Moldavite is an olive-green or dull greenish vitreous substance possibly formed by a meteorite impact. It is one kind of tektite.It was named by A. Dufrnoy from Moldauthein (Týn nad Vltavou) in Bohemia, where it occurs. It is sometimes cut and polished as an ornamental stone under the name of pseudo-chrysolite.
Its bottle-green glass color led to its being commonly called Bouteillen-stein, and at one time it was regarded as an artificial product, but this view is opposed to the fact that no remains of glassworks are found in the neighborhood of its occurrence; moreover, pieces of the substance are widely distributed in Tertiary and early Pleistocene deposits in Bohemia and Moravia.
For a long time, it was generally believed to be a variety of obsidian, but its difficult fusibility and its chemical composition are rather against its volcanic origin.
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