Renaissance fossil collecting

The original cabinets of curiosities were collections of precious objects by aristocrats in Renaissance Europe. These cabinets contained a wide range of items like fossils, artworks, taxidermies, and shells. They were to entertain guests while flaunting the host’s intellectual taste. However, they were rarely studied scientifically.

One such object was the ammonite fossil. In Renaissance England, they were often mistaken as “snakestones,” or petrified, coiled-up snakes. This misinterpretation was based on the biblical legend of St. Hilda, where she petrified and decapitated the snakes that infested the town of Whitby. Carving snake heads at the end of ammonite shell spirals was common practice amongst Whitby residents during this time.