This ancient marine mollusk started roaming the oceans around 400 million years ago and was once the most abundant animal in the sea. Fossilized into pyrite, the black stone could create sparks when struck against steel. Our man Pliny the Elder described them as 'brassy'. The distinctive nautilus pattern was sometimes called 'snakestone', but the ammonite was a cousin to octopuses, squid, and cuttlefish.

06.11.22