Fossils & Amber with Insect Sterling Silver Bracelet

Amber is any natural fossilized tree resin dating back to the Carboniferous, roughly 320 million years. Since around 3000 BCE it has been considered a precious material, used for adornment, fragrance, medicine and trade.  Rarely, an insect or plant matter can be seen trapped inside the amber, and these pieces are highly sought after by collectors. Amber is commonly found along the shores of the Baltic Sea in northwestern Europe, the Dominican Republic, and Chiapas, Mexico.

Orthoceras

Ordovician period – approximately 490- 445 million years old. Orthoceras was an uncoiled or “straight” Ammonite- and extinct relative of the well-known Chambered Nautilus. The soft-tissue creature would have lived in the last open segment on the wide end of the shell. As the body outgrew the segment, a dividing wall, called the septa, grew to separate the old home segment from the new. A small tube, known as the siphuncle, runs the entire length of the shell and was used for propulsion and buoyancy. These fossils are found in the Sahara Desert of Morocco.

Trilobite

520- 250 million years old, trilobites are an extinct marine arthropod – a family including present-day crustaceans and spiders. There are thousands of known species of trilobites ranging in size from 1 mm to over 2 feet. Trilobite bodies are characterized by three lobes (tri-lobe):  the cephalon (head), thorax (body), and pygidium (tail). They were among the first animals to develop complex, compound eyes, with lenses made of calcite. Trilobite fossils are found on every continent; locations include Utah, New York, and Morocco.