The Maotianshan Shales are a series of Early Cambrian sedimentary deposits in the Chiungchussu, or Heilinpu, Formation in Chengjiang County, Yunnan province, China, named for Maotianshan Hill. Dating to the early Cambrian period, roughly 518 million years ago or older, about ten million years older than the comparable Burgess Shale, the deposits consist of mudstone and shale around 50 meters thick, laid down on the muddy bottom of a shallow sea, likely in a delta front environment with high oxygen levels and rapid sedimentation. Periodic turbidity currents buried organisms quickly, and the resulting anaerobic, mineral-rich conditions preserved even non-mineralized soft body parts as thin aluminosilicate films, making the Maotianshan Shales a Konservat-Lagerstatte renowned for exceptionally preserved fossils comparable to the Burgess Shale.
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