Fossil record

Definition
noun
The totality of fossilized artifacts and their placement within the earth’s rock strata. It provides information about the history of life on earth, for instance what the organisms look like, where and when they live, how they evolved, etc.
Supplement
Fossil record can provide interesting information about the evolution and the history of life on earth such as the way the particular species have lived during a specific geological period and then evolved in time.
Word origin: fossil + record