Many of us remember the crystal chandeliers of the times of the USSR, which our parents considered almost a treasure. Of course, today we are already without much trepidation about objects made of rock crystal, but we cannot but recognize their beauty.
Crystal is one of the many varieties of quartz, which is perhaps the most abundant mineral on the planet. There are smoky, yellow and pink samples, as well as the rarest black crystals called morion. In a word, types of rock crystal are incredibly diverse, numerous are the fields of its application.
Where do you think the name of this mineral comes from? The Greeks gave him the name krystallos, which in translation into Russian means "ice". In the language of chemistry, everything is much more prosaic. Crystal is silicon dioxide.
As already mentioned, it is very common, but because there are deposits around the world. How is this ordinary but no less beautiful material formed?
All rock crystal deposits are formed during magmatic processes, when molten rocks cool with the access of oxygen. In addition, geologists described the hydrothermal type of development: this is when hot alkaline solutions saturated with silicon salts gradually evaporate under the influence of high temperatures and with the access of oxygen. In this case, the number of variable color rows of crystal is much larger.
This stone began to be mined from antiquity. Of course, at first there were no mines or even open-cast mining. Rare pieces of crystal, more like another cobblestone, were found on river rifts that flowed from under the glaciers. The pieces were cracked and ground.
Historians and ethnographers say that the rock crystal mineral played an important role in the evolutionary development of man.
Its processing required perfect coordination of movements, good development of fine motor skills and truly angelic patience: products were polished with fine sand paste using coarse ropes made from plant fibers.
From the most ancient times it is known that after polishing this first unprepossessing pebble, which you will not look at once again, acquires a striking resemblance to diamond. This property was used not only for good purposes: so far, fake masters engaged in the substitution of expensive diamond jewelry for their ersatz from rock crystal are widespread throughout the world.
But in ancient times, the use of this mineral was not so low. Lenses from it were used by ancient metallurgists, setting the first ever experiments on clean smelting of metals, and Tibetans used polished pieces of crystal to cauterize wounds, passing focused sunlight through them. The benefit was not only in thermal exposure: this material perfectly transmits UV radiation, which also has a detrimental effect on pathogenic microflora. It is not surprising that priests widely used rock rhinestone, carving ritual bowls and goblets from it.
The Aztecs and other ancient peoples of Yucatan are notorious in this respect: many of the instruments that dissected still captives were made of it.