Walton-on-the-Naze, Essex, UK 8-17 April 2017

[FunkyMonkey]

H,

The family and I spent a lovely week at Walton on the Naze in Essex, UK. As it was the Easter break the site was very busy with collectors young and old, but we still managed to find some interesting pieces. The site itself is London Clay (c53my) with a junction bed above from which whale bone and Megalodon teeth can be found. Above this is the distinctive Red Crag (c.2my). Lastly are glacial deposits and later from which Neolithic and Roman finds have been found over the years. The site is rapidly eroding at a rate of about a metre a year however there are daily land slips and falls so whether that rate is accelerating its hard to say.

Most of the finds are in the shingle and with my eyes I had to adopt the 'hands and knees crawl' technique to see anything other than a blur of shapes. All of the finds below (with the exception of the potential neolithic finds) are from the London Clay sediments.

 

The Site:

 

We found a lot of striatolamia shark teeth. Its possible there are other species within this, however we haven't had time to have a detailed look at each tooth yet:

 

 

Two nice Otodus shark teeth were found by my wife:

 

 

A pair of what we believe are well worn ray dentition plates. They were hard to photograph so apologies for the lack of clarity:

 

 

On a previous trip a few weeks ago we also found this. Both turtle and bird bone have been found on this site. Could this be either?:

 

 

I've included a fossilised twig and a seed that I picked up. The beach is littered with these and tend to be ignored by the fossil hunters as they are so common. I like them:

 

 

Lastly I've included two interesting finds. The ball is from Walton and the 'spear point' was from Dovercourt just up the coast. In an archaeological context these might be exciting finds - the ball is similar to others that have been described as hammer stones, gaming pieces or sling shots. The 'spear point' shows signs of rework along both edges. Out of context, within the beach shingle, they are just interesting stones but I thought I'd share them anyway:

 

 

Any comments would be appreciated. Happy Hunting!

 

Carl

 

 

 

[digit]

Thanks for the trip report showing an area that I'm not at all familiar with. If I lived near there I'd be out hunting quite frequently.

 

 

Cheers.

 

-Ken

[Fossildude19]

Nice report, finds, and pictures.

Thanks for posting. 

Regards,

[Kosmoceras]

Nice finds. Can we have more photos of this tooth?

[FunkyMonkey]

Thanks for the kind comments.

 

@Kosmoceras - yes of course. I'm currently away from Walton (and my finds) until the 28th April but I can certainly take some better ones then. Would front, back and side work?

[jpc]

and more pix of the bone....

 

[Darktooth]

Nice finds! Thanks for sharing!

[Yvie]

Must get there sometime,looks like you had fun.Lovely finds.

Yvie

[FunkyMonkey]

Thanks all for the kind comments.

 

@jpc - I did have one other picture of the bone but I don't think it adds very much. I can take some more when I am back home:

 

 

[jpc]

end on view might help determine if it is bird.  I am seeing more of a reptile bone, though.  

[FunkyMonkey]

Thanks jpc. I'll add them to the thread in a week or so.

[SHARKY]

Hi Funky Monkey they are some amazing finds, lovin the Otodus. I was just wondering did you find the fossils on the settled London clay on the floor, that is several meters away from the cliffs sand and shingles. Or were all fossil found lying on sand and in amongst shingles.

any information will help me understand as I'm fairly new to the hobby/ forum.

[FunkyMonkey]

Hi Sharky,

 

Most of these were found in the shingle banks that congregate about 10 metres or so from the cliff and were found by slowly scanning and sifting the shingle. I tend to look for congregations of stones that are roughly proportionate to the size of teeth before committing my back to getting down to the floor. The Otodus was found amongst larger pebbles at roughly the same line.

Walton can be productive one day, and next to nothing the next. Its quite dynamic with the foreshore changing its character seemingly daily depending on how much material has crumbled from the cliffs between tides. Its that changing nature (and the finds!) that keep me going back to the same spots.

[FunkyMonkey]

It just goes to show how quickly this site changes. Sand obscured the better outcrops of shingle and we only found a handful of bashed up teeth this weekend. Let's hope the shingle is exposed again soon.

 

@Kosmoceras - Here are some further shots of the tooth you asked for. They arent brilliant - i really need to invest in a better camera:

[FunkyMonkey]

@jpc - Here are some more pictures of the bone. Again, not brilliant I'm afraid:

 

 

 

 

[jpc]

Hmmmm... certainly not bird.  Too much cortical bone in there.

[FunkyMonkey]

The plot thickens!

Could it be turtle? Turtle remains have been found from the London Clay layer previously (if rarely).