gems, beads, glyptic, history of gemology, India, Rome, Greece, trade, Indian lapidary

Arikamedu, located on the Coromandel coast of India, is the most important site for the study of Indian sea trade with the Mediterranean region during Imperial Roman times. The site has been excavated previously in the 1940s and 1950s, but because of many unresolved problems, during three seasons from 1989 to 1992, new excavations were carried out as a collaborative project of the University of Pennsylvania Museum and Madras University. The project was conceived by Dr. Vimala Begley who has previously edited Rome and India: The Ancient Sea Trade (1991), conceived the project. The present volume is the second (the first was published in 1996) of two which comprise the final excavation report. Altogether seven eminent scholars, with expertise in both Indian and Greek and Roman archaeology, are the joint authors of this study, which is unique in its attempt to understand the layout, economical basis and historical significance of this most famous Indian seaport and its overseas commerce. The methods of excavation and recording of data used by the excavation team differ widely from those commonly used in India. Since the site has been extremely disturbed from ancient times to the present, the authors have provided a detailed examination and catalogue of the artifacts recovered from both their own and earlier excavations. Along with this second volume, the final excavation report will shed new light on a site that turned out to be far more complicated than any of the earlier excavators had realized. Extensively illustrated, with site plans, photographs of pottery and numerous drawings, the both volumes will be an indispensable reference work for scholars interested in the entire array of sites along the Coromandel coast which provide evidences of an extensive network of trade that existed before, during and after the period of Indo-Roman trade.

gems, jade, jadeite, fei cui, Mesoamerica, Mexico, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Mayans, Olmecs, Aztecs, archaeology, history, archaeogemology, Pre-Columbian jade; Costa Rica; Maya; exchange; iconography, lapidary

gems, opal, Ethiopia, locality, species

gems, archaeology, archaeogemology, ancient India, Indus Valley Civilization

Relates to the history and culture of ancient India and aims to make available the best sources on the subject in proper historical perspective. Contains 13 chapters and also covers the Indus Valley Civilization in 16 chapters, with an appendix, map, and illustrations.

corundum, Vietnam.12, gems

Primary and secondary deposits in the Tan Huong-Truc Lau area of northern Vietnam's Yen Bai Province have supplied rubies (especially star rubies) and some sapphires-mostly of cabochon quality-for more than a decade. The gems are typically translucent to semitransparent and pink to purplish or brownish red, with rare color zoning. The most distinctive features of this corundum after polishing include growth zoning and asterism. The samples contain relatively high amounts of Fe and variable Ti and Cr. The geologic origin and gemological properties of this corundum are distinct from that of the adjacent Khoan Thong-An Phu area.

gems, ancient gemology, ancient jewelry, advanced testing, archaeology, archaeogemology, glyptic, engraved gems, cameos, intaglios, seals

Contents: Dietrich Willers, On the collection of ancient gliptics and ancient treasures: a foreword with a contribution by Eva Merz -- Lilian Raselli-Nydegger, In the splendor of the gods and heroes: Gems from the seal to the artwork with a contribution by Thomas Armbruster -- Sabine Häberli and Lore Kiefert, Nulla parte mirabilior. On the use of precious stones in antiquity -- Erika Zwierlein-Diehl, From the treasury of Claudius to the reliquary of Rene d'Anjou. To the Claudius-Kameo of the Merz Foundation -- Gertrud Platz-Horster, drawings and gems by Giovanni Calandrelli.

gems, corundum, History.1, archaeology, archaeogemology, Central Asia, Afghanistan, corundum, ruby, Ai Khanoum, Greek, Kushan, Iran

Presented here is the publication of a great many objects from the Indo-Iranian borderlands, dating primarily from the period between the Greeks and the Kushans, but more broadly covering the entire pre-Islamic history of the region. Especially well represented are coins and Buddhist representations from India or Afghanistan. The illustrations are of very high quality. Priority is given to the object entries over the accompanying texts, which are concise and written by leading specialists, ranging from “The Civilization of Central Asia in the Bronze and Iron Ages” (H.-P. Francfort) to “Christianity in Herat” (Ph. Gignoux), including “Indo-Greeks, Indo-Scythians, Indo-Parthians” (O. Bopearachchi) and “The Coinage of the ‘Iranian Huns.’” Contains ruby and two diamonds in ring from Ai Khanoum.

gems, jade, fei cui, pyroxene jade, jadeite, composite jade, reconstituted jade

gems, early lapidaries, early gemology, early mineralogy

A comparative study of the accounts of stones and gemstones compiled by Isidore of Seville and Bartholomaeus Anglicus. It considers their place in the medieval lapidary tradition and the transmission of mineral knowledge through encyclopedic writing. The comparison concerns how earlier descriptions and inherited learning were preserved and adapted in later treatments of stones.

corundum, geology.11, gems

Russian geologists have classified gem corundum deposits into 12 genetic types based on their worldwide geographic occurrence and the geology of these areas (e.g., tectonic features, igneous and metamorphic events, volcanism, rock types, ages of major rock units, and geologic origin of economic gem deposits) on global, regional, and local scales. Three are “provinces” (covering hundreds of thousands to millions of square kilometers): (1) Southeast Asia—China, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand; (2) South Asia—Myanmar, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Tajikistan; and (3) Karelia-Kola in Russia. Six are “belts,” which are smaller, and usually elongate with folded and faulted rocks; they are found in Australia, China, Russia (e.g., the Ural Mountains), East Africa (also including Madagascar and South Africa), West Africa, and Brazil. Three are “areas,” which are even smaller units (measured in thousands of square kilometers): Nigeria, Colombia, and the U.S. (North Carolina and Montana). All deposits described in this paper are grouped into “monogenic” and “polygenic” types. Monogenic deposits are magmatic, pegmatitic, or metasomatic, whereas polygenetic deposits have a metamorphic or metamorphic-metasomatic origin. All 12 types of gem corundum deposits are described with details and, where possible, using a representative deposit. For example, historical data, a description of the corundum crystals, production figures, future economic potential, geologic origin, and a geologic cross-section are presented for the Koltashi deposit in the Urals, which is representative of the Ural belt. Such information is of practical value to anyone who is searching for gem corundum deposits.