Amber

Amber is known as the ‘Gold of the North’ and consists of the fossilised sap from trees which occasionally contains whole insects.
It was formed from forests under a combination of intense pressure and heat. It is found around the world but the largest deposits are in the Baltic Area, the Dominican Republic and Myanmar.

Amber has been found in Bronze Age Tombs dating to 3,000 BCE, and in the Mycenaean Tombs (second millennium BCE).
It was sent annually as a gift to the Temple of Apollo at Delphi, Greece, during the latter part of the first millennium BCE.
Amber beads were found in the Tomb of the Pharaoh Tutankhamen (c. 1333-1324 BCE), although these may be a false Amber.
It was used as an adornment on Egyptian Temples and Obelisks.
A large quantity of Amber was also found in the Royal Tomb of Qatna, Syria, from the second millennium BCE.

In the Ancient World, Amber was considered very highly as a Gemstone with magical and healing properties
It was mostly used as a Gemstone in Jewellery.
Amber also has electromagnetic properties, and when rubbed produces static which will attract items near to it, such as straw. This made it practical to use as a Spindle Whorl.
Amber was used in Medicine, as it was thought to have healing properties by Hippocrates and the Ancient World.

Pytheas
- Pytheus stated that Amber was mainly found on the Baltic Sea coasts.
- In his Work ‘On the Ocean’ (now lost) Pytheas wrote about Amber.
Pliny the Elder
- He quoted the passage from Pytheas in his Natural History, in which Pytheas claimed that the Gutones found Amber on the beaches of the Isle of Abalus, in the Mentonomon Sea (Baltic), which they collected and then sold to the Teutones.
- Pliny states that Amber was exported by the German Tribes to Pannonia then down to the Adriatic where the Veneti sent it by sea abroad.
- Pliny went on to describe how to heat Amber and that it gave off a perfume smelling of pine trees.
- Pliny describes the women of Syria as making the whorls on their spindles from Amber, since Amber’s electrostatic properties attracted the material being spun.

Amber travelled along the Amber Road from the Baltic Sea to the Adriatic and the Black Sea.
It was a sought after commodity in China, where it was burnt during Festivities.
Amber travelled from Europe to China in the reverse direction along the Silk Road.
In 500 CE Tao Hongjing wrote ‘Materia Medica’, in which he warned how to distinguish between false and real Amber, by rubbing to check its electrostatic properties.

Approximately 90% of the World’s Amber comes from the Samland Peninsular around Kaliningrad, Russia, at the mouth of the Vistula on the Baltic Sea.
The Dominican Republic has Amber mines in its mountains, producing ‘Blue Amber’. This has a blue tint because it comes from a different type of tree.
Mexico has Amber Mines in the Chiapas District producing Reddish Amber.
Sumatra, Indonesia also produces Amber with several colours, including Blue and Red.

Jet is also known as ‘Black Amber’.
It is a fossilised wood which comes from the same family as the Monkey Puzzle Tree.
It has electro-magnetic properties when rubbed.
Pliny the Elder described Jet as having magical properties.
It was used in Amulets and Talismans throughout the Ancient World.

Sambia Peninsular, Kaliningrad