Description:

Western Europe, Stuttgart, Germany, Holzmaden Black Shale Formation, Jurassic period, ca. 200 million years ago. A monstrous and exquisitely preserved slab of shale that contains gold pyrite Jurassic ammonites, scattered across the surface in a "life assemblage" because the stone matrix contains a once living community of creatures that died while they were behaving as the normally would - likely hit by a sudden "catastrophic mass mortality" event. There are numerous ammonites on this slab as shown, naturally colored in golden hues by their mineralization as the fossil was formed millions of years ago. This shimmering coloration is highly prized and varies in intensity, but in this specimen, is unusually well-pronounced! The ammonite species shown here are large Harpoceras examples surrounded by smaller Dactylioceras ammonites. Size of matrix: 26" L x 1" W x 37" H (66 cm x 2.5 cm x 94 cm); large ammonite: 10" Diameter (25.4 cm)

Specimens like this are now becoming quite rare as almost all large-scale quarrying operations in the formation have ceased. It is likely, Holzmaden fossils of exceptional quality and size like this lovely example will appreciate in the future as demand far outstrips supply. Holzmaden is a highly unique formation, famous for producing some of the world's finest Jurassic marine life fossils. Some of the largest dinosaurs that ever walked the earth were in existence when this ammonite swam in the ancient seas alongside massive plesiosaurs and ichthyosaurs.

Provenance: ex-private German collection, formed in the 1980s

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#175609

  • Condition: Original material, no repairs or restoration. The ammonites and slab sealed with protective coating.

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November 10, 2022 8:00 AM MST
Louisville, CO, US

Artemis Fine Arts

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