Today is #turquoisetalkthursday so I wanted to chat a little bit about the history of turquoise! I LOVE learning new things about turquoise, so I thought I would share!
Turquoise is found as far back as 3000 BCE in Egypt. Only the upper class could afford the beautiful stone, and most people would have it set in stone to wear as a necklaces, earrings or rings. In fact, King Tut had his tomb lined in the beautiful stone!
Turquoise is formed in "veins". This is where millions year old water would seep in the cracks of rocks with various minerals such as aluminum, iron, copper (and more) and forms the hardened state of turquoise. Each mine has different forms of minerals, which is what defines the color of turquoise! For instance, a spot that has more copper, may be more blue. While another area could have more iron, which makes it more green.
The first mine in the United State was found by Native Americans, which today is known as the Kingman Turquoise Mine. The mine was abandoned, but re-discovered in 1880 and has been mined on and off since then!
Today, there are 100's of mines in North America alone. In the US, they are mainly found in the west with the biggest mines in Arizona, New Mexico and Nevada. However, there are smaller mines in other places such as Colorado, Idaho and more!
I hope you enjoyed this! Let me know your thoughts :)
Comments
Loved the read and learning more.
I am of Cherokee descent and wondered why the turquoise was so prominent in their history!
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