The Rocky State of Your Campaign
So this is going to be a three-parter, starting with ancient uses, going to modern uses, and then covering symbolic (magical) uses.
Ancient uses means before 1800. This is going to be forcibly game-related, rather than my going off the deep end as I learn things. Oh, who am I kidding?
Main Uses for Rocks in Ancient Times
Pigments: Some pigments, such as ochre and iron oxide, have been around since prehistoric times. Before the industrial revolution, most pigments were technically limited, using natural found minerals or organic substances. Therefore many of the most important substances mined were for pigment.
Medicine: Drug treatments likely started with plants but the concept of using rocks or minerals to treat diseases came soon after. Having seen grazing animals lick the soil around an old ocean bed for salt, the ancestors would have eventually tried it themselves.
Cosmetics: Seems superficial, but it’s true. Cosmetics were important to nearly every early society, including Persians, Egyptians, Greeks and Romans, and Chinese.
Glass-making and Metallurgy: Bigger and better, a skilled glass or metalworker could write his own paycheck, so to speak.
The Minerals and Rocks
Aetites: Called an Aquilaeus or Eagle Stone. This stone was generally found as a lump of iron oxide with some flint or alumina and was hollow with a loose nodule that rattled around inside. The Druids claimed to find them inside the stomach or necks of eagles or in its nest. These stones were believed to heal epilepsy and were worn on the arm or thigh to prevent miscarriage and aid in childbirth.Agate: Agates have been used in decoration and ceremony since the ancient Sumerian Empire. Agate is a type of quartz with a very fine grain and color usually formed among volcanic or metamorphic rock. Found often on beaches, it is very resistant to wear and is often carved into jewelry or utensils.
Alabaster: The name is used for two very different minerals. Today we use alabaster to refer to gypsum. The ancients used the same name for calcite, and it was a very popular decorative stone from the Far East. Ancient alabaster was used frequently by the Egyptians to make bottles, canopic jars, and even a sarcophagus or two. Cut thinly, it is translucent and was used in lighting and small windows. While alabaster today refers to gypsum, this does not mean ancients were only using calcite; gypsum alabaster objects found in present day Nagar date back to the 3rd millennium BCE. Most gypsum alabaster is found in England, which leads to speculation about the large amount of ancient gypsum alabaster objects found elsewhere.
Alum: Known as far back as Pliny’s era, this form of hydrated potassium sulfide was used in dyeing and as a medicine.
Aluminum: Aluminum in its free form is rare despite being the most abundant metal on earth. Ancient Greeks and Romans used aluminum salts as dyeing mordants and a styptic wound dressing.
Amber: Fossil tree resin; semi fossil tree resin is known as copal. It has been valued and traded since antiquity. Common in yellowish-brown, other colors exist including the rare blue amber, valued above all others.
Amethyst: The ancient Greeks named this purple stone “amethustos,” for “to not get intoxicated. The ancient Greeks and Romans made drinking vessels out of it and wore it to prevent drunkenness. The ancient Egyptians used the stone for intaglio jewelry (opposite of cameos), used in making raised seals in wax. Medieval Europeans used the stone as an amulet to protect them in battle and Anglo-Saxon graves had beads of amethyst buried with the bodies. A symbol of heavenly understanding and thought and action on the spiritual planes, high-ranking members of the Roman Catholic Church wear rings of amethyst.
Antimony: Recognized in antiquity, its sulfide compound was used as kohl for creating eye cosmetics for Middle Eastern ancestors and regions surrounding them. Antimony is toxic, resembling arsenic in symptoms. Used as a medicine and antiprotozoan.
Aquamarine: A beryl of light or sea-blue, it was believed in the Middle Ages to combat poisons, and sailors believed carrying it with them on journeys would guarantee a safe return, sleeping with a piece under their pillows. Many though the lower fish-like portion of a mermaid was made from aquamarine.
Arsenic: Since ancient times in Persia and elsewhere, arsenic was the king of poisons, mainly because its symptomatic poisoning was difficult to detect until 1840 when the Marsh test was developed. Arsenic was also included in bronze to make the bronze harder. Asbestos: Although now banned for its toxicity, this naturally occurring silicate fiber was woven into cloths in ancient times. The poisonous aspects were known; both Strabo and Pliny the Elder commented on the damaged lungs of enslaved weavers who worked with asbestos. Still, Charlemagne had a tablecloth made of asbestos and the Persians found they could amaze guests by cleaning asbestos clothes with fire. Later the material was used for perpetual wicks.
Azurite: pigment used since medieval times, mined from deposits in Saxony and France. Azurite was a major source for the blues in medieval paintings and even Japanese works.
Bismuth: known since ancient times although often confused with tin or lead. Bismuth was also used by the Incans to make a special form of bronze for weapons. Since then it’s been used in cosmetics and medicine, and recently has come to replace the more toxic lead in many modern-day applications.
Carnelian: Carnelian and the darker sard are both chalcedony with pigment from iron oxide. It was used in decoration as far back as 2000 years ago. Signet rings were commonly carved from carnelian because wax does not stick to the stone. It and sard were also carved into cylinder seals, scarabs, and gems. The first stone in the Hebrew high priest’s breastplate is the odem or “sardius” and was a red stone mostly likely of carnelian or sard.
Cerussite: Once used to make lead paints, cerussite was first described in the 8th century. As a common cosmetic application, it was worn by Queen Elizabeth I as Venetian Ceruse.
Chromium: Although not recognized by most civilizations until the 18th century, the Chinese apparently coated their Bronze Age tools in chromium, and two thousand years later artifact weapons are being found from that era without any corrosion.
Cinnabar: The Roman Empire had a heavy-duty mining operation for cinnabar. It was highly useful as a pigment, but more importantly its mercury content was readily extractable. Unfortunately both the mining of cinnabar and the mercury extraction process was highly hazardous and therefore the Romans used convict labor as a form of death sentence. Its color was highly sought after in Olmec and Mayan decorations and was used to decorate sarcophagi and tombs for its beauty as well as its toxicity to thieves. Cinnabar was also popular in Chinese designs, with a lacquer that reduced its hazardous effects. During the Byzantine Empire, the Emperor and some bishops were allowed to use vermilion that was adulterated with cinnabar powder. It was also used in traditional Chinese medicine, despite its poisonous effects on the body.
Cymophane: Variation of chrysoberyl also called cat’s eye. Although other types of stones can create the cat’s eye form, only this yellow stone is true cat’s eye. The Duke of Connaught gave a ring of cat’s eye as an engagement gift to his fiancé at the end of the 19th century and its value exploded up to $8000 for a cut stone.
Emerald: Beryl colored green with chromium. Mined by ancient Egyptians and Assyrians for its beauty.
Galena: The natural form of lead sulfide, this mineral was used as kohl for around the eyes in Middle Eastern countries.
Glauconite: Iron silicate or phyllosilicate, this mineral is known in European antiquity as a pigment for artistic oil paint, specifically used in Russian iconic paintings. It was also found in a mural by Roman Gauls.
Goethite: Iron ore pigment or brown iron ore has been used since prehistoric times as a pigment, found in cave paintings.
Graphite: Used to mark sheep in England in the 1500s.
Gypsum: Calcium phosphate. Used since prehistory for a variety of products, including drywall, plaster, medicines, ornamentation, and building material.
Hematite: Another form of iron oxide, mined as the main ore of iron, that comes in black, steel or silver-gray, and brown to red. Hematite in red form is a pigment known as ochre. The red muddy chalk was used upwards of 100,000 years ago for religious and social purposes. More recently it was discovered the ancient Egyptians understood the sharp irritant properties of hematite dust; they used it to booby-trap a sarcophagus.
Jade: First used to make beads, buttons, and tubular shapes, the prehistoric civilizations quickly added the beauty of jade to knives, axe heads, and weapons. Jade was one of the most universally prized minerals of ancients, from Mesoamerica to China, Japan to Europe, New Zealand to India.
Jasper: An opaque impure variety of silica, generally from the mineral contents of original sediment or ash. A favorite gemstone of prehistoric peoples, it was used to make bow drills over 7000 years ago. It was used to create seals on Minoan Crete and was a stone in the Hoshen, or Hebrew High Priest’s breastplate.
Jet: Actually fossilized wood, jet has been used in jewelry for at least 17,000 years. It can induce an electrical charge when rubbed. Powdered jet dissolved in water was believed to have medicinal powers.
Kalinite: the mineral form of aluminum potassium phosphate, kalinite is used as potassium alum in the manufacture of dyes, explosives, porcelain cement, tanning leather, hardening gelatin, and water purification.
Kaolinite: a layered silicate generally found in the form of clay, usually seen in areas of ancient tropical rainforests. It is the main component in porcelain and was added as a modifier to paint. It was the main ingredient in the first anti-diarrhea medicines.
Kermesite: An oxisulfide often known as red antimony, it was popular as far back as the 6th Dynasty of Ancient Egypt as a lip cosmetic. It is said Queen Hatsheput negotiated with the land of Punt for their large deposits. Red antimony is one of the oldest minerals used in cosmetics. It was later used as a coloring agent in alchemy to produce a red state. It is, incidentally, toxic.
Kyanite: A blue silicate mineral commonly mined for ceramic products such as porcelain and dishware.
Lapis Lazuli: Actually a rock as opposed to a mineral, lapis is mostly made up of lazurite, giving it a characteristic blue coloring. Most highly prized as intense blue with gold flecking from pyrite, the common calcite veins seen in the stone bring down its value. In architecture it has been used for cladding walls and columns of palaces and churches. The stone takes an excellent polish and is made into jewelry, carvings, boxes, mosaics, ornaments, and vases. Lapis lazuli is ground to make ultramarine pigment for tempera and oil paints, and was a highly desired pigment for painters—costs reflected this.. The stone was a favorite in Egypt for making scarabs and amulets, and it was used by Assyrians and Babylonians for seals. Powdered lapis was used as eyeshadow. In the Book of the Dead, a lapis amulet in the shape of an eye set in gold gave great power. In the most ancient times, lapis was called “sapphire” and this is likely the sapphire referred to by ancient texts, including the bible. The Romans believed lapis was an aphrodisiac, and medieval figures thought it kept limbs healthy and the soul free from error, envy, and fear. It was often ground and mixed with milk to be applied to boils and ulcers.
Lazurite: Making up the bulk of lapis lazuli, lazurite has been mined for 6000 years in Afghanistan and is used in painting and cloth dyeing.
Lead: a heavy metal element, lead is widespread, easy to extract, and malleable, which made it ideal to work with for early societies. In alchemy it was thought to be the oldest metal and associated with Saturn. It was used to make lead pipes and joints in building construction during the Roman era. It also was used as weights, bullets and shot. It is also a deadly neurotoxin.
Magnetite: an iron oxide of the spinel group and an important source of iron ore. Also known as “lodestone,” it is the most magnetic of all naturally occurring materials on earth and was first cited in literature in a Chinese text dating to the fourth century BCE. By the 12th century, the Chinese used the lodestone in navigation. The Vikings also learned how to use a lodestone compass.
Malachite: green copper carbonate, in early Greek mythology the throne of Demeter, goddess of the harvest, was made of malachite. It was used as a pigment for green paint until the 1800s and was carved into ornamentation and paneling.
Meerschaum: A hydrous magnesium sulfite sometimes found floating on the Black Sea. Used as a substitute for soapstone, fuller’s earth and as a building material, its chief use was as a pipe as it stains from smoke turning from yellow to red.
Mercury: Known to the ancient Chinese and Egyptians, it was thought to prolong life, heal fractures, and maintain good health. Often found in tombs. The ancient Greeks used mercury in ointments, the ancient Egyptians and Romans used it in cosmetics, which actually deformed the face, and by 500 BCE mercury was used to make amalgams with other metals. Alchemists thought mercury was “The First Matter” from which all metals were formed. Spanish and Italian mines dominated the production of mercury until the end of the 19th century. In Islamic Spain there were mercury-filled decorative pools. Old lighthouses used to float their Fresnel lenses on baths of mercury. Mercury and all its compounds are toxic.
Mica: Up until the 19th century, large flakes of mica were rare, mostly from China and then America. The Paleolithic people used mica for white pigment in cave paintings. The pyramid at Teotihuacan contains large amounts of mica to help it shine in the sun. The Hindus used powdered mica for certain rituals and the Padmanabhapuram palace had colored mica windows. Thin transparent sheets of mica were known as isinglass and were used as peepholes in boilers and lanterns because they were less likely to shatter when exposed to extremes in temperatures. Similar peepholes were used in isinglass curtains for horse-drawn carriages. Mariposite, a green form of mica, is used in architecture and for making jewelry. Minium: Lead Tetroxide. It was used as a red pigment in ancient Rome and in the medieval era for illuminating manuscripts as well as a style of miniature paintings.
Mirabalite: Used in Chinese traditional medicine and known as máng xiāo.
Montmorillonite: a very soft phyllosilicate. Bentonite clays containing this mineral have been used for thousands of years to infections and wounds as a poultice. It was also ingested.
Mullite: a rare clay aluminosilicate, it is produced artificially during smelting. It was discovered in 2006 that potters in the Hesse region of Germany used mullite to produce crucibles for alchemists that could withstand high temperatures. The formula for making it was kept a secret since the Medieval period.
Natron: Naturally occurring mixture of sodium bicarbonate found near evaporating saline lake beds. It was harvested by ancient Egyptians as a cleanser and was blended with oil as an early form of soap. It was used as a form of antiseptic for wounds, dried and preserved meat and fish, and was an ancient household insecticide. It was used to make leather and as a bleach for clothing. It found use in the mummification process and in come cultures was believed to enhance spiritual safety for both the living and the dead. Natron was added to castor oil to make smokeless fuel used by ancient artisans deep within tombs. It was an ingredient in the distinct pigment “Egyptian Blue” and was used in glass-making by Romans and others until around 640 CE.
Nephrite: A form of actinolite it is one of two types of jade. It was once believed to be a cure for kidney stones.
Nickel: Another element, it has been used for thousands of years but was isolated in 1751. Often confused for silver in the past, it was also added to bronze although most likely unintentionally.
Niter: Potassium nitrate. Originally called saltpeter. Known for thousands of years, it may have found use alongside soap and fertilizer, and was of great importance in making gunpowder.
Onyx: a cryptocrystalline form of quartz, it was carved to make bowls and other items as early as the Second Dynasty of ancient Egypt.
Orpiment: Monoclinic Arsenic Sulfide. Used in Roman times and in China, where it was used as a medicine. It was a fly poison and used to poison arrows. It was a favorite of alchemists due to its gold-like color. It was used as a paint pigment until the 19th century. It was also used to remove hides in the leather tanning industry.
Orthoclase: Common moonstone is mostly made up of this tectosilicate mineral. Rainbow moonstone is made of labradorite. Along with other potassium feldspars, orthoclase is a common raw material for making some types of glass and ceramics (porcelain), and in some scrubbing powders.
Palygorskite: magnesium aluminum phyllosilicate occurring in clay and known as a form of fuller’s earth. It was a key constituent of “Mayan blue,” a pigment used by ancient Mesoamerican cultures on ceramics, murals, sculptures, and textiles. The Mayan may have also used it as a medicine and it was added to pottery temper. Human sacrifice victims have been unearthed with the pigment on them. It was used in anti-diarrhea medicines until 2003.
Perlite: Amorphous volcanic glass. Not a real mineral, it has a high water content and can expand readily. Its low density and price allow it to be used in lightweight plaster and mortar, insulation, ceiling tiles, and clay additives.
Platinum: Used by pre-Columbian cultures in Ecuador, Europeans discovered it in the 1500s and brought it back to the Old World in the 1700s. The first platinum crucible was made in 1784. By 1786 the platinum age of Spain began.
Potassium alum: Occurs in nature as encrustations on rocks. It is astringent and antiseptic, used as a natural deodorant, for minor cuts and abrasions, and often seen in Ayurveda (phitkari or saurashtri) and traditional Chinese medicine (ming fan). It is also commonly used in water purification, leather tanning, fireproof textiles, and baking powder.
Pumice: solidified frothy lava composed of pyroclastic glass. Because it floats on water, after the Krakatoa explosion, pumice “rafts” helped sustain several species of animal and marine life and transported them elsewhere. Pumice is widely used to make lightweight concrete and insulative breeze blocks. As a part of concrete it has been used since Roman times. As an abrasive it is found in polishes, erasers, and cosmetic exfoliants.
Pyrite: Iron sulfide, generally with a brassy hue similar to gold, hence the common name fool’s gold. Known for creating sparks when struck against flint or steel, this mineral was popular in early firearms. Pyrolusite: Manganese dioxide and a significant source of manganese. Used extensively in the manufacture of alloys, as an oxidizing agent it is used in the preparation of chlorine and disinfectants and in decolorizing glass. It is a coloring agent producing violet, amber, and black colors to glass, pottery, and bricks, and is used in commercial calico printing and dying. Lastly it is used to make green and violet paint.
Pyrophyllite: phyllosilicate mineral in the clay family. The compact variety is used to make slate pencils and tailor’s chalk. It is carved into figurines by the Chinese. Blocks of it are quarried and sold for sculpturing.
Quartz: The most abundant mineral in the continental crust (feldspar more common to earth as a whole). It is of silica tetrahedra and comes in a variety of styles, including clear, rose, smoky, and milky, as well as gemstones such as citrine, amethyst, agates, carnelians, jasper, and tiger’s eye. In mythology it is most commonly identified as the mysterious maban of Australian aborigine history. Often found in cemeteries in Europe and Pliny the Elder believed it to be crystallized water, a believe that held until the 1600s. Its use as a prism is ancient. Smoky quartz is prized by Scottish residents that use it for all sorts of decorations.
Realgar: Arsenic sulfide mineral known in Roman antiquity for medicine and pigments. In China it was made into a wide variety of objects such as wine cups or pots, images, paperweight, and ornaments and charms believed to keep disease away. It is very poisonous.
Rhodochrosite: Manganese carbonate, typically a rose-red color, it is used as an ore for manganese. The Incas believed rhodochrosite was the blood of their former rulers.
Rhodonite: Manganese inosilicate, it is often worked as an ornamental stone.
Riebeckite: sodium variety of amphibole, riebeckite granite, known also as ailite, is preferred for curling stones by the Scottish, and is used to make stone structures.
Ruby: a variety of corundum, most references to rubies in ancient texts are most likely not about this particular stone. It is believed the Chinese did transport rubies on the North Silk Road as far back as 200 BCE. In Vedic traditions rubies are associated with the sun and have been esteemed in Asian countries, used in ornamental armor, scabbards, harnesses, and laid beneath the foundations of buildings to ensure good fortune.
Rutile: Titanium dioxide and the most common form of it found on earth. It is used as a pigment for paints, plastics, ceramics, paper, and food. Rutile is also the phenomenon in gemstones that causes asterism or “stars.”
Sal ammoniac: The archaic name for ammonium chloride, it occurs naturally as encrustations around volcanic vents. The “Salts of Ammon” were used by ancient Egyptians and other cultures as a flux in soldering stained glass, in jewelry making, and refinement of precious metals. It was used in the past for baking to give items like cookies a crisper texture. In Scandinavia it is still used to make Salmiak, a salty licorice.
Sapphire: a form of corundum in any color other than red, the sapphire wasn’t actually distinguished from other stones until the Roman Empire.
Scheelite: Calcium tungstate and an important ore of tungsten. Once a diamond substitute until replaced by cubic zirconia.
Serpentine: Three polymorph members of the family—antigorite, chrysotile, and lizardite—but serpentinite is essentially hydrous magnesium iron phyllosilicate. It is mainly used for building materials, railway ballasts, and some more attractive varieties make excellent gemstones. The Maori carved serpentine into beautiful figures called tangiwai and the lapis atracius of Classical Roman times is a serpentine breccia commonly found as a decorative facing stone. Serpentinite marble is often used in indoor setting as it does not weather well.
Silver: an element long valued as ornamentation, jewelry, utensils and tableware, medicine, and currency. Islam permits its followers to wear silver jewelry. Silver was a popular antidote and thought to repel monsters.
Smaltite: Cobalt nickel iron arsenide. The mineral was used in the preparation of smalt (powdered glass for dying) for producing a blue color in porcelain or glass.
Smithsonite: Also called zinc spar, it is zinc carbonate and used as an astringent, as fireproofing filler, and as a pigment, in cosmetics and lotions, and in manufacturing porcelain, or pottery.
Soapstone: A rock rather than a mineral, it is a talc schist and very soft. It is used for inlaid designs, sculptures, objects, countertops, and sinks. The Inuit use it for carvings and some Native American tribes card it for bowls, cooking slabs, and other objects. It is sometimes used for fireplace and stove surrounds. It is sometimes used as cookware. Tepe Yahya was a city in Iran that was a center for soapstone trade in the fifth to third millennia BCE. The Minoans of Crete built a libation table of the rock. The 18th century gravestones of the Georgia area were made of soapstone. The Hoysala Empire temples in India were made of soapstone.
Sulfur: Chemical element found in nature. Known in biblical times with the name brimstone, it was used by the Chinese in the earliest traditional medicines. It was used early on for its flammability. It is also used in fertilizers, gunpowder, matches, insecticides and fungicides, and in the late 18th century molten sulfur was used to create inlays on furniture, as well act as a medical tonic, laxative, and a bath for patients that had “fits.”
Tin: An element, it is a silvery malleable metal used in numerous alloys and one of the earliest metals known. Stone Age citizens determined that adding tin to copper produced bronze, harder than copper but much easier to work with. Tin mines in England, Brittany, and Spain were just one of the reasons the Romans invaded other countries. Shipments of tin traveled far and wide, helping to encourage international trade.
Topaz: a silicate mineral of aluminum and fluorine. The topaz is one of the gemstones quoted for use in the Jewish Hoshen, although it is believed chrysolite was actually the intended stone.
Tourmaline: A crystal silicate, it comes under the names of dravite, schorl, and elbaite. Schorls were mined in Germany in the Middle Ages.
Travertine: A sedimentary rock containing carbonate that was often used as a building material. The Colosseum of Rome, the Burghausen Castle, and others all used travertine.
Turquoise: a hydrous phosphate of copper and aluminum, it is opaque, bluish-green, and rare. It has been prized for thousands of years as an ornamental stone. It was one of the first gems to be mined, 2000 years ago in Iran, 5000 years ago or more in the Sinai area, and by pre-Columbian Mesoamericans. Southwestern tribes also mined the stone well before Columbus’s arrival. Even China has mined the stone for nearly 3000 years. Although not found in Turkey it was traded in Turkish bazaars to Venetian merchants from Asia and picked up the name “turquoise” from there. It wasn’t known in India until the 1500s and in Japan until the 18th century. Tutankhamen’s burial mask had turquoise inlay. Many translate the instructions in making the Jewish Hoshen to include a turquoise stone.
Umber: a natural brown clay of iron and manganese dioxides. When heated it becomes burnt umber. It has been used as a pigment since prehistory.
Unakite: Altered granite with pink orthoclase feldspar, green epidote, and colorless quartz. Takes a polish well and is carved into various ornaments.
NEXT UP: Modern and Futuristic uses for minerals and rocks
