
      🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

      Like

    • Hi, dear Philip,
      we had a look at the presentation of this book that doesn’t seem so different to Chevalier’s book. Do have a connection to Dovecotepress?
      Thanks and cheers
      The Fab Four of Cley
      🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

      Like

    • You are ery welcome.
      Mary Anming was the greatest fossil hunter in the world until now. It’s a shame that it took that long that she was acknowledged as one the most influential British persons of her time.
      Thanks for commenting.
      Keep well
      The Fab Four of Cley
      🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

    • Liebes Pialein,
      wir feiern schon den ganzen Tag. Vorhin waren wir in einem höchst gemütlichen Pub und jetzt sitzen wir vorm Feuer im Kamin, gleich wird der Champagner aufgemacht, Dina wird ihre Geschenke auspacken und wir essen danach leckeres Seafood. Also, eine rundum tolle Feier.
      Danke, dass dir unsere Post gefällt.
      Alles Liebe
      The Fab Four of Cley
      🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

    • Das freut mich sehr, zu hören! Ich denke sehr gerne an meine Aufenthalte bei Euch zurück! Es war seeeeehr heimelig und liebevoll….kann mir Eure Feier lebhaft und lebendig vorstellen!

      Fossile Funde – sehr spannend, total tote Materie, versteinert, wirkt dennoch irgendwie belebt…
      Jetzt könnte man noch so viel schreiben, über die Spirale, Fibonacci, etc. pp.

      Und die Nullpunkt Energie, was immer das ist…

      Am Samstag feierten Kinder Geburtstag im Ballettsaal, ein neues Geschäftsmodell, stellt euch vor, Siri und Selma, die Kinder sind beim Klangschalen Spiel eingeschlafen, sie sind sehr erschöpft – jetzt weiß ich nicht, wie man diese Geburtstagfeiern bewerben soll: Deutschlands langweiligste Geburtstagsfeiern, bei Pia, Alle sind so entspannt und schlafen ein…
      Die Kinder sind sehr erschöpft.

      Liked by 2 people

    • Also, liebe Pia, das ist ja eine tolle Idee mit den Kindergeburtstagen. Echt kreativ, wir sind soooo stolz auf dich. Siri 🙂 und 🙂 Selma lachten sich schief über “Deutschlads langweiligste Geburtstagsfeiern bei Pia” 🙂 🙂
      Wir haben gerade ein Feuer im Kamin angezündet. Dort verbrennen wir u.a. unseren Weihnachtsbaum, riecht toll.
      Mit liebe Grüßen
      The Fab Four of Cley
      🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

      Liked by 2 people

  42. Remind me a lot of my college days, when I studied a little bit of marine Paleontology, and one of our tasks was to collect marine fossils, on beaches, and hills cut by roads where you could see clearly strata sediments.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • Lieber Pit,
      da warst du, wie es sich liest, nicht so angetan von. In Deutschland fährt man zum Fossiliensammeln zur Alb. Das Gebiet, wo du herkommst ist zu jung, als dass man dort spannende Fossilien findet.
      In meinem Geografiestudium hatte ich mich auf Paläonthologie spezialisiert, da es da Verbindungen zur Philosophie gibt (Kant und Darwin u.a.), was eins meiner Hauptstudienfächer war. Wir fuhren stets zum Fossiliensammeln in die Gegend von Holzmaden. Dort besuchten wir u.a. einen Geologen, der ein großes Fossil ausgrub und schon selbst wie ein Fossil aussah.
      Liebe Grüße von der stark bewölkten Küsten. Wir haben gerade langweiliges Wetter, alles grau in grau.
      Liebe Grüße
      The Fab Four of Cley
      🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

  44. I enjoyed this celebration of ammonites, Klausbernd. I think they are so beautiful, and have a polished one given to me as a gift, but finding one on the beach seems like another world to me. How fascinating this is. Dina’s photos are delightful.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    • Thank you very much, dear Jet 🙏 🙏
      The polished ones are especially beautiful. Most of our ammonites are not polished as we don’t have the tools to polish them. We found complete ammonites in England and Germany.
      We are happy that you like Dina’s photos 🙂 🙂
      Wishing you a wonderful weekend
      The Fab Four of Cley
      🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

      Liked by 2 people

  46. These are stunning photographs, Dina. How could creation ever be complete? Then there would never be anything new, nothing would evolve, etc. I’ve heard about the popularity of fossil hunting on the Jurassic coast but I didn’t know about this book, thank you. I have heard about Mary Anning but forgot her name and did not know that the tongue-twister described her activities – that’s funny! Thanks for the interesting post and perfectly beautiful images.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    • Good morning, dear Lynn,
      next to the Jurassic Coast, you can find exciting fossils on our coast around the Runtons as well. But we don’t have such an extraordinary fossil hunter like Mary Anning in our area. We started fossil hunting when we lived in Germany. Especially in the Southwest, it is the most liked sport of families.
      Thank you very much for liking Dina’s photography 🙏 🙏
      Wishing you all the best
      The Fab Four of Cley
      🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

  47. Oh my, what a perfect finish to this incredible post: the famous tongue twister “She sells seashells by the seashore“ is about Mary Anning… it after reading this and the adventures of Siri and 🙂 Selma, it makes perfect sense. Beautiful. How I’d like to find an ammonite… it felt strange to hear you say they were somewhat common ~ if I were to hold anything like that with the story it holds it would seem invaluable and rare (granted I suppose any old rock has a pretty amazing history all things considered!!!). Fossil hunting would be a perfect sport for me. Beautiful photographs as always, they always put the post over the top for me – Dina holds such rare talents. Finally, I’m in complete agreement with Kant, “creation is never complete” a great thought to begin the day with 🙂

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    • Good morning, dear Dalo,
      don’t worry, these ammonites are only relatively common in areas that were seabeds during the Jurassic period and died out during the Cretaceous period about 66 Mio. years ago. They are those fossils most fossil hunters are after. Only belemnites are more often to be found in Central Europe.
      We like fossil hunting. Actually, it’s quite meditative and you get better and better at spotting them.
      Thank you very much for liking Dina’s photography 🙏 🙏
      Wishing you a happy weekend
      The Fab Four of Cley
      🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

    • I could see it being very meditative, and the thrill of finding a piece of hidden and extremely old history… and holding it in your hands, the first to touch and feel its electricity. Pretty cool 🙂

      Liked by 3 people

  49. Well, well, Steffi, Doktorin in Mathematik, tanzt bei mir Ballett, das ist interessant, da sie für meine Fragen offen ist! Jemand hat also ausgerechnet, wann die Welt erschaffen wurde, ist das nicht spannend?! Und jemand hat so eine Steinschlangenspirale gefunden und sagt, dass das nicht sein kann, mega spannend! Jetzt können sie sich streiten bis zum Seinsnimmerleintag…und sind beschäftigt…so wird die Zeit schon vorbei gehen…

    Dachte immer, Mathematik sei eine Naturwissenschaft…da muss man herumrechnen und Ergebnisse erzielen…scheinbar ist es eine Geisteswissenschaft…man kann die Zahlen also philosophisch betrachten. Zahlen kommen in der Natur vor, man kann alles mathematisch erfassen, scheinbar.

    Ich werde etwas mit Hauschka geistig kommunizieren und schauen, ob das wichtig ist…und vieles mehr, zu was mich diese Steinschnecken Post inspiriert…herzlichen Dank!
    Zunächst muss jetzt dringend mein Schreibtisch geordnet werden!!!

    Happy Sunday wünscht euch das Pialein und liebe Grüße auch vom Josilein!!!

    PS: wir haben auch viel Dreckwäsche, das viele Schwitzen… ziemlich unpraktisch diese langen Kleider am Strand zu tragen oder?

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

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