Significance of fossils in Roman times: the first trilobite find in an early Empire context

Abstract

Although the collection of fossils by humans is known from the Palaeolithic, the occurrence of trilobite remains in archaeological contexts is particularly rare worldwide, previously documented by specimens from sites in Western Europe, North America, South Africa and Australia. This article reports the discovery of an eleventh known trilobite found in an archaeological context, from a Roman settlement dating from the 1st–3rd centuries CE, excavated in north-western Spain (A Cibdá of Armea near the city of Ourense). The specimen represents the first confirmed trilobite from Roman times and is the third trilobite in the global archaeological record to have been collected and used by people over a thousand years ago. Its palaeontological and preservational characteristics enable us to pinpoint its probable origin to Middle Ordovician shale outcrops in south-central Iberia, over 430 km from the Roman excavation site where it was found. The modifications observed on the underside of the specimen, which exhibits up to seven artificial wear facets to flatten and shape the fossil, are interpreted as indicating its possible use within a pendant or bracelet, likely serving as an amulet with magical or protective properties.