LifeArtEarth

Aragonite is a common mineral in the skeletons of marine organisms (Cusack & Freer 2008), but is not typically well preserved in the fossil record due to its tendency to recrystallise as its more stable polymorph calcite. Certain circumstances however can enhance the preservation of the original aragonite, including reducing conditions (Jordan et al. 2015), low temperatures (associated with limited burial depths), and burial in impermeable sediments (Hall 1967, Vendrasco et al. 2018).  Middle to Lower Jurassic examples of preservation of aragonite shells, consisting of belemnoids and ammonites, are illustrated here below. Consideration of these examples also leads to a discussion on the preservation of soft parts in fossil cephalopods. Middle Jurassic Oxford Clay of Christian Malford The Middle Jurassic of Christian Malford (Wiltshire) is celebrated for the exceptionally preserved fauna it contains (Pearce 1842, Wilby et al. 2004, 2008). J. Chaning Pearce read his paper on the ...

A distinctive type of 19th/early 20th century pipe from Gabon (shown here below) is constructed of wood with an iron bowl, a brass stem and bindings of brass and copper wire. Dealers readily attribute this form to the Kota, without specifying if this is "Kota" in the sense of the Kota people (Guthrie code B25 in the Kele group) or the much broader careless ragbag and much criticised terms "Kuta"/"Kota" of the art world (e.g. Andersson (1953) and Perrois (1970); Perrois (1985, pg 37) offered a weak defence). But is this correct? Examination of 19th century texts and museum collections suggests not. A distinctive pipe from Gabon, made of wood, with brass stem and wrapping and an iron bowl, 44 cm long, offered as "Kota", but is it? Here below (at left) is a very similar example, but with more precise provenance, from the Ndasa village of Mapinda (Andersson 1953). Inspecting the Musée du Quai Branly collection online reveals 11 pieces in this style. ...

Replacement of fossils by silica can preserve fine-scale features (e.g. Roniewicz 1970, and see Butts 2014). Perhaps the most famous instance is that of the Permian Vidrio Formation in the Glass Mountains of West Texas (e.g. King 1930). Sowerby (1809, p. 181) provided an early illustration of another such case from the Jurassic of England (his TAB. CCXCI), shown below. Sowerby named the specimen ' S I L E X Quartzum coralliformis. Coralliform Flint. Div. 2. Imitative. ' and wrote: ' This is one of the most beautiful, and perhaps local, of the Flint Coral formations, and is found in tolerable abundance in a field near Tidsbury, Wiltshire , in pieces, sometimes as large as a quartern loaf. Some specimens show the remaining form of a real Coral most perfectly having at the same time little globular infiltrations, as if in the act of filling the spaces of the Coral with a whitish calcedony or cachalong-like substance, which more solidly pervades the Flint in other parts ; and a...

Anlaf Guthfrithsson is mainly known for his rule of the Dublin Vikings (934-939), his role in the Battle of Brunanburh (937), and also for an iconic silver penny issued in York in about 939-941 (shown below). The image is widely used to represent the Vikings, including in the 2025 "Vikings in the North" exhibition at the Yorkshire Museum in York. Anlaf (Olaf) Guthfrithsson was the son of  Guthfrith (in Irish,  Gofraid ua Ímair) and great-grandson of  Ivar ( Ímar), making him one of the  Hiberno-Scandinavian (Irish-Viking) Dubliners ( Uí Ímair). Anlaf succeeded his father as King in 934 and established dominance over the Vikings of Limerick, capturing their king, Amlaíb Cenncairech, in 937. That same year he allied with Constantine II of Scotland in an attempt to reclaim the Kingdom of Northumbria which his father had ruled briefly in 927. The forces of Anlaf and Constantine were defeated by the English led by Æthelstan at the Battle of Brunanburh in 937, after which...

Contemplating a Norwegian silver penny of Olaf Haraldsson (king of Norway 1067-1093, also known as Olav Kyrre), some vivid associations came to mind. The first was the 1066 Battle of Stamford Bridge near York and the end of the Viking Age (Olaf was there). The second was the presence of another silver penny of Olaf Haraldsson at a Native American archaeological site in Maine, USA. Then there is the larger context of Norse colonies on Greenland and the voyages to the coast of eastern North America from the early 11th to the 14th century. And finally, the medieval runestones and buildings encountered during a spell living in Stavanger at the end of the 1990s. Stavanger's cathedral is Norway's oldest, begun shortly after the death of Olaf (and there's also an Olav Kyrres Gate in the city). A handsome  11th century  penny of Olaf Haraldsson (Olav Kyrre), in as-struck condition (author's collection). This is close to TabIII:19 in Schive (1865) and Plate I:11 in Stenersen (18...