Who Took the Dinosaur * * * * Out of the Fens‪?‬

In the 1840s a new industry started in the Cambridgeshire fens, that of coprolite mining. Thought by many to be fossilised dinosaur droppings, the deposit was exploited for conversion into superphosphate - the world's first artificial chemical fertiliser. Although many hundreds of local people were employed, the diggings attracted gangs of labourers from elsewhere. Bernard O'Connor's book investigates the social, economic and archaeological impact of this unusual 19th industry in the fens.