NeolithicStone.com
Title
index - The sculpture stone and carving stone source for the stone sculptor
Description
This is the introductory page to a section that has been created to explain some of the diverse and sometimes confusing terminology used regarding carving stone. The list of terminology that we have created is drawn from various areas, but all of it is meant to be relevant to the stone sculptor. To find out more information about how a mineral is different from a rock and the properties of minerals that are important for sculpture visit our Mineral Properties page. To find out information about characteristics that are important to stone carving visit our Stone Characteristics page (currently under construction). These pages have been created from our desire to help you have a better understanding of stone and because of your requests for information. If you have any suggestions regarding information you would like to see included in these pages let us know.
The following information will hopefully help clarify some of the terminology that is used on our website, amongst stone sculptors, and in the commercial stone industry, the latter of which is especially known for using many different terms without consistency. This list uses red for generic terms that are used commonly by industry, and blue for more precise mineral names. Mineral names are followed by the chemical composition (except those that are more complex) and the symbol "H" with a number indicating the hardness. This information is not meant to be comprehensive as there are many more (possibly hundreds) of stones that can be carved so we have tried to cover the most commonly carved stones, and some of the more unique carving stones that we may have in stock.
Alabaster - Usually describes the mineral Gypsum, especially the varieties that are compact, take a good polish, and often have some degree of translucency. This term has occasionally been applied to some types of very pure, fine grained and semi-translucent Marbles such as much of the stone used in ancient Egypt for both functional and decorative objects.
