Editing Chalcedony (section)

== History ==
[[File:Titus cameo.jpg|upright|thumb|Chalcedony [[Cameo (carving)|cameo]] of [[Titus]] head, 2nd century AD]]
Chalcedony was used in tool making as early as 32,000 BP in [[Central Australia]] where archaeological studies at sites in the Cleland Hills uncovered flakes from stone brought in from quarries many kilometres away.<ref>{{Cite journal |url= https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/a0ef/cdca1322f84930b28bdb347b601ae04e27ff.pdf|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20200722173108/https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/a0ef/cdca1322f84930b28bdb347b601ae04e27ff.pdf|title=Characterizing Late Pleistocene and Holocene Stone Artefact Assemblages from Puritjarra Rock Shelter: A Long Sequence from the Australian Desert |last=Smith |first=M. |journal=Records of the Australian Museum |date=2006 |volume=58 |issue=3 |pages=371–410 |publisher=Australian Museum |doi=10.3853/J.0067-1975.58.2006.1470 |s2cid=86522736 |url-status=live |archive-date=2020-07-22 |hdl=1885/27417 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> Pre-contact uses described in the twentieth century included ceremonial stone knives.<ref>{{Cite book |title=The Archaeology of Australian Deserts |last=Smith |first=Mike |date=2013 |page=295}}</ref>

Chalcedony was used for green and yellow color in prehistoric cave paintings, for example at the [[Bhimbetka rock shelters]]. The chalcedony was ground to powder form then mixed with water and animal fat or tree resin or gum.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Rock Art of India – Pre and protohistoric cultures of India |url=https://ebooks.inflibnet.ac.in/icp02/chapter/rock-art-of-india/ |access-date=2024-05-03 |website=ebooks.inflibnet.ac.in}}</ref>

In the [[Bronze Age]] chalcedony was in use in the [[Mediterranean]] region; for example, on [[Minoan civilization|Minoan]] [[Crete]] at the Palace of [[Knossos]], chalcedony [[Minoan seal-stones|seal]]s have been recovered dating to circa 1800 [[Before Christ|BC]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.themodernantiquarian.com/site/10854/knossos.html#fieldnotes |title=Knossos fieldnotes |last=Hogan |first=C. Michael |date=2007 |publisher=Modern Antiquarian |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160409225800/http://www.themodernantiquarian.com/site/10854/knossos.html#fieldnotes |archive-date=2016-04-09 }}</ref> People living along the [[Central Asia]]n trade routes used various forms of chalcedony, including [[carnelian]], to carve [[Intaglio (jewellery)|intaglios]], ring bezels (the upper faceted portion of a gem projecting from the ring setting), and beads that show strong Greco-Roman influence.

Fine examples of first century objects made from chalcedony, possibly [[Kushan Empire|Kushan]], were found in recent years at [[Tillya-tepe]] in north-western [[Afghanistan]].<ref>Section 12 of the translation of ''Weilue'' – a 3rd-century Chinese text by John Hill under "carnelian" and note 12.12 (17)A. Also see Afghanistan's exhibition: [http://www.farlang.com/profiles/afghanistan-museum-kabul/product.2009-03-24.6644617360 Intaglio with depiction of a griffin, Chalcedony, 4th century BC, Afghanistan] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120225063934/http://www.farlang.com/profiles/afghanistan-museum-kabul/product.2009-03-24.6644617360 |date=February 25, 2012 }}
</ref> Hot wax would not stick to it so it was often used to make [[Seal (emblem)|seal]] impressions.
The term ''chalcedony'' is derived from the name of the ancient Greek town Chalkedon in [[Asia Minor]], in modern English usually spelled [[Chalcedon]], today the [[Kadıköy]] district of [[Istanbul]].

[[File:ChalcedonyKnifeNPS.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.3|Chalcedony knife, AD 1000–1200]]
According to tradition, at least three varieties of chalcedony were used in the Jewish High Priest's Breastplate. (Jewish tradition states that Moses' brother Aaron wore the Breastplate, with inscribed gems representing the twelve tribes of Israel.) The Breastplate supposedly included ''jasper'', ''chrysoprase'' and ''sardonyx'', and there is some debate as to whether other ''agates'' were also used.

In the 19th century, [[Idar-Oberstein]], Germany, became the world's largest chalcedony processing center, working mostly on agates. Most of these agates were from Latin America, in particular Brazil. Originally the agate carving industry around Idar and Oberstein was driven by local deposits that were mined in the 15th century.<ref name="streeter1">{{Cite book |title=Precious Stones and Gems |last=Streeter |first=Edwin |date=1898 |page=237}}</ref> Several factors contributed to the re-emergence of Idar-Oberstein as agate center of the world: ships brought agate nodules back as ballast, thus providing extremely cheap transport.  In addition, cheap labor and a superior knowledge of chemistry allowed them to dye the agates in any color with processes that were kept secret. Each mill in Idar-Oberstein had four or five grindstones. These were of red sandstone, obtained from Zweibrücken; and two men ordinarily worked together at the same stone.<ref name="streeter1" />