Rocks and Minerals, May/Jun 2005
Minerals and fossils from Morocco have dominated the market since the 1970s, but there never has been accessible literature about them, and collectors have had to live with disparate locality designations for identical material. The new Marokko, Land der schonen Mineralien und Fossilien remedies that with its thorough description of well-known and practically unknown localities. It is a worthwhile book for mineral and fossil collectors as well as for travel aficionados.
Immediately evident are the good and entertaining travel notes. The first twenty-two pages are filled with travel information, and under descriptions of individual localities, the authors describe how to get to the deposits and where to use four-wheel-drive vehicles, donkeys, or just walk. The book cannot replace a guide book, but the references to hotels and other practicalities will help you plan your own trip and will certainly entertain armchair travelers with all the local color. Obviously, not all locality descriptions are equally detailed, and the authors effectively encourage the reader to search for new and interesting specimens--the four pages on pegmatites in Tazenakht can only be seen as cursory, and there is an implicit neon sign flashing above: "Rare minerals to be found! Come and get me!" The two pages of "other localities" at the back make my pick hammer itch!
The majority of the book, 394 pages, describes thirty-four mineral localities in alphabetical order, covering such well-known sites as Mibladen and Touissit and such lesser-known ones as Melh (remarkable prehnite) and Oumjerane (superb azurite). The format is mostly the standard style used in mineral journals, with introduction, history of deposit, geology, mineral descriptions, and literature; notably the literature sets this book apart from others. References on Morocco are hard to find, most being published in Morocco and available in only a few libraries. Locality descriptions are accompanied by geological maps, historic and modern photos from the deposit, and color photos of specimens. Fortunately, the authors chose to also illustrate less conspicuous species such as vladimirite and manganomelane, not just the spectacular azurite, cerussite, and vanadinite specimens.
The locality chapters are followed by thematic chapters on agate, meteorites, falsified and treated specimens, and fossils. Most of the thirty-two pages on Moroccan agate are color plates of superb geodes with fantastic patterns and inclusions. My mind keeps arguing against my eyes--"that's not possible," "it doesn't exist," and so on. Truly, Morocco has superb agates, very different from those of other countries, and they come from a number of deposits. They are good enough for a specialized collection, though sadly overlooked by Moroccan dealers attending shows in Europe and the United States.
The sixty pages on palaeontology emphasize geology and stratigraphy and chiefly illustrate trilobites. Moroccan trilobites, goniatites, and orthoceratites have dominated the market for inexpensive fossils for years, and it is delightful to be able to read a thorough text on them. The chapter is styled differently from the mineral chapters, with the emphasis on chronology, and tells remarkably little about the individual fossils. There is no description of individual species, which would obviously have required an even larger book of its own, and the depicted fossils are more general illustrations than a core part of the story. I would have preferred to know a bit more about a bit less, but that is an editorial choice. The most important point is that there is so much more in Morocco than we ever see in the market.
The section on preparation and falsified fossils is thought-provoking--not because repaired and falsified fossils are new and unheard of, but because of the social context. It is often claimed that Moroccan fossils are invariably glued or forged. That is not true, but collectors at every financial tier always chase better specimens, preferably at an even lower price ... and Morocco supplies inexpensive craftsmanship! This is also worthwhile reading for mineral collectors, as it reveals the conditions for producing mineral and fossil specimens in poor countries.
I have only two substantial criticisms of the book. It lacks a proper index; there is a mineral index but none of fossils or localities, making it difficult to find information. For example, where do you read about Bou Offroh? Under the Bou Azzer heading, but I had to search for it. Most locality chapters have good descriptions of how to get to sites ("turn right on the second dirt road after the sign towards ..."), but I would really much rather have had a fair topographic map of the immediate vicinity of each locality than the large-scale map showing the position of the locality relative to Rabat and Marrakech. It is near trivial, I know, but that is what I missed.
The book is very well written and entertaining, and it has a much wider audience than the title suggests. I strongly recommend it, whether you collect minerals or fossils or just fancy a good story. There is far more background information than is normally provided in books of this kind, and it was obviously written with deep insight and love of the subject. This is a great idea for a Christmas gift, and it would be a wonderful addition to any club library.
-Claus Hedegaard
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