Lagerstätten

Lagerstätten are sedimentary deposits that show remarkable fossils that otherwise would not be preserved.  It is a German word that literally means "resting place" which, I think, is a very appropriate word for such a special and important piece of the fossil record.

There are quite a few of these around the world which give us tantalising snapshots from the history of life.  Several of these are very important in our understanding of key moments in evolutionary history such as Archaeopteryx (shown above) from the Solnhofn Limestone in Germany and the incredible soft-bodied "experimental life forms" of the Burgess Shale.

Another of these was discovered very recently, a site of a mass beaching of whales in the late Tertiary of Chile.