4.25" Polished, Striped Flint Nodule - Poland

Polished, Striped Flint Nodule - Poland #263790

This is a polished section of striped flint, collected from the Swietokrzyskie Mountains of Poland. This form of flint is fairly rare and typically displays a striking, banded striping pattern, hence its use today in jewelry. The cream, brown, and mahogany colors appeal to the senses in their swirled patterns, and are reminiscent of latte art.

Striped flint, also known as "banded flint", is a type of flint exhibiting concentric banding alternating between light and dark bands. This banding can vary in color, but the colors are most often shades of brown. It is believed to have formed by precipitation of silica directly from seawater, supported by its common occurrences as concretions within limestone deposits. The crystallinity is typically higher in the center of a concretion.

Most striped flint is mined from a deposit in southeastern Poland, near the cities of Sandomierz, Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski, and Iłża. It is found in deposits that are Upper Jurassic (Oxfordian) stage in age, or approximately 160 million years old.

Because of its rarity and distinctive look, striped flint from Poland is often used in jewelry. Its use goes back thousands of years: Neolithic peoples mined it in the area as far back as around 4,000 BC, and used it in the manufacturing of stone tools.

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