After a number of decades of research on the evidence for life in the Early Archaean epoch (4.0-3.2 Ga), recent controversies have thrown the very concept of the existence of life on Earth in this time period into discussion (Brasier et al., 2001; Lindsay et al., 2003; Westall and Folk, 2003; van Zuilen et al., 2002, 2003; Lepland et al., 2002). In this contribution I will review the discussions, describe the procedures that should be followed in the search for fossil life, and briefly document the evidence for widespread and relatively abundant life in 3.5-3.3 Ga sediments.