For thousands of years, people have found fossils. The fossils caused curiosity about Earths past. How did these organisms live? What type of world did they live in? Fossils can tell us a lot about Earths history. In ancient times, fossils inspired myths and stories. These stories included tales of monsters and other incredible creatures. What type of creature do you know that could inspire such stories? Of course, dinosaur fossils were once mistaken for dragons bones. Two thousand years ago, people discovered fossils in China. At the time, they were thought to be dragon bones. We know now that these were not bones, but fossils. So what is the difference?

How long ago and in what country were the first documented fossils found?

The film begins with members of the Catholic Church digging up the body of a 19th century church official , whose casket has a box-shaped urn chained to it . Inside the box they discover artifacts belonging to Mater Lachrymarum , the last surviving member of the Three Mothers ; an ancient trio of powerful black witches . In particular , the box contains a magic cloak that , when worn by Mater Lachrymarum , increases her powers significantly . The urn is shipped to the Museum of Ancient Art in Rome , where Sarah Mandy , an American studying art restorationworks . Sarah is dating the curator Michael Pierce , a single father who is away from the museum that night . With help from the assistant curator , Sarah opens the box and finds the cloak , a dagger , and three statues representing the three witches . Sending Sarah to her office to retrieve tools to help her translate the text on the artifacts , the curator is promptly attacked by the demonic agents of Mater Lachrymarum . Sarah arrives too late to save her boss and starts to flee the museum . Unfortunately , she is pursued by Mater Lachrymarum 's familiar and is only able to escape when a disembodied voice magically throws open a series of locked doors keeping her trapped inside the museum . Sarah tells the police what happened as she spends the night with Michael and his son . Michael visits the Cardinal who sent him the urn only to find out that , shortly after mailing the urn to him , he had a severe stroke and is now in a coma .

What does the urn contain?

Fossils can be used to match up rock layers. As organisms change over time, they look different. Older fossils will look different than younger fossils. Some organisms only survived for a short time before going extinct. Knowing what organisms looked like at certain times also helps date rock layers. Some fossils are better than others for this use. The fossils that are very distinct at certain times of Earths history are called index fossils. Index fossils are commonly used to match rock layers. You can see how this works in Figure 2.30. If two rock layers have the same index fossils, then they're probably about the same age.
What key do index fossils play in dating rock layers?