Jet

• Jet, also known as ‘Black Amber’, is a type of lignite, or brown coal, usually formed from fossilised Peat.
• It has electro-magnetic properties when rubbed. It was used in Amulets and Talismans throughout the Ancient World.

Description

• Jet was very popular during the Roman Period.
• Jet itself is a fossilised wood, which comes from the same family as the Monkey Puzzle Tree.
• Pliny the Elder (23-79 CE) described Jet as having magical properties and a being used by magicians.

Whitby

• It was found on the beaches of Whitby in Yorkshire, and under the Romans, it was worked into Jewellery at York.
• Jet was then exported from York throughout the Roman Empire.

Museums

• Yorkshire Museum
  • Roman Jet artefacts can be found in the Yorkshire Museum in York.

Stones with similar Properties

• Amber

Whitby Beach