Why did Clovis toolmakers choose difficult quartz crystal?

https://phys.org/news/2026-04-clovis-toolmakers-difficult-quartz-crystal.html

#HackerNews #ClovisTools #QuartzCrystal #Archaeology #AncientTechnology #Toolmaking

25% off #sale on wall #Art like #posters and #Canvas #Prints:
#Amethyst is #quartz #crystal that has been colored #purple, often due to inclusions of iron in the crystal.
The #Macro #Photograph shows several small, partial #terminations, where the crystal comes to a point.

Get a print of this or another image at https://heronfox.pixels.com/featured/macro-amethyst-surface-2-heron-and-fox.html

#AmethystCrystal, #SiliconDioxide, #SiO2, #QuartzCrystal, #PurpleCrystal, #MacroPhotography,

A #Macro view of a #quartz #crystal spar, jutting out from the main body of the crystal matrix.
Quartz is crystalline silicon dioxide and comes in many colors caused by inclusions of other elements or contaminants.

Get a print or other item with this image at https://heronfox.pixels.com/featured/quartz-crystal-specimen-4-heron-and-fox.html

#QuartzCrystal, #MacroPhotography, #Mineral, #Geology, #Photograph

A #Macro, forced-perspective view of a #quartz #crystal.
In the #ForcedPerspective, the scene resembles a nearby slope up a crystal mountain chain.
In the #MacroPhotography perspective, it’s just a partial termination of a crystal growing out of its rocky matrix.
Perspectives matter, and things are rarely as they seem.
One of Fox’s (the #photographer) professors, Dr. Hakeem Oluseyi (https://linktr.ee/drolu) once told him, “Never trust your intuition. It will mislead you every time.”
Fox has remembered this wisdom to this day (which is impressive because Fox’s memory is terrible. Also, it was a remark about alternating current circuits, but it still applies).

Get a print or other item with this image at https://heronfox.pixels.com/featured/flaws-in-a-quartz-specimen-heron-and-fox.html

#QuartzCrystal, #Mineral, #QuartzSpecimen, #Photograph

Currently a competitor in #MinCup23, #Quartz is a #crystalline form of silicon dioxide (#SiO2) with a trigonal #crystal system that, ideally, results in the growth of a hexagonal column with pointed ends, but nature rarely allows this, as this #Macro #image demonstrates.

Vote in #MineralCup23 at https://www.mineralcup.org/2023/campaigns/campaigns/round-2-match-2

Get a print of this image, or other merchandise, at

#QuartzCrystal, #Mineral, #MacroPhotography, #Photograph

#Amethyst is #quartz #crystal that has been colored #purple, often due to inclusions of iron in the crystal.
The #Macro #Photograph shows several small, partial #terminations, where the crystal comes to a point.

Get a print or other merchandise at https://heronfox.pixels.com/featured/macro-amethyst-surface-2-heron-and-fox.html

#AmethystCrystal, #SiliconDioxide, #SiO2, #QuartzCrystal, #PurpleCrystal, #MacroPhotography,

A #Macro #Photograph #quartz #crystal with a flat surface instead of a pointed termination.
This quartz has a milky whiteness caused by imperfections in the crystal.

Get a print or other merchandise at https://heronfox.pixels.com/featured/macro-quartz-flaw-heron-and-fox.html

#QuartzCrystal, #SiliconDioxide, #SiO2, #Macro, #MacroPhotography, #Photography

Here is a #Macro view of the termination of an #amethyst #crystal.
Amethyst is a form of #quartz (#SiliconDioxide).
The purple coloration are cause by inclusions of iron in the crystal.

Get a print or other merchandise at https://heronfox.pixels.com/featured/macro-amethyst-crystal-termination-heron-and-fox.html

#AmethystCrystal, #QuartzCrystal, #SiO2, #MacroPhotography, #Photograph

This piece of #blue #quartz is joined to the #rock it grew from.
#BlueQuartz is created when a growing silicon dioxide #crystal includes sodium or other silicate minerals.

Get a print or other merchandise at https://heronfox.pixels.com/featured/blue-quartz-specimen-with-matrix-1-heron-and-fox.html

#SiliconDioxide, #QuartzCrystal, #MacroPhotography, #Photograph