Large Madagascan Natural Unpolished Fossil Tree Trunk Slice

Restrung, using recently polished Mammuthus primigenius spherical bone beads. 200 grams, 60 cm



London, UK, collection, 2000s.

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.

Rounded section of a geode with polished edges lined with light purple amethyst crystals; light yellow calcite to the centre with a smaller calcite to the side, both with drusy quartz; mounted on a custom-made display stand. 12.8 kg total, 37 cm including stand



From Artigas, Uruguay. Property of a London lady.

Comprising two triangular pieces, cut and polished on several sides, probably recycled material mined in ancient Roman times between the 1st and 5th centuries A.D. 195 grams total, 56-58 mm



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 sometime 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 quarrymen, 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.