It was supposed to be a normal day of maintenance work. Joe Davis was walking across the muddy flats of Rutland Water Nature reserve when he noticed something poking out of the ground. At first, it looked like a group of rocks. On closer inspection, they looked much more like large vertebraeThe bones that make up the backbone..

Joe rang up the local council. "I think I've found a dinosaurThe difference between dinosaurs and reptiles is not always clear-cut, but dinosaurs were generally two-legged creatures that walked upright.," he told them.

It was not a dinosaur. But it was a 300-million-year-old sea monster. The dolphin-like creature is called an ichthyosaurThe name combines the Greek words for fish and lizard, though in fact the creature is neither. - but is known as a "sea dragon" because of its large eyes and teeth.

It is the largest and most complete fossil of its kind ever found in Britain. One archaeologist calls it "one of the greatest finds in British palaeontologicalPalaeontology is the study of life on earth based on fossil remains.   history". And Mr Davis's children have now nicknamed him Joerassic.

The first ichthyosaur was found by Mary Anning and her brother in 1811. Mary was just 12 at the time. Growing up in a part of Dorset now known as the Jurassic Coast, she learnt about fossils from her father. When he died, she helped support the family by finding and selling fossils.

Anning was an important fossil hunter. In 1823, she found the first complete skeleton of a plesiosaurusA large marine reptile with a long neck and a turtle-like body.  . In 1828 the first pterodactylA flying reptile with a long head and neck.   was discovered outside Germany. But because she was a woman and had little formal education, she was not given the credit she deserved.  

Today, exciting discoveries are still unearthed all the time. The construction of a new railway line has turned up over 100 archaeological sites since 2018. They include a Roman town in Oxfordshire, where finds of jewellery and fine pottery indicate that it was an important trading centre.

These discoveries highlight how much history lies beneath our feet. New developments could mean losing precious relics for ever unless archaeologists are there to preserve them.

Even amateurs can make a huge contribution. In 2019, Andrew Cooney was using his metal detector in a Welsh field when he discovered a 3,000-year-old treasure hoard.

Uncovering the past is not always fair or easy. When Mary Anning discovered the plesiosaurus, it looked so weird that some people claimed it was a fake. In 1912 a hoaxer fooled experts into thinking that he had found the remains of an early ancestor, Piltdown ManThe find consisted of five fragments of skull which had been stained to make them look old..     

Some believe that it is vital to look to the future instead of becoming obsessed with the past. But unless we know about our past, many argue it is impossible to understand the present.

Yes: Every discovery helps us understand more about our planet - and we can never know too much about the past. Fossils remind us that our own history is short by comparison.  

No: We do not accomplish anything by looking backwards. It is the people who are focused on the future who come up with the inventions that drive human progress.

Or..? Any sensible person is interested in both the past and the future. We can learn valuable lessons from ancient objects and expand our minds by imagining what is yet to come.