I have 2 meerschaums and I got curious about what it is. I combined a few paragraphs as a short explanation (if you already know this, go on to the next post and I'll be quiet!).
Meerschaum is a German word describing a soft mineral, which literally means “sea foam” alluding to the belief that it was the compressed whitecaps of waves, just as it is said in myhtology for the goddess of beauty – Aphrodite.
Meerschaum has been formed through hydration of magnesium and silicon-based rock debris in ‘alteration’layers at various depths in the Earth’s crust by hydrothermal effects.
Eskisehir, Turkey and its surroundings have always had extremely favourable natural conditions for the settlement of people since the earliest times in history. During archaeological researches conducted in order to shed light on this distant past, it has been established, that people knew meerschaum 5000 years ago and used it for various purposes in the course of time.
Here are some pics of Eskisehir, where the Meerschaum is "harvested."
Meerschaum is a German word describing a soft mineral, which literally means “sea foam” alluding to the belief that it was the compressed whitecaps of waves, just as it is said in myhtology for the goddess of beauty – Aphrodite.
Meerschaum has been formed through hydration of magnesium and silicon-based rock debris in ‘alteration’layers at various depths in the Earth’s crust by hydrothermal effects.
Eskisehir, Turkey and its surroundings have always had extremely favourable natural conditions for the settlement of people since the earliest times in history. During archaeological researches conducted in order to shed light on this distant past, it has been established, that people knew meerschaum 5000 years ago and used it for various purposes in the course of time.
Here are some pics of Eskisehir, where the Meerschaum is "harvested."
