Indonesian Stone Fossilized Shell

Seen from one side it is a snail. From the other, mostly a rock with ideas.

This fossilized shell comes from Sulawesi, Indonesia, and is stone. Fossils of this kind are formed over long ages as sediment and minerals fill and replace a buried shell, turning it slowly into stone. A tight spiral turns at one end, its whorls stepping down toward a neat center. The rest of the form is a broad, rounded mass, broken open along one edge to show the paler stone within. The surface is grey and cream, with darker patches in the crevices. It is 9 inches wide and 8.5 high.

Patience, rendered in limestone.