# Rock id help - eskimo stone **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 20, 2011, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-id-help-eskimo-stone/575301 "2011-03-20T00:33:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![madrabbitwoman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c37758/32.png) [@madrabbitwoman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madrabbitwoman)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2011, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-id-help-eskimo-stone/575301/1 "2011-03-20T00:33:26Z")
I have a rock I obtained as part of a job lot from Canada . It is clearly labeled as Eskimo stone [http://www.flickr.com/photos/madrabbitwoman/5541518852/](http://www.flickr.com/photos/madrabbitwoman/5541518852/) Streak black Hardness 6 Colour black with grey fibrous substance around the outside Lustre waxy Anyone have any idea what the rock’s actual name might be. Googling Eskimo stone has given me very little info ---
**Author:** ![Twoflower](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/twoflower/32/22_2.png) [@Twoflower](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Twoflower)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2011, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-id-help-eskimo-stone/575301/2 "2011-03-20T01:19:58Z")
looks like obsidian to me ---
**Author:** ![madrabbitwoman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c37758/32.png) [@madrabbitwoman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madrabbitwoman)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2011, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-id-help-eskimo-stone/575301/3 "2011-03-20T02:16:30Z")
> [@Twoflower](#): > > looks like obsidian to me I don’t think it is obsidian because the lustre is not vitreous and the streak is definitely black (obsidian streak is white) ---
**Author:** ![GreasyJack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/df705f/32.png) [@GreasyJack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreasyJack)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2011, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-id-help-eskimo-stone/575301/4 "2011-03-20T02:56:13Z")
It could be some sort of amphibole asbestos, although amphiboles usually streak lighter and are vitreous. There are some that streak darker grey or brown and the asbestos varieties sometimes have “silky” luster, which can look similar to waxy. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2011, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-id-help-eskimo-stone/575301/5 "2011-03-20T03:00:25Z")
Looks like coal to me. What’s it smell like? ---
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2011, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-id-help-eskimo-stone/575301/6 "2011-03-20T03:25:35Z")
Could it be [soapstone](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soapstone)? That’s the only stone I can think off offhand that’s associated with the Inuit/Eskimo in Canada. Carvings and artwork are quite popular tourist souvenirs. ---
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2011, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-id-help-eskimo-stone/575301/7 "2011-03-20T03:30:28Z")
I saw the title of the thread and thought this would be about music. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2011, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-id-help-eskimo-stone/575301/8 "2011-03-20T03:32:44Z")
> [@mnemosyne](#): > > Could it be [soapstone](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soapstone)? Soapstone, at 1 on the Mohs hardness scale, is much softer than what the OP described. ---
**Author:** ![madrabbitwoman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c37758/32.png) [@madrabbitwoman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madrabbitwoman)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2011, 8:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-id-help-eskimo-stone/575301/9 "2011-03-20T08:04:17Z")
I thought of soapstone too and that’s why I decided to test the hardness - it is harder than apatite and a knife blade but softer than orthoclase feldspar. Sorry I have a bad sinus infection so smelling it is out of the question I have tried to take some close up pics - I don’t know if they will be useful [http://www.flickr.com/photos/madrabbitwoman/5542431380/](http://www.flickr.com/photos/madrabbitwoman/5542431380/) A bit of the back-story I bought a rocks from eBay last year - they came in a nicely labeled divided box - eventually (3 months to arrive - posted 1 month before I got them). The next issue was the painted rocks (yep he painted some of rocks so they would look authentic in the eBay photo - only 6 though - obviously he had run out of those ones). Some of the rocks were correct and some were just lumps of calcite or quartz, some mislabeled and some just in the wrong spot. So I have been going through the whole 156 of them to double check and try to identify whats what - only 28 to go after this one. The person I bought from was kicked off ebay for a while but I notice he is back selling rocks. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2011, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-id-help-eskimo-stone/575301/10 "2011-03-20T14:24:46Z")
> [@madrabbitwoman](#): > > I thought of soapstone too and that’s why I decided to test the hardness - it is harder than apatite and a knife blade but softer than orthoclase feldspar. > > Sorry I have a bad sinus infection so smelling it is out of the question > > I have tried to take some close up pics - I don’t know if they will be useful > [http://www.flickr.com/photos/madrabbitwoman/5542431380/](http://www.flickr.com/photos/madrabbitwoman/5542431380/) > > A bit of the back-story > I bought a rocks from eBay last year - they came in a nicely labeled divided box - eventually (3 months to arrive - posted 1 month before I got them). The next issue was the painted rocks (yep he painted some of rocks so they would look authentic in the eBay photo - only 6 though - obviously he had run out of those ones). Some of the rocks were correct and some were just lumps of calcite or quartz, some mislabeled and some just in the wrong spot. So I have been going through the whole 156 of them to double check and try to identify whats what - only 28 to go after this one. > > The person I bought from was kicked off ebay for a while but I notice he is back selling rocks. I typed in “black rock mhos hardness 6” and up popped “nuummite”. Description [here](http://www.mindat.org/min-30937.html).