Incredible 160million-Year-Old Ammonite Fossil Dug Up By Girl Aged Six

160million-Year-old Ammonite Fossil Unearthed By Young Treasure Hunter Emily Baldry

It’s a dream find that many fossil hunters and archaeologists can only hope to discover but for a little six-year-old using a plastic spade the incredible 160million-year-old Ammonite treasure was hers to take pride in.

Last year Emma Baldry went along with her father Jon on an archaeology trip to Cotswold Water Park Gloucestershire and unearthed the huge 130lbs, 40cm ammonite fossil.

The wonderful specimen has been fully restored to its former glory by experts and is going on show at a local visitors centre.

Young fossil finder Emily from Wiltshire has affectionately named her exquisite find ‘Spike’ and is now the envy of all her class mates after taking it into school to show them.

Ammonites were a group of marine invertertrate animals closely linked today to squid, octopus and cuttlefish.

These magnificent extinct creatures are excellent fossils providing experts to links within rock layers in which they are found as a guide to specific geological periods in time.

The name ammonite was inspired by the spiral shape of their fossilized shells which somewhat resemble a tightly coiled ‘rams’ horn.

The genius Roman author, naturalist and soldier Gaius Plinius Secundus, 23AD-79AD widely known ‘Pliny the Elder’ wrote Naturalis Historia and named the beautiful marine animals ‘ammonis cornua’ Horns of Ammon because the celebrated Egyptian God Ammon (Amun) was portrayed wearing ram’s horns.