LARGE ORTHOCERAS PLAQUE
Orthoceras sp.
Ordovician
Sahara Desert, near Tamud, Morocco
This unusually large orthoceras plaque, approximately 65 x 42 inches, is a striking example display of innumerable highly-polished belemite fossils. Using simple hand-tools, Moroccan craftsmen have painstakingly sculpted each fossil so that they stand out from the matrix. The ancient ancestor of today's squid and chambered nautilus swam in the oceans of what is now the Sahara Desert over 450 million years ago. The vivid white of the fossilized remains of the shell, standing in high contrast to the black matrix, are lined and patterned like a marble. This plate suggests a rush of movement, the orientation of the separate individuals is due to the action of the ancient ocean currents; each shell corpse would slowly float to the seabed, and be swept along with dozens of its fellows in the ever-rolling ocean. Measuring 4 feet 10 inches wide and 2 feet 9 inches high, it is a remarkably sized example of an underappreciated fossil.