Where we work, in Indonesia, on the island Java alone there are some 150 volcanic mountains and 22 active volcanoes. Basaltic lavas have flowed down Indonesia’s mountains for millions of years. Today basalt stones of every shape and size litter the archipelago. NBV hand selects beautiful stones to serve as memorial markers. We enlist experienced artisans to cut them and etch them to specifications. They are a beautiful natural element to complement any memorial site.

Not far from our production warehouse in Java, there is a site that is rich with petrified wood. A fascinating geological story explains its existence. Some millions of years ago, a volcanic eruption caused a lahar to form. A lahar occurs when flowing volcanic material joins a river on its journey down a mountain. Along the way, the volume and pressure of lava, now reacting to and mixing with water, gouges soil from the river’s banks and bottom. All of these remarkable natural phenomena combine to form an enormous, piping hot mud flow. A lahar. When lahars eventually settle, their volume might cover a part of a forest. Apparently, this happened at the site near our production warehouse. At that ancient time, in that primeval forest, the trees were colossal and towering. Today their remnants, gradually infused with minerals over millions of years, are scattered in a valley. They are extremely heavy and, when polished, they are extremely beautiful. As memorial markers they remind us of the loyalty of nature’s forces: the minerals that form us will forever elicit life.