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![Historic Roman Cut and Polished Porphyry Slice Group [10]](https://timelineauctions.com/zoom_images/zoomthumb/2/2/228199_900x900.jpg "Historic Roman Cut and Polished Porphyry Slice Group [10]")
![Historic Roman Cut and Polished Porphyry Slice Group [10]](https://timelineauctions.com/zoom_images/zoommap/2/2/228199_200x200.jpg "Historic Roman Cut and Polished Porphyry Slice Group [10]")
![Historic Roman Cut and Polished Porphyry Slice Group [10]](https://timelineauctions.com/upload/images/items/228199.jpg "Historic Roman Cut and Polished Porphyry Slice Group [10]")
LOT 2493
Historic Roman Cut and Polished Porphyry Slice Group [10]
1 3/8 - 3 3/4 in. (176 grams total, 37-97 mm).
Comprising lacquered porphyry slices of irregular shape, cut and polished on both sides, probably recycled material mined in ancient Roman times between the 1st and 5th century A.D. [10, No Reserve]
ProvenanceFrom Egypt.
Ex Mineral Imports, London, UK.
Gregory, Bottley & Lloyd (Gregory's), Harwich, UK.
Mons Porphyrites (today Jabal Abu Dukhkhan) is the mountainous site of a group of ancient quarries in the Red Sea Hills of the inhospitable eastern desert in Egypt, a five day trip from the Nile during Roman times. They were discovered by Caius Cominus Leugas in 18 A.D., and during the Roman Empire the mines officially belonged to the emperor and were the only known source of the Imperial Porphyry, Mons Porphyrites. This dark purple stone was associated with royalty and used for prestigious sculpture and architecture. The location of the mines was lost some time in the 5th century, and rediscovered in the early 19th century. Excavations in the area have revealed the well-preserved quarries and the dwelling places of the quarry men, and also thousands of ostraca have been discovered containing messages that provide details of how the quarrying took place, and of how the highly skilled quarrymen ordered their food.
CONDITIONTimeLine Auctions follows a vetting process to ensure the authenticity and legality of all items, reinforcing our commitment to integrity and responsible trading. Each antiquity, antique, and coin lot undergoes thorough examination by a vetting committee of at least ten external specialists, professional trade association members, scientists, and archaeologists: Our Vetting Process
AUCTIONS:
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LOT 2493
Historic Roman Cut and Polished Porphyry Slice Group [10]
Sold for (Inc. bp): £286
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Campo Del Cielo Meteorite
Fell 6000-5000 years B.P.Sold for (Inc. bp): £169
A nickel-iron meteorite (IAB). 27.9 grams, 32 mm
From a Lincolnshire, UK, collection.
A crater field of roughly 26 craters was found in the vicinity of this crater, which is estimated to date to 4-5 thousand years BP. The age of the meteorite itself is thought to be c.4.5 billion years, formed as part of the development of this solar system. The largest two fragments, the 30.8 ton Gancedo and 28.8 ton El Chaco, are among the heaviest meteorite masses ever recovered on Earth. In 1576, the governor of a province in Northern Argentina commissioned the military to search for a large mass of iron, which it was believed the local people claimed had fallen from the sky and which they used for their weapon production. The expedition discovered a large mass of metal which was assumed to be an iron mine and brought back a few samples, which were described as being of unusual purity. Following the legends, in 1774 Don Bartolomé Francisco de Maguna rediscovered the iron mass. He himself did not believe that the stone had fallen from the sky and assumed that it had formed by a volcanic eruption. However, he sent the samples to the Royal Society of London. In 1990 it became protected by law. -
![Cut and Polished Fossil Tree Trunk Section Pair [2]](https://timelineauctions.com/upload/images/items/small/228166-s.jpg)
Cut and Polished Fossil Tree Trunk Section Pair [2]
Triassic Period, circa 235 million years B.P.Sold for (Inc. bp): £39
Petrified tree sections showing clear internal structure in contrasting colours. 593 grams total, 14.5-15 cm
From Madagascar. Ex Mineral Imports, London, UK. Gregory, Bottley & Lloyd (Gregory's), Harwich, UK. -
Woolly Mammoth Bone Bead Necklace String
Pleistocene Period, 2.6 million-11,700 years B.P.Sold for (Inc. bp): £72
Restrung using recently polished Mammuthus primigenius bone beads. 207 grams, 59 cm
Ex West country, UK, collection, 1990s onwards.
The mammoth lineage branched from the Asian elephant around 6 million years ago, and later on the Woolly Mammoth, Mammuthus primigenius, evolved in eastern Siberia. Woolly mammoths, being slightly smaller than living African elephants, were foragers and ate grass, as well as small, nutritious flowering plants that flourished in the environment where they lived. They may also have used their curved tusks to dig through snow and eat plants that other foragers were unable to reach.
