Perse pupil showcases fossil collection at special museum exhibition

An array of fossils found by Maito Shiode (Year 7) have gone on show at the Sedgwick Museum at University of Cambridge.

Fourteen of Maito’s favourite fossils are on display in a special exhibition at Cambridge’s renowned earth sciences museum, including sponges, belemnites, a sea lily, a sea urchin, iguanodon and turtle bones Maito have found and collected over the years.

The exhibition highlights the Sedgwick’s Gravel Hunters initiative, which aims to show how gravel can be a treasure trove for small fossils, with Maito having taken part in an event during the summer.

Maito recently visited the museum and met with curator Dr Rob Theodore, who helped him arrange his section of the display.

He said: “I’m overjoyed about having some of my fossils displayed besides the museum’s regular exhibition and I feel very lucky at having the opportunity to do it.”

Maito’s fascination with fossils goes back further and he has amassed a collection of around 1,000 artefacts in the last four years, largely found in gravel in his garden and at The Perse Upper and Prep, as well as the coasts of Norfolk, Isle of Wight and French Riviera.

He said: “When I went to museums, I always liked looking at the fossils and I was really excited when I discovered I could find them in my garden after talking to my next-door neighbour, who was very knowledgeable about the subject because her son was a geologist.

“I just find fossils very beautiful. I’m fascinated by their natural beauty, because no two fossils are the same. They are unique. Having these fossils makes me feel like I’ve got my own mini museum.”

Published 7 December 2021