Hedgehog Moldavite

[CMD]

Now there's a cryptic title :huh: I don't know much about this, but thought I'd post something unusual. It's a type of tektite from Central Europe. Like other tektites, associated with a meteoric impact, about 15 million years ago. These are known as Moldavites.

And this particular specimen is a "hedgehog" because of it's spines. I don't know if this is a prize, but I do know hedgehogs in general are prized as the best Moldavites.
Here's a bit about Moldavites in general:
http://nevada-outback-gems.com/miner...neral_info.htm

And info on hedgehog Moldavites. They come from a specific area, a village named Besednice. I think that would be the Czech Republic, but I am not very knowledgable on these things, had a chance to buy one once, and did. The example here is pretty small I think.
http://moldavite.biz/my-moldavite-ob...ice-moldavite/

http://www.aboutmoldavites.com/hedgehog-besednice/

A 3.3 gm Hedgehog Moldavite. Light as a feather. Translucent. Pretty color, strange form. Created by a meteoric impact. Blasted into space and dropped back to Earth. Never really collected tektites, and have little knowledge about their formation, but this is strange stuff. Looks like a piece of lettuce :dunno:

[JoshinMO]

They almost look knapped.  hmy:  Neat!

[painshill]

Nice specimen Charlie.
Besednice is indeed in the Czech Republic, where the main strewnfield is located, but the impact crater where the material was formed is at Nordlingen in Germany. The feathery, flower-like and hedgehog forms are highly prized... but they're the result of subsequent weathering and etching after they fell to Earth.
Way back when, I put some information in a thread here:

http://www.arrowheads.com/index.php/forum/geology/18640-moments-in-time-i#18640

[CMD]

Thanks, Roger. I did know weathering created these special forms, and not the actual impact. But even that is something I learned only very recently.