The first Russian amethyst: history and geology

The archaeological finds of processed jewellery stones and products with them in ancient Russian cities are rare as are unprocessed jewellery stones, which are either raw materials or waste of jewellery craft. Among these stones are amethysts. They were found during excavations in Moscow, Tver, and Veliky Novgorod.

The literature in Russia provides only references to oral sources. Little is known from the publications abroad.

"A Description of the Northern Peoples" (the first edition of the book is dated 1555) by Olaus Magnus, a Swedish historian and cartographer of the 16th century, mentions amethysts "near Kola", that is, probably, the Kola Peninsula. Presumably, these are the amethysts of the Tersky coast.

The coast in the estuary part of the Varzuga River began to be developed quite early, as evidenced by archaeological finds from the era of the early Iron Age and the 12th and 13th centuries.

In the 15th century, the territory of the Tersky coast was actively settled by people from the Novgorod and Pskov lands. Two large administrative units were formed here, i.e. the Umba Volost and the Varzuga Volost, with the centres in the settlements that had the same names, accordingly. The territories were controlled by Veliky Novgorod.

The widely known amethyst deposit "Cape Ship" and the most significant manifestations of this mineral on the Tersky coast were located on the territory of the Varzuga Volost.

The first geological description of amethysts on the Tersky coast was made by mining engineer Nikolai Shirokshin. The description was based on the results of his expedition to the Kola Peninsula in 1835.

In the Soviet times, the explorations on the coast revealed traces of mining, apparently, of the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century.

Archaeological excavations in recent years have led to a number of finds of amethyst.

As a result of the research, the Kola amethysts are thought to be the first find of this stone in Russia.