TYPES OF STONE

THE STONE USED BY ARTISTS IN ZIMBABWE are identified by their common or local names and reflect the character of the rock. Although found all over the country, a rich variety of hard rocks have been exposed at the surface by natural weathering processes, making them available to carvers, primarily in the Eastern Highlands and along a unique outcropping of volcanic rock known as the Great Dyke which runs 520 km across the center of the country. The Great Dyke is rich in gems and minerals and forms the longest linear mineralogical outcropping of volcanic rock in the world.

Serious sculptors prefer the hardest varieties. These dense stones have extremely fine grains and uniform structure, making them ideal raw materials for sculpting. The value of a sculpture is of course based on the skill of the artist but also reflects the type of stone used, rarity and intrinsic value of the stone itself, its natural beauty as reflected in the art, and the hardness of the stone - typically the harder the stone, the more difficult it is to carve and the more value is placed on the work.

The following are the primary types of stone mined for carving in Zimbabwe: