January 31, 2025 at 3:49 pm

Under The Surface Of A Farm In Oxford, UK, Something Unusual Was Afoot. When Hundreds Of Archaeologists Moved In, They Discovered A Major Dinosaur Highway Preserved Underground.

by Kyra Piperides

Source: University of Birmingham/Dr Luke Meade

In a country as population dense as the UK, you’d think that the lay of the land would be well understood by now.

In fact, unlike the US which houses an average of 36.3 people per square kilometer, the UK packs a whopping 279 people into the equivalent land mass, making it the 21st most populated country in the world, and one of the most population dense countries in Europe.

So it was a surprise to farmers and archaeologists alike when a huge area of prehistoric significance was discovered in the South of England recently, with researchers from the Universities of Oxford and Birmingham locating hundreds of different dinosaur footprints frozen in time, not far from the world-famous university.

Source: University of Birmingham

Quickly nicknamed ‘Britain’s Dinosaur Highway’, the researchers found the hundreds of dinosaur footprints buried under the soil at a farm quarry in Oxfordshire. After a tip off from Gary Johnson, a quarry worker at the farm, the archaeologists set to work in a mammoth dig that was jointly funded by the Geologists’ Association, the School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences at the University of Birmingham, and the University of Birmingham Alumni Fund.

As Dewars Farm Quarry quickly put its usual operations on hold to allow the teams of more than 100 archaeologists to carry out their vital work, locals and the international research community alike were astounded by over 200 footprints that were uncovered. Lying under the unsuspecting farm was a wealth of evidence about the dinosaurs that once roamed British shores, with the footprints dating back to the Middle Jurassic Period.

And the particular circumstances of the site on which the footprints were discovered may be exactly the reason that they have remained in such good condition. As the University of Oxford’s Dr Duncan Murdock explained in a statement, the substrate that covered the footprints for millions of years has preserved it to an incredible standard:

“The preservation is so detailed that we can see how the mud was deformed as the dinosaur’s feet squelched in and out. Along with other fossils like burrows, shells and plants we can bring to life the muddy lagoon environment the dinosaurs walked through.”

Source: Oxford University Museum of Natural History.

Incredibly, over 166 million years ago, the footprints suggest, hundreds of dinosaurs were traversing this stretch of land, with species including the Megalosaurus and Cetiosaurus calling this place home. These mammoth creatures instil fear in some but awe and wonder in many others; that there is still plenty of dinosaur evidence lying undisturbed, waiting for us to discover it has bought anticipation to many, as Dr Emma Nicholls, a Vertebrate Palaeontologist at Oxford University explained in a statement:

“Scientists have known about and been studying Megalosaurus for longer than any other dinosaur on Earth, and yet these recent discoveries prove there is still new evidence of these animals out there, waiting to be found.”

Excitingly, the research teams have developed 3D models of the site, using 20,000 images of the prints, allowing academics and dinosaur enthusiasts to gain a deeper understanding of the huge beasts that once roamed through what is now rural Oxfordshire. Professor Richard Butler from the University of Birmingham noted how important this new technology was to safeguarding knowledge of this site into the future:

“There is much more that we can learn from this site, which is an important part of our national Earth heritage. Our 3D models will allow researchers to continue to study and make accessible this fascinating piece of our past for generations to come.”

Source: University of Birmingham

And in even more thrilling news, details of the discovery are accessible through an exhibition at the Oxford University Museum of Natural History, with the UK’s BBC television service broadcasting a documentary as part of its ‘Digging For Britain Series’, which is available on BBC iPlayer from January 2025.

It just goes to show that our planet always has new secrets just waiting to be discovered.

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