Natural Science in Archaeology

128 6 Soft Stones and Other Carvable Materials
Esie steatite figures from north central Yorubaland, suggesting that this was a large
center for the manufacture of steatite objects (Usman 1995).
6.3.1 Asbestos
Asbestos can be any of several minerals that readily separate into long fibers.
Chrysotile, the fibrous form of the mineral serpentine, is the best-known type and
accounts for about 95% of all asbestos in commercial use. It is a hydrous magnesium
silicate with the chemical composition Mg 3 Si 2 O 5 (OH) 4 . The raw material, called
amiantus by Pliny the Elder, may have been chrysotile. Pliny notes that asbestos
was found in the Arcadian Mountains of Greece and had an iron-like color (N.H.
37.146). He adds that this substance was similar in appearance to alum. It was valued
in antiquity because of its resistance to fire, and because it supposedly afforded
protection from all magical spells, particularly those of the Magi. Pliny states that
this “earth-flax” may be separated into threads and spun. It was woven into capes
and clothing (N.H. 36, 19, 31, § 139).
Dioscorides reported reusable handkerchiefs sold to theater patrons were cleansed
and whitened with fire. He also described an asbestos quarry on Mount Olympus
in Cyprus. Strabo identified the first Greek asbestos quarry on the island of Evvoia.
Some medieval alchemists believed that asbestos grew as hair on fire-resistant salamanders
thus leading to the name salamandra for asbestos. Marco Polo visited a
Chinese asbestos mine and debunked the salamander legend.
Asbestos was exploited in central Asia and the mountains of Tajikistan. The
Abbasid Arabs wove this material into a fabric used for fireproof uniforms and
for lantern wicks (Bilkadi 1995). In North America, archaeologists discovered a
belt fragment of braided asbestos from the pueblo Awatovi in north-central Arizona
(Stubbs 1959).
6.4 Alabaster and Gypsum
The name alabaster comes from the Greek word alabastros, a stone from which
ointment vases were made. It is a fine-grained, cohesive variety of the mineral gypsum,
usually with a whitish to pinkish color. It is quite soft, with a Mohs hardness of
2, making it softer than a fingernail (2.5). Because thin pieces are translucent, it was
used to make lamps. Its aesthetic quality also caused it to be selected for the manufacture
of small objects such as statuettes, vases, bowls, flasks, and boxes (Fig. 6.2).
When properly worked, alabaster gains a silky or waxy sheen that is very lustrous.
From early dynastic times the Egyptians used alabaster as a subsidiary building
material for lining passages and rooms. Some alabaster sculpture, such as the
Berlin Museum alabaster baboon in the round inscribed with the name Narmer, can
likewise be dated to this early period (Lange and Hirmer 1956). It was also carved