Bolivian Lower Proterozoic Stromatolite

This is an exceptional example the Earth's oldest fossil, stromatolite, from an unusual South American Precambrian formation. This slab of stromatolite was cut and polished perpendicular to the individual colonial layers and thus exhibits multiple colored growth laminae. The stromatolite has been polished to a mirror finish on one side, vividly rendering the inherent beauty of stromatolite and making apparent the biogenic process in its formation.

The age is estimated to be 2.2 to 2.4 BILLION years old, near the Proterozoic-Archaean boundary, from a time in the Precambrian when stromatolite is believed to have been both widespread and abundant on earth.