A Large Calcite Stalagmite Specimen c.700 B.C.

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Origin: Unknown
Period: Holocene
Provenance: The Christopher Hodsoll Collection
Date: Formed over Many Centuries 700 B.C.
Width: 16.5”
Height: 35.5”
Depth: 7”

The sculptural and attractively formed cave formation specimen standing at three feet tall in milky white calcite deposits showing attractive formations formed over thousands of years; the tall central spike with two smaller forms to the side,

In good overall condition she has had a repair to the largest spike, a hairline crack seen about four inches down which has been repaired and matched in. This aside she is stable and able to be placed free standing.

Stalagmites, some of the most familiar cave formations, are best known as upward-growing, massive calcite mounds deposited from drip water. The largest known stalagmite in the world is 62.2 metres (204 ft) high and is located in the cave of Cueva Martin Infierno, Cuba.

It can take a very long time for most to form, they usually grow anywhere between a quarter-inch and an inch every century with some over 190,000 years old. As an average growth rate of ½ an inch for every 100 years, this makes this particular specimen (very approximately) 7,100 years old, so it would have started to form at around the time when such goings on as were happening above ground as the domestication of the horse and for the domestication of the chicken and invention of the potter's wheel.

Nature’s own great sculptural masterpiece.
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