Seven-year-old Elliott had only lived in his new home in Matlock, Derbyshire, for three months before he discovered something remarkable. While digging in his front garden, he unearthed several limestone rocks from the ground and cracked them open with his parents. It turns out that they were teeming with marine creatures from the Jurassic era.
The fossils date back at least 140 million years, and depict ammonites, their coiled shells embedded in the stone with exquisite detail. “I love fossils. It made me really happy that we just found it,” Elliott told the BBC. “Finding fossils is really inspiring and I want to do it more. They look so cool.”
Elliott’s mom, Gemma, was equally thrilled, admitting, “It’s very exciting what he’s finding.” She did joke that the family should avoid “digging up the garden so much,” but ultimately says, “I’m very proud of him.”
Fossils are some of the world’s most remarkable treasures but, according to Dr. Susannah Lydon, a paleontologist at the University of Nottingham, they’re more common in the U.K. than people may expect. “In the U.K., most of our fossils are hidden under vegetation, which means the rocks they’re in aren’t at the surface or getting revealed by erosion,” she explains. “The good places tend to be where rocks are eroded, which tends to be the coast.”
The county town of Matlock was once submerged by water over 330 millions years ago. Back then, the area resembled a tropical island, complete with coral reefs populated by ancient species of fish, clams, and sea lilies. Derbyshire, the region in which Matlock is located, is also renowned for its small fossils of brachiopods and crinoids, which often emerge from the surrounding limestone cliffs. For precisely that reason, Lydon believes that Elliott’s particular fossils were most likely brought by collectors or builders from Dorset, as ammonites are far more common there.
“The joy of fossil hunting is finding something nothing else has seen for millions of years,” Lydon concludes. “It gives you a view through all those years.”
While digging in his family’s yard in Matlock, Derbyshire, a 7-year-old named Elliott discovered marine fossils dating back 140 million years.
The fossils primarily depicted ammonites, showcasing their coiled shells with exquisite detail.
Source: Boy discovers Jurassic fossils in his own garden
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