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Gem Lore

The Long Afterlife of Broken Stone: Hardstone Inlay and the Modern Rediscovery of a Fragment Economy

The Long Afterlife of Broken Stone: Hardstone I...

Hardstone inlay studied through broken stone, workshop salvage, museum collecting, and modern revival reveals how a fragment economy shaped what counts as a historical tradition.

The Long Afterlife of Broken Stone: Hardstone I...

Hardstone inlay studied through broken stone, workshop salvage, museum collecting, and modern revival reveals how a fragment economy shaped what counts as a historical tradition.

Fire Without a Name: Mexican Opal, Synthetic Corundum, and the Rewriting of a Lapidary Tradition

Fire Without a Name: Mexican Opal, Synthetic Co...

How synthetic corundum and treated materials changed the cultural meaning of Mexican fire opal, from regional mining product to a marker of natural origin and local craft.

Fire Without a Name: Mexican Opal, Synthetic Co...

How synthetic corundum and treated materials changed the cultural meaning of Mexican fire opal, from regional mining product to a marker of natural origin and local craft.

Turquoise Beyond Sinai: Tracing a Sacred Stone Along the Silk Roads

Turquoise Beyond Sinai: Tracing a Sacred Stone ...

Explore how Sinai turquoise moved along Silk Road trade networks and acquired diverse religious meanings in Egyptian, Persian, Islamic, and Himalayan contexts.

Turquoise Beyond Sinai: Tracing a Sacred Stone ...

Explore how Sinai turquoise moved along Silk Road trade networks and acquired diverse religious meanings in Egyptian, Persian, Islamic, and Himalayan contexts.

Obsidian Blades and the Limits of Elite Status in Ancient Mesoamerica

Obsidian Blades and the Limits of Elite Status ...

How did obsidian, a widely available volcanic glass, become a marker of elite status in ancient Mesoamerica? This article examines craft specialization, ritual deposits, and the social organization of production.

Obsidian Blades and the Limits of Elite Status ...

How did obsidian, a widely available volcanic glass, become a marker of elite status in ancient Mesoamerica? This article examines craft specialization, ritual deposits, and the social organization of production.

Rhodonite Before Gemology: Reading a Swedish Orphan Stone Through Premodern Mineral Categories

Rhodonite Before Gemology: Reading a Swedish Or...

Rhodonite entered European knowledge through nineteenth-century mineralogy, not ancient trade. Explore how chemical classification created gem categories that premodern lapidary systems never had.

Rhodonite Before Gemology: Reading a Swedish Or...

Rhodonite entered European knowledge through nineteenth-century mineralogy, not ancient trade. Explore how chemical classification created gem categories that premodern lapidary systems never had.

Tanzanite's First Decade: How a Colonial-Era Mining Claim Became a National Gemstone

Tanzanite's First Decade: How a Colonial-Era Mi...

How tanzanite, a modern gemstone discovered in colonial Tanganyika, acquired national and religious symbolism in Tanzania and beyond. Explores mining history, Maasai oral tradition, and marketing.

Tanzanite's First Decade: How a Colonial-Era Mi...

How tanzanite, a modern gemstone discovered in colonial Tanganyika, acquired national and religious symbolism in Tanzania and beyond. Explores mining history, Maasai oral tradition, and marketing.