Dinosaur bone found beside ancient grave may have belonged to ‘first fossil hunters’

Archaeologists recently uncovered a cache of ancient Roman artifacts in England.

Among them, one “remarkable” object stood out that predates not only the Romans, but all of human civilization: a dinosaur fossil.

The discovery of the prehistoric bone indicates Romans in the region may have taken a fancy to paleontology, according to an Aug. 15 news release from Cambridge Investment Partnership, a public-private housing organization.

“As archaeologists we are often asked by members of the public if we have found any dinosaur bones and on this occasion, we actually found one!” Andrew Greef, senior project manager at Oxford Archaeology, an organization which took part in the excavation, said in the release.

The artifacts were found not far underneath parking lots and garages in Cambridge, located about 60 miles north of London.

Pits, pottery and multiple well-preserved gravesites were found — all of which were attributed to the ancient Romans who occupied Britain.

The site likely dates to between 100 and 400 AD, making it at least 1,600 years old (the Roman occupation of Britain lasted from around 55 BC to 410 AD, according to Historic UK).

The dinosaur bone, a palm-sized plesiosaur vertebrae, was embedded along with the Roman material.

“Dinosaur fossils are occasionally found in Cambridgeshire and as the Romans were known to be some of the first fossil hunters it is possible that this was a curated object,” according to the release.

Ancient Romans and Greeks regularly encountered the fossilized bones of extinct creatures, according to the book “The First Fossil Hunters” by Stanford University historian Adrienne Mayor.

The early Mediterranean people formulated “sophisticated” hypotheses about where the bones came from, often couching them in myths, according to the book. In fact, tales of cyclops, giants and other monsters likely sprung out of the discovery of ancient fossils.

After they are cleaned off and recorded, the discoveries in Cambridge will be handed over to the local government.

This story was originally published August 21, 2023 at 6:00 PM with the headline "Dinosaur bone found beside ancient grave may have belonged to ‘first fossil hunters’."