Carnelian The orange to bright red variety of microcrystalline silica, both as agate (banded) and ch

CarnelianThe orange to bright red variety of microcrystalline silica, both as agate (banded) and chalcedony has been used for over 7,000 years in jewellery and seals. Coloured by iron, the hue varies from a dull brown (aka sard) to a bright red, depending on the presence of other impurities and the quantity of iron present. The name comes from the Latin for a kind of cherry of similar colour. Unlike jasper, carnelian is usually translucent.Antique gems were often carved, as personal seals, amulets and protective stones to be worn in jewellery. They have turned up in archaeological digs as far apart as Knossos (the Minoan capital in Crete), the Harrappan cities of the Indus Valley, in Egyptian jewellery from the first dynasties onwards, ancient Assyria and all over the Hellenistic/Roman world. tones were often recycled, and many carved antique gems now grace crowns and monstrances of the medieval era.Sources include Brazil, India, Russia, the USA and Uruguay, where it lies here and there all over the country, or rather, I have found bits everywhere I’ve been so far.LozImage credit: Lech Darskihttp://www.minerals.net/gemstone/carnelian_gemstone.aspx -- source link

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