When agates are cut, they often have successive bands that follow the agate cavity’s general shape or may be a series of successive curves that resemble a man-made fortification. These frontal views are complimented by a slanted view, above or below the narrow band, when it can be seen as a cross-section of a planar layer. We call that view the ‘band plane view’. Think of a slice of bread – viewed edge on, it’s a slice or band of bread and, viewed from above or below, it’s a flat plane of bread!