Fossils in Schlessman Hall
Visitors to the Central Library may notice interesting ‘pictures’ in the limestone floor and walls of Schlessman Hall. The delicate shell- and leaf-shaped images are actually 150-million-year-old fossils from the Jurassic Period. The fossils were formed when the animals swam into shallow marine lagoons and died from lack of oxygen. Their bodies sank to the bottom and were buried in the limey ooze. The limestone used in the Library comes from quarries near Eichstatt, Germany, that have been in operation since Romans occupied the area nearly 2,000 years ago. See if you can locate examples of the two most common fossils found in the floor and walls of Schlessman Hall or in the stonework outside the building.
Ammonite
Coiled in shape and related to the chambered nautilus.
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Belemnite
Bullet-shaped relative to the squid and octopus.
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Denver Public Library Online ©
Updated: October 03, 2007
