Mary Anning and General Pitt Rivers

Summary

Pioneers in Palaeontology and Archaeology

Mary Anning and General Pitt Rivers are scientific pioneers with huge impact on their respective fields, Palaeontology for Mary Anning and Archaeology for Pitt Rivers. Born in 1799 in Lyme Regis, part of what is now known as the Jurassic Coast, Mary Anning adopted her passion for fossil hunting from her father very early on. Though struggling for most of her life to gain acceptance of the scientific world, her finds are amongst the most significant geological discoveries of all time. Augustus Pitt Rivers, on the other hand, had already a successful military career behind him before he retired from service 1882 and became an archaeologist. Pursuing a new career in archaeology, he excavated several prehistoric, Roman and Saxon sites in Britain and is noted for his innovative contributions in archaeological methodology, often called the “father of British archaeology”. On this tour we trace the footsteps of these early pioneers to explore their lives as well as their scientific achievements.

Tour highlights:

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• View some of Mary Anning’s fascinating discoveries on display in London and Oxford
• Take a walk along the coast of Lyme Regis as Mary Anning did on her explorations
• Get insights into the early formative years of modern British archaeology
• See artifacts from Augustus Pitt River’s excavations in the Wiltshire area and his private collection