My Archaeological Find: Calling all rock geeks!

[GoddessKristie]

So, I am finally double digging for my cold frame (I know, December), and I didn't get very far because I found this object and it totally distracted me from doing any more work. Anyone have an idea of what it is? It's really beautiful and I found it about 2 feet down.







Any idea what it is?

[donsgal]

Originally Posted by GoddessKristie

So, I am finally double digging for my cold frame (I know, December), and I didn't get very far because I found this object and it totally distracted me from doing any more work. Anyone have an idea of what it is? It's really beautiful and I found it about 2 feet down.
Any idea what it is?

I'm no expert, but it looks mighty like an opal to me.

donsgal

eta: If it is an opal, it could be worth quite a lot of money due to its size.

[Pink_Carnation]

No clue but we have found one that looks a lot like it. Ours is a little more milky/opaque

[GoddessKristie]

If this helps any most of it is clear and glass looking as you can see in the center of the second picture. There is a milky white scattered throughout and when I hold it up to the light I see a slight amber color.

[yarrow]

could it be a piece of slag glass? both of my grandmas had pieces here and there in their flowerbeds, gardens and such. I still see it around old houses here in the ozarks.
susie, mo ozarks

[Ravenlost]

You quit digging? What if there's more out there?

[GoddessKristie]

Originally Posted by Ravenlost

You quit digging? What if there's more out there?

LOL if there's more I'll worry about it when I know if it's worth anything.
I just called our jewler who is a gemologist and he said he'd be happy to take a look at it.
I'd still love everyone's opinion as I'm not going until tomorrow.

[flowergurl]

I love rocks, but I don't know what you have found.
Yes, get back out there and see if there is more in the ground.

[Paquebot]

It looks like blue quartz. If there's no reason for it having been there naturally, then it was carried or left there by someone. See how it fits in your hand. Then imagine having a buffalo or deer skin to scrape down.

Martin

[GoddessKristie]

Originally Posted by Paquebot

It looks like blue quartz. If there's no reason for it having been there naturally, then it was carried or left there by someone. See how it fits in your hand. Then imagine having a buffalo or deer skin to scrape down.

Martin

It does fit very nicely in my hand with the point outward.

I wonder what 2 feet of soil equal in years passed.

[GoddessKristie]

This stuff looks almost exactly like it.

http://colemanquartz.com/SlagGlass.htm

[Paquebot]

Quartz does look like glass but your piece definitely looks like it's been napped to get that shape and surface. You won't get that from a fire. I've a similar one but made from a blue flint which is not from this area. I thought that it was a crude axe when I found it as a youngster. Artifact collector told me otherwise and explained how it was used.

Martin

[Kathy in MD]

Possibility

Aquamarine--
Tourmaline
Apatite
Obsidian- which is one on Indiana natural gemstones….

Let us know what it is when you find out…

[GoddessKristie]

Well, I got close to being 1/2 way done with the double digging before I got rained out. I haven't found any more. I am finding lots of shards of all kinds of glass, petrified wood, and pottery closer to the surface, but no more of this.

[GoddessKristie]

This also looks exactly like it
http://geology.about.com/library/bl/.../blapatite.htm

This one doesn't have the milky white in it, but it does have the amber shade to one side
http://www.prettyrock.com/php/facet-rough-all-all.php

I am very intrigued!

[naturelover]

I think I might be the only rock geek here. I know it looks a bit like slag glass but that's not what it is, not with those varying colors in it. And although it's close in color it won't be aquamarine, tourmaline or apatatite because those crystals only grow with parallel striations to them and never have humps or curves on their broken surfaces, only straight edges. And it's not blue quartz because blue quartz gets it's color from specks of chlorite and I don't see any chlorite in it. Also, blue quartz is never that particular color naturally unless it's been heat-treated in a laboratory.

There are two possibilites for it based on it's color - it will be either opalized limb-cast (the opalized center of a piece of petrified wood) or else it is obsidian (volcanic glass) which can be found in a variety of colors. In either case, that specimen you have there will be quite rare and very valuable to a rock-hound or stone collector. The way to determine if it is opal or obsidian - look at it with a magnifying glass and try to see if it has any tiny round air bubbles in it If it has bubbles in it then it is obsidian, and if the bubbles are shaped a bit like little torpedoes then it is obsidian glass from a meteor strike. If it has no bubbles then that means it is opal.

To narrow it down some more, it could be opalized limb-cast but it is extremely rare to find such a large piece of limb-cast all by itself like that without it being attached to an even larger piece of exterior petrified wood. I'm thinking that it is light blue obsidian, I have a couple of pieces just like it that are identical in color to what you have there, right down to the amber and milky hues you see in yours. It's actually quite rare to find it in that color and there is a high demand for it in lapidary and jewellery making circles.

Wash it really well in soapy water then rinse and allow it to air dry. Then while holding it under a strong light turn it in various different directions to see if you can find a pearly sheen reflecting on the surface, it may look as though it had been dipped in the thinnest possible dilution of pearly nailpolish, or been dusted in places with crushed pearl powder. If you can find that pearly sheen then you have a VERY expensive specimen and it's worth your while to dig for more if you want to sell it online.

Nice find - I'd love to come dig in YOUR back yard. :baby04:

ETA - speaking as a crystallogist and a collector of rare specimens - if it was me found that in my back yard I would NEVER part company with it.

[flowergurl]

You could ask these people for help. They should be able to tell you what it is.

http://www.minsocam.org/

[Oggie]

I'm not sure about the other, but one looks a lot like a dime.

[Jim S.]

After reading natureover's post, all I can say is:

SELL IT! SELL IT!

[BlueHeronFarm]

Wow, naturelover...you ARE a rock geek.
Very cool information -- and neat rock, Kristie.