period: Neoproterozoic – Cambrian (550-500 million years ago)

excavation site: Stronie Śląskie (Lower Silesia)

Marble is a metamorphic rock shaped by high pressure and temperature. It is composed mainly from calcium carbonate (calcite) – the same substance which creates “the scale” settling in the kitchen or bathroom. Marianna comes in white and green variations, with heterochromatic smudges coloured with iron compounds and mica minerals. The name of the marble comes from the name of duchess Marianna Orańska who was the owner of a large part of the Śnieżnik Massif and Bialskie Mountains, where the seams are located. The white Marianna was used in the interiors of the Parliament, the National Philharmonic, the Grand Theatre and Warsaw Central Railway Station.

The piece comes from the collection of Polish Academy of Sciences Museum of the Earth in Warsaw.