Ammonite Reliquary

Seasons turn, colors fade, worlds are lost to time. But nature's memory is deep and bountiful, guarding ancient works of art such as these, preserved by her miraculous alchemy. These Ammonite fossils have acquired an armor of fiery opal: As the calcium in the shell decayed, it was replaced atom-by-atom with amorphous silicon, transforming the dull material into immortal gemstone which dances with light and color. The Ammonite is an prehistoric mollusk which lived during the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods, roughly 200 to 66 million years ago. They are the ancient ancestors of cephalopods such as nautilus, octopus, and squid. It's Greek name is ammonis cornua, "The Horn of Ammon," for the spiral shape of their shells resembles the coiled horns of a bull or ram, like those which adorned the ancient Egyptian sun god Ammon. Each Ammonite is a unique relic of ages past, an aeon-forged treasure from another time and another world. Each is cradled in a spiraling cage of cast bronze. On its reverse side, behold the glorious Fibonacci sequence, The Golden Spiral, the one of the most sacred forms in art and nature. This listing is for the larger Ammonite option. (Aprox 2 inches wide) The smaller size is also available.