3 In fact, she did so due to the fact that the Annings had excellent skills in preserving the fossils, and they were able to sell them to tourists who came to admire the mysterious Jurassic Coast. Women in the eighteenth century had little access to education and the goal of women’s education was to attain an ideal “womanhood.” A “proper education” was viewed as one that supported domestic and social activities but disregarded more academic pursuits. Robert Anning, Mary’s father, taught Mary and Joseph to uncover and preserve these fossils or “curiosities,” which were coiled shells that were later determined to be ammonites, a type of mollusk that lived in the Jurassic Period. After Robert passed away in an accident in 1810, a year prior to her famous discovery, she found herself on the shore more frequently, perhaps in order to preserve the memories she shared with him.

2 Blue Lias Cliffs at Lyme Regis by Michael Maggs | Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons The unearthing of the Ichthyosaurus created a sensation, making Mary Anning somewhat famous. Anning sold this skeleton to Henry Hoste, a local collector for £23, and it would be subsequently sent to the London Museum of Natural History. Anning hired workers to excavate around the area in which the thirty-foot creature was embedded. 1 The young girl would revisit this cliff the next day to discover that she had finally found her treasure! The year was 1811, and the girl’s name was Mary Anning. While it has been debated whether Mary’s brother, Joseph, found the skull first or whether he helped Mary in her discovery in general, it is clear that she alone is primarily responsible for finding the well-preserved, remaining pieces to what would be named an Ichthyosaurus (“Fish Lizard”). Though fragments of the Ichthyosaurus had been previously discovered as early as 1699 in Wales, she was the first to find a complete skeleton. Over time, such weather exposed large bones that protruded from a nearby cliff side. The winds began to howl while the rain began pouring down, the way that storms in this region normally did. If someone were to see a young girl partaking in such a strenuous activity, a boy’s activity, what would they say? Having already found the skull of this unknown beast, she strongly believed from her experience fossil hunting on the land that she could unearth the remaining skeleton. As sea levels fell, these fossils could be found on the beach and above it in the rocky cliffs. The young girl continued to carefully examine the beach and cliff sides, confident in her skills, and even more so, motivated, knowing that the sale of her findings would help her family out of poverty. About 200 million years earlier, the region had been a sea bottom, where numerous dinosaur remains became fossilized after their death.

This treasure she was seeking consisted of fossilized bones of an unknown creature, and although fossils were plentiful on this coast, they required significant skill to extract. Along the coast we find a young girl, skimming the sea shore and cliffs for a prehistoric treasure. Winner of the Spring 2018 StMU History Media Award for Article with the Best TitleĪ storm was brewing over the little town of Lyme Regis in Dorset, England, also commonly referred to as the Jurassic Coast. SC 3300 – Special Topics: Public Health.HS 1302 – United States History since 1877.HS 1301 – United States History to 1877.3 Post-Classical History (600 CE-1492 CE).6 Contemporary Latin America (2000-2030).1 Pre-Columbian Latin America (to 1492).4 Late Middle Ages-Renaissance-Reformation Europe (1300-1648).6 Great Depression and WWII (1929-1945).

5 Emergence of Modern America (1877-1929).

4 Civil War and Reconstruction (1850-1877).

2 Revolution and Early Republic (1754-1801).

1 Colonization and Settlement (1500-1763).

Seashells by the seashore