Fossil Myths and Folklore (part 1)
Ancient Tales for Ancient Fossils
Before the mid-18th Century the origin of fossils was generally regarded in terms of superstition. Many magical and medicinal accounts developed across different cultures regarding these weird and wonderful objects, explaining how they came to be. The true nature of fossils only came about with the start of scientific research as recent as the 19th Century.
Ammonites - "Snakestones"
Ammonites, the most iconic of all fossils, have a rich folklore. Probably the most famous story about ammonites is the English folklore of ammonites being coiled snakes that had been turned to rock and lost their heads. These are often referred to as Snakestones, and have been mentioned several times in literature including in William Camden's Britannia (1586) which states, 'if you break them [ammonites] you find within stony serpents, wreathed up in circles, but eternally without heads'.
Most of the legends surrounding Snakestones centred around Whitby in North Yorkshire. As the legend goes, St. Hilda, the Saxon abbess of Whitby (614-680 A.D.), was given the task of founding an Abbey on the plains of Whitby but the place was so infested with snakes that habitation by humans seemed impossible. Snakes and serpents were seen as devilish, so it was important to cast them out before building a sacred place. So, St. Hilda prayed and after a short period the snakes coiled up and she cut their heads off with a whip, they then turned to stone and St. Hilda threw them off the edge of the cliffs. You can still find these fossils in the cliffs and on the beaches of Whitby today. Sir Walter Scott recorded St. Hilda's actions in his poem Marmion (1808):
"When Whitby's nuns exalting told,
Of thousand snakes, each one
Was changed into a coil of stone,
When Holy Hilda pray'd:
Themselves, within their holy ground,
Their stony folds had often found."
The absence of heads in these Snakestone fossils is also sometimes attributed to a further curse issued by another Christian martyr; St. Cuthbert. To reinforce the legend of the Snakestones' origin, it became common in Whitby to carve snakeheads onto ammonites, especially in Victorian times. Usually specimens of Hildoceras and Dactylioceras are used for this purpose, Hildoceras being named in honour of St. Hilda. You can find a carved Snakestone in the natural history section at the Hull and East Riding Museum.
Echinoids - "Fairy Loaves and Snakes' Eggs"
Echinoids, also known as sea urchins, are amongst the most commonly found fossils. Therefore it is not surprising that over the years legends have developed about these fossils, sometimes even taking on a religious or magical importance.
Originating from Suffolk in Eastern England, the folklore name of Fairy Loaves was given to the heart urchin Micraster because they resembled round loaves of bread. People would place an urchin by the heath in hope that it would ensure the household would always have bread. If the household went without bread for more than a week it was thought witchcraft had stopped the Fairy Loaves' protective powers.
In other myths, fossil echinoids are considered to be Snakes' Eggs. It was thought that at midsummer magical Snake Eggs were formed by the froth from snakes. The froth, shaped into a ball, was believed to have the power to protect one from deadly poisons. If stolen from the snakes during midsummer's eve and kept on a piece of cloth, the ball would retain its magical powers.
Belemnites - "Thunderbolts"
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