Reframing our relationship with rock
Rocks are omnipresent on earth – shaping every environment on our planet through the shelter, nourishment and natural resources they provide so life may prosper and evolve.
Our relationship with geology and landscape began with the earliest stone tools found in West Turkana, Kenya, which date back to an astonishing 3.3 million years. Research has shown that these ancient people were discerning geologists, choosing rocks that would fracture with clean, sharp edges that would aid the hunting of animals and the preparation of meat. Over millennia, this relationship between people, rock and land developed into one of care and custodianship, a belief system that united Indigenous people across the world.
Such skills and knowledge that spoke of a shared humanity with nature survived across successive generations through stories, song and art. Today, our relationship with rock in the Western world is very different and comes from exploitation and utility rather than reverence. Rocks are used to shelter us and pave our roads; they are even used in the food and drink we consume every day.
A good activity that blends knowledge of geology and economics is to examine where the major global coffee producers are. Using bags of coffee beans bought from a local supermarket, ask students to mark their origins on a map. On my recent research trip, for instance, I found coffee beans sourced from Kenya, Ecuador, Guatemala, Nicaragua and Colombia.
Next, task the students to research tectonic plate boundaries in relation to those countries and observe the pattern that should begin to emerge. Coffee-producing nations are almost entirely located in volcanic regions due to the rich fertility of the soil, which is formed from the weathering of volcanic rocks.