Talk:Obsidian

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To-do list for Obsidian: edit · history · watch · refresh · Updated 2009-04-30 Each paragraph should end with at least one reference, as long as it is not trivial and common knowledge. References in the middle of a paragraph are usually not valid for the sentences afterwards in the same paragraph. The chemical composition is only given as 70-75% (probably percent by weight?) SiO2 plus MgO, Fe3O4, and water. This should be refined. The natural weathering process of obsidian is only very shortly described (transformation to perlite) and should be expanded. It is used in archeology for estimating the age of obsidian artifacts such as spear heads and knifes.

There is a request, submitted by Catfurball, for an audio version of this article to be created. For further information, see WikiProject Spoken Wikipedia. The rationale behind the request is: "Important".

Not sure why this is semi-protected for another year, but I see no mention of the Mesoamerican use of Obsidian to view the sun and track its movements as part of their astronomy research. Just a thought. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.107.136.51 (talk) 02:30, 4 July 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Glass says that in the US, "obsidian prevention is prohibited by law." Any further information? - Montréalais 08:32, 24 Dec 2004 (UTC)

"obsidian collection is prohibited...". I'm intrigued, too. EdDavies 22:49, 23 September 2005 (UTC)[reply]

I believe it's only the taking of obsidian artifacts from national parks and archaeological sites that's actually illegal. SamEV 08:22, 31 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Yes, that seems to make a lot more sense. I'll put a note on Talk:Glass about it. EdDavies 22:58, 17 November 2005 (UTC)[reply]

I have a large piece of Obsidian, I think its very unusal to find this type in the area that I live (Kitchener, Ontario Canada). If anyone out there has any information on Obsidian and where it is usually found I would be quite interested to hear.

Thanks (Curious) — Preceding unsigned comment added by 65.93.140.226 (talk) 22:49, 13 July 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I would guess that it was eroded out of its primary deposit and carried along with a glacier. Then when the glacier receded, it dropped out. Ask your local university about moraines in your area. Woland37 18:29, 30 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Obsidian is rare, though sizable obsidian (even large boulders) are common at Newberry Volcanic monument in central Oregon. The reason it is rare is because it forms from high-silica lava, must cool quickly before crystals can form, and must be free of volatiles. Also keep in mind that just because a shield volcano may spew low-silica basaltic lava doesn't mean it never has (or ever will) spew high-silica rhyolitic lava, Newberry is an example. If you don't want to drill bore holes I would explore volcanic vents with recent lava flows (particularly short and jagged ones, but there are exceptions, Ring Creek lava flow is one) near glaciers. Mount Garibaldi in British Columbia is a good example having Holocene rhyodacitic lava flows and The Barrier which is a rock wall formed from the collision of lava and glacier. This MINFILE record inspired a few of us to go investigate the area last summer, but it's a good bet that any obsidian is either controlled in a park, owned by a resource company, or buried Exsuscito (talk) 22:32, 15 April 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Nice start to an article, but very biased towards the US and MesoAmerica (probably because the writers know those areas best). There's nothing on the amazing Palaeolithic, Epipalaeolithic and Neolithic obsidian tools from the Middle East, especially Iraq? I saw some fantastic long obsidian blades and blade cores in Mosul Museum in Iraq in 1989, but suspect they have long since been bombed or smashed. The Maori used obsidian in New Zealand. There are lots of other locations and cultures where obsidian occurs and has been utilised - anyone with more information able to expand? 81.159.88.164 (talk) 15:42, 11 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Hello. Evidence continues to build concurring that trade and use of obsidian appears to have been widespread across Oceania at least as far back as the 2nd millennium BCE with the Lapita people and possibly back tens of thousands of years with the Austronesian-speakers who came before them. This stands to reason, considering the highly volcanic geography of that entire portion of the globe. I'm only still learning myself, but here are some scholarly sources that might help:

https://www.jstor.org/stable/40387061?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents

http://www.jps.auckland.ac.nz/document//Volume_98_1989/Volume_98%2C_No._2/The_Lapita_homeland%3A_some_new_data_and_an_interpretation%2C_by_J._Allen%2C_p_129-146/p1

https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/antiquity/article/tracking-ancient-beachlines-inland-2600yearold-dentatestamped-ceramics-at-hopo-vailala-river-region-papua-new-guinea/87D531ADD43D6EEFCD6204AF827B925C

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/j.1834-4453.1997.tb00375.x

https://www.jstor.org/stable/42928778?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/arco.5139

Also The Sea and Civilization: A Maritime History of the World by Lincoln Paine, 2013 Knopf-Doubleday (audiobook: 2018 Tantor Audio) ISBN-13: 9781101970355

I'm sorry to just post a bunch of web addresses but I am limited in what I can do. I contribute rarely so I hope this isn't particularly bad form or anything; my intentions are sincere. I have only included scholarly articles and one book, no secondary sources or 'pedias.

I think this region of trade is suspected to have been broad enough to include Malaysia, Borneo, Siam, and maybe India, but like I said I'm still learning and can't provide any specifics on that. I hope this helps. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2601:602:9400:75CC:C5F:D762:188B:8EB8 (talk) 04:10, 29 June 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Obsidian is more than one color. It can be red,brown,black. And in Rainbow Obsidian blue, green, red, orange or yellow. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 168.169.26.3 (talk) 18:52, 30 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

whats the resource —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.155.172.116 (talk) 18:15, 22 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I don't know about the rest of those colours, but green obsidian is found at Pachuca. It's also mentioned in Obsidian use in Mesoamerica. Here's a rather long reference that's a pretty good read if you're into that subject. 50.64.119.38 (talk) 07:27, 10 October 2017 (UTC) https://books.google.ca/books?id=wX4UMndFQgQC&pg=PA223&lpg=PA223&dq=Green+obsidian+-healing+-sell+-sale&source=bl&ots=u_osrwFFYv&sig=26dv8a9IBk9PG1of8r4ja-yP6DE&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwium8GRv-XWAhXBjVQKHaoFBDsQ6AEIsAEwHg#v=onepage&q=Green%20obsidian%20-healing%20-sell%20-sale&f=false[reply]

Another interesting you could post about minerals is how to cut and shape them. I have a friend who tried to cut obsidian on his own with a hammer and a chisel and ended up slicing himself something nasty. Knowing how to home shape a mineral or at least a warning not to could be useful to some. ~~Mr. Wonderful~~

Mr Wonderful:

Your friend is an idiot. Obsidian fractures with EXTREMELY sharp edges. Obsidian has been / is used by surgeons due to its potential for an extremely sharp edge. It is much sharper than man-made steel blades, and should not be worked except by those that understand the danger involved. If interested in working siliceous rock, do some research on flintknapping. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 216.114.231.175 (talk) 02:52, 27 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Is there really a natural material called "metallic obsidian" as shown in one image? If not the image should be removed. Wilson44691 (talk) 22:19, 31 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

what is the sources!??!??! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.163.16.93 (talk) 20:38, 1 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Find them yourself instead of taking advantage of this wiki. - M0rphzone (talk) 23:59, 26 December 2011 (UTC)[reply]

i was wondering, which would make a sharper, overall better, blade. Obsidian or ceramic with zirconium oxide? Wesleyburchard1 (talk) 05:25, 3 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Obsidian is a common material in many fictional settings, for example: minecraft and A Song of Ice and Fire, shouldn't this be mentioned in the article?

It is not, by itself, notable that a real material exists in a fictional setting. (Consider how many settings feature leather and wood.) Moreover, while obsidian may relate to Minecraft, the question for this article is whether Minecraft relates to obsidian in a significant way. 144.118.165.17 (talk) 18:52, 14 April 2014 (UTC)[reply]

I do consider it significant. I didn't play Minecraft but in ASOIAF it's very important material. Some section e.g. Obsidian in art or something like that should be added. --ᛒᚨᛊᛖ (ᛏᚨᛚᚲ) 16:24, 15 June 2014 (UTC)[reply]

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i would like to requset to edit this text Raine2233 (talk) 23:15, 20 March 2018 (UTC)[reply]

 Not done: this is not the right page to request additional user rights. You may reopen this request with the specific changes to be made and someone will add them for you, or if you have an account, you can wait until you are autoconfirmed and edit the page yourself. — IVORK _Discuss 23:24, 20 March 2018 (UTC)[reply]

• green Obsidian (Pachuca, Hidalgo, Mexico)
• "Rainbow velvet" Obsidian (Mexico) (ebay ?)
• "Mahogany" Obsidian (Oregon) (ebay ?)
• "Green Gray Banded" Obsidian (ebay ?)
• "Marconi" Obsidian (ebay ?)
• "Velvet" Obsidian (ebay ?)
• "snowflake" Obsidian (brazil) (ebay ?)
• "Apache tears" Obsidian (Arizona) (ebay ?)

Z75SG61Ilunqpdb (talk) 02:07, 7 May 2018 (UTC)[reply]

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Please rename the section Historical Use as Prehistoric Use.

Explanation: History by definition starts with the invention of writing after 3000BC. Whereas all the obsidian cultures listed in this section are much older, up to 1.5 million years old. So prehistoric, not historic. 31.4.130.55 (talk) 21:08, 6 February 2020 (UTC)[reply]

 Not done. Historical can also refer to the past generally, so the usage is correct. Whether or not its ideal, I'll leave to discussion. –Deacon Vorbis (carbon • videos) 21:19, 6 February 2020 (UTC)[reply]

I think you are confusing "historical" with "ancient". "Historical" refers to history (Neanderthals for example were not historical, but pre-historic), whereas "ancient" refers to Antiquity (anything in the past, for example ancient Greeks in 600BC, or ancient forms of hominins such as Australopithecines 4 million years ago). You are partly right in that "history" can be used in a narrative sense (History of the Neanderthals, History of the World), identical with the shortened form "story". But that is not the case here: the Wikipedia article says "History" but does not offer a narrative, and instead comes up exclusively with deeply prehistoric items up to a million years old. It really looks embarrassingly illiterate, as if the author has never learned English or history in school. 31.4.128.80 (talk) 22:40, 6 February 2020 (UTC)[reply]

 Partly done: The time periods described in the text of that section span a very wide time frame, easily including times generally considered both pre-history and historical. Changed per MOS:HEADINGS Eggishorn (talk) (contrib) 17:56, 7 February 2020 (UTC)[reply]

I just visited this article, because I read about obsidian regularly in various books and wanted to know what it actually is. To my surprise, this article contains a section "Literary references". Even though I personally don't think such a section is warranted at all in an article about a material, if it's there and there's consensus about its merits, it requires attention. Currently a single reference is made, while literature is rife with references to obsidian. Even though I can't find some of the references I'm sure of, there at least exists an obsidian trilogy and a series Obsidian mirror. There are definitely more sci-fi and fantasy links possible. And maybe the Aztec god Ītzpāpālōtl also deserves mention. HSNie (talk) 22:13, 15 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Obsidian is such a common material, and its use by humans is so pervasive,that I think I agree that this section is not warranted. It would be like having a section on "Literary references" in the article on Water. --Kent G. Budge (talk) 22:30, 15 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]

And it seems to just be a magnet for Minecruft. --Kent G. Budge (talk) 04:51, 2 March 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Ok, I will remove the section with a reference to the Talk page. If anyone makes a good argument to keep the section, this can easily be reverted. HSNie (talk) 15:47, 5 March 2021 (UTC)[reply]

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In the section Prehistoric and Historical Use/Middle East and Asia, this text appears: " The use of obsidian tools was present in Japan near areas of volcanic activity.[46][47] Obsidian was mined during the Jōmon period."

The link on "Jōmon period" (and only those words) goes to the page "Hoshikuso Pass obsidian mine site", a specific example of obsidian mining in Japan during the Jōmon period. This structure makes it look like the link is to "Jōmon period"; to conform to MOS:LINKCLARITY, the link should be expanded, for example:

"Obsidian was mined during the Jōmon period."

Broader questions about sentence structure, specificity, relevance, etc. may be relevant here but are outside the scope of this edit request. Greeengemini (talk) 21:15, 25 January 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks for reporting this. I have changed the text of the article as per your suggested text. GeoWriter (talk) 22:05, 25 January 2024 (UTC)[reply]

If Obsidian is >70% SiO2 what is the other <30%? There must be Laser or Mass spectrometry results that that can be averaged to better describe the undefined <30%. Tim (talk) 00:34, 17 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks for raising this point. Details of the composition of the other 30% have been added to the article. GeoWriter (talk) 19:17, 17 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]