Hugh Raffles is Professor of Anthropology at the New School in New York. His most recent book is The Book of Uncomformities: Speculations on Lost Time (Pantheon).

Features
A giant amethyst geode from Uruguay, installed in the Mignone Halls of Gems and Minerals at the American Museum of Natural History, New York. Photo: Timothy A. Clary/AFP via Getty Images

Jewel identity – what can we glean from gems and minerals in museums?

In museums, minerals are both everyday matter and also objects of scientific interest – but they carry more intangible meanings too

18 Nov 2021

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