A 12-Year-Old Just Found a 1,500-Year-Old Roman Gemstone in Galilee

Sometimes the best finds happen on a school field trip. On June 2, 2026, the Israel Nature and Parks Authority announced that a 12-year-old sixth-grader, Alon Horvitz, discovered an approximately 1,500-year-old deep blue gemstone while participating in an educational archaeological dig at Korazim National Park in the Galilee, at the site of an ancient Jewish village.

According to dig director Dr. Achia Kohn-Tavorn, the stone is a Nicolo — a banded variety of agate, itself a member of the chalcedony family (the same broad mineral group as carnelian and jasper). Nicolo stones were prized in the Roman world and commonly carved into signet rings and jewelry as a marker of wealth and high social standing, their distinctive dark, banded layers making them ideal for engraving.

It's a nice reminder that gemstone history isn't confined to museum cases — the same stones that show up in our own cabochons and beads have been valued, carried, and worn by people for thousands of years, sometimes turning up again in the most unexpected places.

See the chalcedony family up close in our cabochon collection.

Source: The Jerusalem Post, June 2026.

Written by Nic Scogna, a photographer and mineral collector based in Lexington, Kentucky, and the founder of Crystal Earth Gallery and Kyanite King Minerals. For over 25 years, he has traveled to mineral localities across the U.S. — from Maine to California — personally sourcing the specimens, gemstones, and photographic subjects featured here. When not out in the field, Nic writes about mineralogy, collecting, and the craft of turning raw stone into wearable art.