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Archean Eon
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Archean Eon Article

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Below is the article summary. For the full article, see Archean Eon.

Archean Eon, or Archaean Eon or Archeozoic Eon, Older of the two divisions of Precambrian time. The Archean begins with the formation of the Earth’s crust 4 billion years ago and extends to 2.5 billion years ago, up to the start of the Proterozoic Eon, the second division of the Precambrian Period. The earliest and most-primitive forms of life (bacteria and cyanobacteria) originated more than 3.5 billion years ago in the middle of the Archean Eon (the Archean’s alternative name, Archeozoic, means “ancient life”).