Where is alabaster found and extracted?
Much of the world's alabaster extraction is performed in the centre of the Ebro Valley in Aragon, Spain, which has the world's largest known exploitable deposits.
Is alabaster made from calcite or gypsum?
In general, ancient alabaster is calcite in the wider Middle East, including Egypt and Mesopotamia, while it is gypsum in medieval Europe. Modern alabaster is probably calcite but may be either.
What was alabaster used for in ancient Egypt?
In Egypt, craftsmen used alabaster for canopic jars and various other sacred and sepulchral objects. A sarcophagus discovered in the tomb of Seti I near Thebes is on display in Sir John Soane's Museum, London; it is carved in a single block of translucent calcite alabaster from Alabastron.
What is alabaster plaster?
Alabaster is a mineral or rock that is soft, often used for carving, and is processed for plaster powder.
Where do they mine alabaster?
Much of the world's alabaster extraction is performed in the centre of the Ebro Valley in Aragon, Spain, which has the world's largest known exploitable deposits.
Where does white alabaster come from?
Important sources of gypsum 'alabaster' are in the areas of Volterra and Castellina Marittima in Tuscany, Italy, and in the Midlands of England. In medieval times, the carving of English alabaster reached factory proportions, and monuments and statues made from the stone are seen in churches across Europe.
Is alabaster rare?
Is Alabaster Rare? The regular white alabaster is not rare. White alabaster is found in many countries around the world such as England, Belgium, China, India, Turkey, Cyprus, Italy, Spain, and the United States.
Is alabaster mined in Egypt?
Egyptian alabaster is a dense, Calcium carbonate stone that has been quarried near Hatnub, Egypt since the 1st century.
How can you tell if alabaster is real?
Genuine alabaster is a minimum of 3/8-inch thick and weighs at least twice as much as imitations. Veins are both translucent and dark and are completely random. If you see two pieces that have the same veining pattern in the same location, they are not genuine.
Is alabaster a natural stone?
Alabaster is a natural stone that is soft enough to carve. It is not the same thing as the mineral actually called alabaster by geologists. Two kinds of stone are called alabaster, gypsum and calcite.
Is alabaster still used?
Calcite alabaster is usually a little hard than gypsum, and it was used in Egypt and the Middle East, but it is still in use.
Does alabaster contain asbestos?
Do not use stones which may contain asbestos unless you are certain that your particular pieces are asbestos free. New York soapstones may contain asbestos, whereas Vermont soapstones are usually asbestos free. Alabaster is a substitute.
Does alabaster dissolve in water?
Alabaster is readily water soluble, while marble is not. Alabaster is softer than marble, however it can be polished to a high, translucent gloss making its surface look deceptively hard and glass-like.
Where is alabaster found in Egypt?
In Egypt alabaster is found in two places, a few miles behind the Valley of the Kings in Luxor (ancient Thebes) and the Malawi area .
Is alabaster same as marble?
Unlike the Alabaster, marble can be polished heavily. Though Alabaster is mainly found in white colour, it also comes in many colours like pale brown and reddish. Marble comes in white, gray, green, black, pink and green colours.
What is alabaster rock used for?
alabaster, fine-grained, massive gypsum that has been used for centuries for statuary, carvings, and other ornaments. It normally is snow-white and translucent but can be artificially dyed; it may be made opaque and similar in appearance to marble by heat treatment.
Where is alabaster mined?
(Photo courtesy of Rusty Galetka) Alabaster mined in southern Utah is famous for its translucent qualities and orange hues. Sculptors carve the soft stone into decorative pieces like these by Utah artist Rusty Galetka.
Where is the alabaster mine in Butler Valley?
So far, 19 mining claims have been filed on former monument lands, mostly in Butler Valley targeting the alabaster deposits a few miles south of Kodachrome Basin State Park. “Since it has been previously disturbed, it was a better place to mine,” Penney said. “There is nothing there of scenic value. No one goes there but ranchers.
Alabaster, Alabama Overview
Alabaster, Alabama includes 0 nearby mines. Alabaster is a city and southern suburb of Birmingham in Shelby County Alabama United States. At the 2010 census the population was 30352. According to the 2011 U.S. Census estimates the city had a population of 30799. Alabaster is still a growing population.
Quick Facts
Alabaster, Alabama has a population of 30,352 (based on numbers from 2010).
Where is Alabaster Mine located?
Alabaster is a historic mining complex along the shores of Lake Huron in Michigan. It consists of an open-pit gypsum mine and the remains of processing buildings, shops, offices, houses, and outbuildings.
Where was alabaster found?
Alabaster, named after a fine-textured variety of gypsum 10 discovered off the shore of Lake Huron in 1837 by Douglas Houghton, 2 developed after prospectors began searching for sources of gypsum in the region and came across deposits 18- to 23-feet thick on-land. 7 The deposits came to the attention of George B. Smith, whose father, Benjamin F. Smith, owned a gypsum mill in Detroit. George Smith acquired land in remote Iosco County and opened a gypsum mine in 1862. 1 After George Smith died, the majority share of the land was acquired by Benjamin Smith.
Alabaster, Michigan
The Alabaster Quarry Gypsum-Anhydrite Mine is near Alabaster, Michigan. Historically the site has been part of the Alabaster Mining District. The site was first discovered in 1841 by Bela Hubbard Found Gypsum In Adjacent Arenac County. Production output of the Alabaster Quarry Gypsum-Anhydrite Mine was considered to be large size.
Deposit
GYPSUM HAS BEEN MINED AT ALABASTER SINCE 1865 UNDER VARIOUS COMPANIES. UNITED STATES GYPSUM HAS MAINTAINED OWNERSHIP SINCE 1902. THEY PRODUCED CRUDE GYPSUM SINCE 1929. PRIOR TO THAT TIME CALCINATED GYPSUM WAS PRODUCED.
Workings
THE BEDS ARE WORKED TOGETHER AS BENCHES WITH INTERVENING SHALE BEING STRIPPED AND DISCARDED. THE THREE BEDS ARE ARE BLENDED TO MAINTAIN 90% OR GREATER GYPSUM ORE. SOME SALT IS FOUND IN THE LOWEST MOST BED. THE SALT IS BLENDED INTO THE MIX WHICH REMAINS BELOW PERMISSIBLE 1/2 POUND PER TON OF CRUDE GYPSUM.
Concentration Process
Processes that concentrated or enriched the mineralization of the mine.
Geology
GYPSUM DEPOSIT CONSIST OF THREE BEDS OVERLAIN BY APPROXIMATELY 60-80 FEET OF GLACIAL BOULDER CLAY OVERBURDEN. THE BEDS ARE SEPARATED BY TWO THIN (3-5 FEET) SHALE LAYERS.
Structure
Geologic structural features affecting or characterizing the site or mine.
Overview
Modern processing
Alabaster is mined and then sold in blocks to alabaster workshops. There they are cut to the needed size ("squaring"), and then are processed in different techniques: turned on a lathe for round shapes, carved into three-dimensional sculptures, chiselled to produce low relief figures or decoration; and then given an elaborate finish that reveals its transparency, colour, and texture.
Etymology
The origin of "alabaster" is in Middle English through Old French "alabastre", in turn derived from Latin "alabaster", and that from Greek "ἀλάβαστρος" ("alabastros") or "ἀλάβαστος" ("alabastos"). The Greek words denoted a vase of alabaster.
The name may be derived further from ancient Egyptian "a-labaste", which refer…
Properties and usability
The purest alabaster is a snow-white material of fine uniform grain, but it often is associated with an oxide of iron, which produces brown clouding and veining in the stone. The coarser varieties of gypsum alabaster are converted by calcination into plaster of Paris, and are sometimes known as "plaster stone".
The softness of alabaster enables it to be carved readily into elaborate forms, but its solubility i…
Types, occurrence, history
Typically only one type is sculpted in any particular cultural environment, but sometimes both have been worked to make similar pieces in the same place and time. This was the case with small flasks of the alabastron type made in Cyprus from the Bronze Age into the Classical period.
When cut in thin sheets, alabaster is translucent enough to be used for small …
See also
• Calcite – Calcium carbonate mineral – mineral consisting of calcium carbonate (CaCO 3); archaeologists and stone trade professionals, unlike mineralogists, call one variety of calcite "alabaster"
• Gypsum – Soft calcium sulfate mineral – mineral composed of calcium sulfate dihydrate (CaSO 4·2H 2O); alabaster is one of its varieties
Further reading
• Harrell J.A. (1990), "Misuse of the term 'alabaster' in Egyptology," Göttinger Miszellen, 119, pp. 37–42.
• Mackintosh-Smith T. (1999), "Moonglow from Underground". Aramco World May–June 1999.[5]
External links
• More about alabaster and travertine, brief guide explaining the confusing, different use of the same terms by geologists, archaeologists and the stone trade. Oxford University Museum of Natural History, 2012
• Alabaster Craftmanship in Volterra
• "Alabaster" . The American Cyclopædia. 1879.