I saw a beautiful object that combined my Indian heritage with my profession as an Earth Scientist. This is a Shalagram, beautifully curated & presented at the @britishmuseum by curator @SushmaJansari 😍 Lets explore what it is #FossilFriday #WhispersOfRock 🧵

200 mya the supercontinent Pangea began to break up. The India Plate drifted northwards, the oceanic plate under the Tethys Sea subducted beneath the Asia plate. As this happened, the Tethys Sea & all life within it would perish. #WhispersOfrock Image: AMNH

50 mya, the Tethys sea was gone. The India plate collided with Eurasian Plate. Both were equally matched, compressing & buckling to form the Himalayas. The marine sediments were thrust up against the continent carrying secret treasures of ancient life with them. #WhispersOfRock

2000 yrs ago In the Kali Gandaki River, strange black spiral shaped rocks entranced local ppl. They were seen as sacred, older than time itself. The rocks were a representation of Vishnu the divine protector, the cobra playing great significance. #WhispersOfRock

What was this rock found in the Kali Gandaki Gorge, high up in the Himalayas? An ammonite from the Jurassic Period that once lived in the waters of the Tethys Sea. The fossils are found in black shales, rock forming with high conc of carbon in anoxic conditions. #FossilFriday

I have a house full of ammonites, but to learn how I am connected to them through my identity as a South Asian & Hindu has been truly mindblowing. Shalagrams are thought to represent Vishnu when he was cursed, turned into stone on the River Gandaki. #WhispersOfRock #FossilFriday

Huge thanks to Dr @SushmaJansari for her work in curating a beautiful collection of stories from South Asia in the @britishmuseum . There are seeds of rich collaboration brewing here! #WhispersOfRock

You can read more about Shalagrams through the work of Dr @Manigarm who has numerous articles & books published about this beautiful connection between erath science & anthropology. I would love to have a chat online sometime Dr Holly! 😊 END #FossilFriday #WhispersOfRock