|
You are here > Home > Out & About > Classic
Sites:
Cuttie's Hillock
Cuttie's Hillock is a site found within Quarry Wood on the outskirts of Elgin.
Unlike Scaat Craig, this site is Permo-Triassic in
age and is the site that has yielded the internationally famous 'Elgin Reptiles'.
Fossils at the site were first discovered by a quarryman in 1836. Following
this, the site was studied by the likes of Louis Agassiz (1807 - 1873), Thomas
Huxley (1825 - 1895), Sir
Charles Lyell and Sir
Roderick Murchison among many others. The fossils were originally though
to be Old Red Sandstone fish,
until Huxley first identified the remains as reptilian. Since then, the area
has come under intense study. Today, the fossils remain as important as ever,
although the site itself is now much filled-in and overgrown.
Cutties Hillock SSSI.
Image provided by Scottish Natural Heritage
Permo-Triassic rocks
in Scotland are quite rare, however they are found around Elgin (particularly
along the Lossiemouth to Burghead coast). These rocks are generally composed
of aeolian sandstones, formed when Scotland was under desert conditions (most
Permo-Triassic rocks in Scotland have been eroded since deposition).
Although many of these rocks are Triassicin age, the Cuttie's Hillock Sandstone
Formation is the oldest, forming in the uppermost Permian (Tatarian).
The base of this unit contains conglomerates and pebbly sandstones that represent
sediment deposition during arid conditions - prior to the onslaught of the
desert conditions. The fossils occur above the pebbly sandstones, but below
the aeolian sandstones.
Twelve genera are represented, including the early dinosaur Saltopus. Quadrupedal
and bipedal animals exist, as well as herbivores, carnivores, omnivores and
possibly insectivores. The skeletons were often found complete, although they
exist as natural moulds (cavities) as opposed to solid casts. The reptiles
include the dicynodonts Gordonia and Geikia,
a horned pareiasuar (Elginia) and a possible
procolophonid. The dicynodont remains are the only such fossils to have been
found in Europe. Fossilised trackways have also been found. No plant fossils
have yet been found, but it is thought that the animals lived near to plant-bearing
rivers, perhaps migrating to new areas following seasonal climatic changes.
Further information:
Elgin Museum
|
