Agate/Quartz Slab, 7" W x 8: T x .75"D, 2.64 Lbs. (Stand Not Included) store

Agate is the name given to numerous varieties of banded Chalcedony, a mineral of the Quartz group. Like other Quartz minerals, Agates have trigonal crystal structure and store a hardness of 7.

The name Agate comes from the river Achetes in Sicily where Agates were found in ancient times. Agates have been discovered with the artifacts of Neolithic people and they were used by the early Egyptians before 3000 B.C. The stones were also utilized in jewelry in ancient India. Native Agates were the foundation of a German stonecutting and polishing industry which flourished from the 15th through 19th centuries and still exists today.