One of the gifts that ruler Moctezuma II lavished upon Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés when he arrived in the Aztec Empire in 1519 was a chest ornament depicting a double-headed serpent. Displayed today in the British Museum in London, this 20-inchlong, 8-inch-high ornament, inlaid with white shell, red coral, and thousands of blue turquoise pieces is among the most extraordinary pre-Columbian artifacts to survive the Spanish conquest of what is now Mexico.
Turquoise held a special place in the Aztec value system. Its rarity alone made it precious; even more importantly, its blue-green color signified the land’s fertility, one of the Aztec culture’s major precepts. Also symbolizing water, new growth, and the revered quetzal bird’s feathers, turquoise was sacred to the Aztecs and the contemporary Mixtec culture and the Mayans who preceded them.
The colorful mineral is prominent among the artifact materials of the Aztec, Mixtec, Zapotec, Tarascan, and Mayan pre-Columbian cultures of Mesoamerica (a region stretching from southern Mexico to Honduras), and archaeologists have long debated its source. However, most have agreed that Mesoamerican turquoise was actually mined 1,200 miles to the north in what is now the American Southwest, then brought to Mesoamerica via an extensive trade system that operated for centuries.
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MORGAN HILL POPPY JASPER
In California, there are very few places to collect semi-precious stones. Many locations from the past have been either exhausted of the material or the land has been developed.
THE ACORN
The briolette gemstone has the same design attributes of a regular gemstone, however, the pavilion is elongated and the crown is usually domed. This is perfect for an elegant pendant, earrings or a pendulum.
HOW TO PUT A PROTECTIVE CAP ON A CAB
To protect a specimen cab, often a cap is needed. In my case, I had a slab with the because of the color of the background and the pattern. This background had a more silicified consistency than most sandstones. It had no graininess like most sandstone, so I'm inclined to compare it to a jasper. The pattern was typical of a dendrite.
The Resilient Revival of Anne Brontë & Her Stones
For the first time, the Anne Brontë rock collection underwent complete description and identification, and along with Professor Hazel Hutchison of Leeds University and Dr. Enrique Lozano Diz at ELODIZ (a company specializing in spectroscopy analysis), an analysis of that collaboration, Anne Brontë and Geology: A Study of her Collection of Stones, was published in April 2022 in Volume 47, Issue 2 of the peer-reviewed journal, Brontë Studies & Gazette.\"
Amazing Women with Rock-Solid Careers
Explorers, Geologists, Educators & Jewelry Makers...
The Case of the Bleeding Glacier
It's a gory sight called Blood Falls. Ever since British geologist Thomas Griffith Taylor first noted it in 1911, it has been a mystery.
Asteroid Samples Are Said to Hold Invaluable Secrets
If Only Scientists Can Pop the Lid!
Paleontologists Embrace a New Method for Seeing Fossils within Rock
Fossil bone can be delicate. Attempts to remove it from a hard rock matrix by picking and scratching or etching with acids can be time-consuming and/or may end up obliterating that which you hope to study.
Need a Map of the Ocean Floor?
Call in the Seals!
A Step Closer to Hydrogen, the "Climate-Friendly Fuel"
As I reported last June, the world is racing to find sustainably renewable, nonpolluting sources of energy to replace our carbon-based reserves of coal, oil and gas.