Discoveries of fossil paleontology from the small town of Lyme, Mary Anning and the Jurassic coast

Author: Mei Xueqin (Professor, Department of History, Tsinghua University)

If you have read the novel "The Woman of the French Lieutenant" by the contemporary British writer John Fowles, it is possible to remember the narrow part of England that extends southwestward, the largest harbor in Lyme Bay, and the ancient town of Lemritis, which is regarded as the source of its name; it is also possible to recall the scene of the protagonist of the novel, the fictional paleontologist Charles, who meets the woman in black on the dim, curved Cobti. If you have also seen the film of the same name adapted and filmed from this, it is more likely that the classic moment of the woman in black glancing back at Charles on the breakwater will be fixed in your mind. This scene also links the places, characters and historical facts covered by this article.

This place, the small town of Lemritis or Lem and the Bay of Lem where it sits; this figure, a woman named Mary Anning (1799-1846) in the town of Lem; this historical fact, the several major discoveries by Mary Anning of fossils of paleontological fossils on the Jurassic coast. Because of these discoveries, Mary Anning, an impoverished and low-status woman, was not only revered as Miss Anning, well known in the scientific community, especially in paleontology and vertebrate paleontology, but also enjoyed the reputation of "the greatest fossil collector in history". Now, her hometown of Lyme hosts Mary's Day of Tranquility every year.

In fact, since the early 19th century, there have been many mysteries about Mary Anning's discovery of fossil paleontology, and her mother has even said that her daughter is "a piece of history and a mystery". People are puzzled by why mary anning, a poor woman, has made a famous discovery in a male-dominated field. For this issue, it is obviously necessary to go beyond the shackles of social history, especially feminism, and go deep into a more specific and grander historical time and space to think and explore. Let's start with the famous English tongue twister "Selling Shells", where a few sentences say:

She sells sea shells on the waterfront (Shesellssea-shellsonthesea-shore)

I'm sure the shells she sells are sea shells (The shellsshesellsaresea-shells, I'msure)

Because if she sells sea shells on the seashore (Forifshesellssea-shellsonthesea-shore)

Then I'm sure she's selling seaside shells (ThenI'msureshesellssea-shoreshells.)

Created in 1908 by British lyricist Terry Sullivan, this tongue twister was inspired by Tranquility. It illustrates, to some extent, the basic fact that Mary Anning, unlike the average paleontologist in history, collected shells and fossils not for research but for a living. Even so, its collection activities are highly recognized. So, how to understand her activities and historical sites? The author believes that the reason why she was able to collect fossils and make major discoveries, and also attract people's attention, is the result of the combination of geographical advantages, time, people and other factors.

The town of Lyme, located in the Bay of Lymes, has a very important place in natural history. This is the heart of Britain's Jurassic Coast, a World Natural Heritage site known for its fossils, where Mary Anning was born. The town's natural dominance, coupled with storms and waves, exposed the fossils and enabled Mary Anning to make an astonishing discovery.

In fact, the British Jurassic coast is far more than just the Lyme Bay section, it is west to the Exmouth Ocomb Rock Formation in the east of Devon, and east to the Swanage Old Harry Boulder in Dorset, with a total length of 153 kilometers. So why was it Mary of Lyme and not someone else on the coast, such as an Anne of Exmouth, who was the first to discover the fossils of the paleontology? And the Jurassic coast has existed for a long time, even the town of Lyme has a history of thousands of years, why did it not be discovered until the early 19th century? Obviously, to understand the history associated with Anning, it is necessary to return to the place where she lived and the era in which she lived, and to explore it in greater depth and detail.

According to historical records, Lyme was founded in 1285 and from the end of the 13th century it became a major port and shipbuilding center in England, maintaining frequent trade links with France. In the late 16th century, it was the site of the Royal Navy's battle against the Spanish Armada. By the early 19th century, due to napoleon's Continental Blockade Order and the influence of the Anglo-French War, there was a turning point, mainly the rise of local coastal tourism, which made it an early seaside resort for tourists to bathe in the sea and enjoy the sea; especially the marine life on its seashore, which made people very interested. So people of all kinds waited to come and go, some of them still married and had children here, and put down roots, and Mary's father, Richard Anning, was one of them. Old Anning moved here from Clayton, Devon in September 1793 to make a living as a carpenter, occasionally collecting fossils and selling them as a rarity to seaside tourists, and was famous for attracting people from Bristol, Bath, Oxford and London who loved to collect fossils.

Old Anning also taught his children the art of collecting, displaying and selling fossils. When he died in November 1810 and his orphans and widows were in trouble, his son Joseph and daughter Mary discovered a fossil and named it Ichthyosaur Fossil in 1817. In particular, Mary, a legendary woman who had been struck by lightning at the age of 15 months but was difficult to die, later with courage and the need to support her family, engaged in highly dangerous fossil collection activities on the cliffs again and again, so that there were more discoveries, such as the discovery of plesiosaur fossils in 1823, the discovery of pterosaur fossils in 1828, thus winning the favor of many professional or amateur fossil collectors in the early 19th century, which is known as the "era of geological heroes". They kept walking through the door of Mary's house to discuss her findings and buy her fossils.

Mary Anning was born at the right time, and although she was treated unfairly and even denigrated, she was helped by many people. Some bought her fossils to make her economically comfortable; some helped her document and describe her discoveries, including local geologists and historians, so that her activities could be recorded in the annals of history; others helped publicize her life and discovery activities, so that people in Britain, the United States, and many other places already knew about her contribution. After her death, Mary Anning also "had a small group of die-hard fans who spent countless hours studying her life", which shows that her discovery of marine fossils has had a significant impact and is of great significance.

Regarding the impact and significance of its discoveries, the scientific community in the mid-to-late 19th century has been recognized, mainly from the perspective of attacking the creationism propagated by the Christian Bible and the theory of the immortality of species that people believe in. As we discuss this history today, we try to emphasize that the discovery of paleontological fossils by Mary Anning and others in the town of Lem on the shores of Lem Bay in the early 19th century has not only become an important event in natural and human history, but also reflects the complex situation of the organic interlacing of multiple historical time and space such as long, medium and short - this is the original intention of our special attention to Mary Anning's discovery.

Among them, long time and space and even ultra-long time and space, refers to the long geological period and the grand area associated with it, they far exceed the coast and bay where the fossil was found, which is reflected by the fossil itself, which thus becomes a type of material for understanding geological history; medium time and space, mainly refers to the rise and development of coastal towns and their associated surrounding areas, including the history of continental European countries across the English Channel, which are organically linked and influenced by the sea, strait, coast, maritime and military activities The short time refers to anning and his family, as well as the history of other people involved in dealing with Lyme Bay, cliffs, local coasts, and the sea in front of them. In the case of Anning and his family, they mainly risk collecting fossils in exchange for food, which reflects the real state of coastal residents who rely on the sea to eat the sea. Other contemporaries involved included geologists, historians, religious figures and residents of Lyme, as well as geologists, naturalists, merchants, etc. who came as tourists from near and far, dealing with Lem Bay, Lyme Town and the Jurassic coast, deep or shallow, according to their needs. This triple space-time is organically intertwined by the discovery of marine fossils, which has not only become the talking point of the people of the time, but also the carrier of today's people to understand and study a certain type of past.

In general, the story of Mary Anning focuses on a history of human interaction with the sea, and is an aspect and a theme of the history of the marine environment. Many relevant historical facts have been excavated in this history, including many confusing details and renderings, as well as some mysteries to be solved. But in any case, this history helps us to explore the truth about the ocean as the origin of life, to understand the importance of the ocean to human beings and their history and culture, and to think about the meaning of nature and human beings to create history together.

Guangming Daily (2022-01-10, 14th edition)

Source: Guangming Network - Guangming Daily