Huge deposits of Neolithic artifacts made of amber (beads, buttons, pendants, rings, and plaquette figurines) have been found at the Juodkrante and Palanga sites in Lithuania, both dated between 2700 and 1700 BC, and both of which are near Baltic amber mines. In 2000, custom officials from Kaliningrad donated 2.5 tons of newly mined amber for the restoration of the Amber Room, which is what is illustrated in the photograph on this page.
The earliest evidence that amber was known about, mined, and worked with in the Baltic Sea/Gdansk area dates from between 8000 - 4000 B. C. During this time period Gdansk was the center of European amber craftsmanship. The first amber guild was established in Gdansk in 1737. Thus, amber gathering and working took its place alongside bee-keeping, hunting, and fishing, and became a common occupation. Between the 10th and 15th centuries AD, the wide variety of amber goods included beads, amulets, dice, pawns, pendants, and rings. When Pomerania was seized by the Teutonic Order in the 14th century, amber became exceptionally sought after. The Vistula amber earrings route linked the Gdansk Coastal area with the Mediterranean countries and was travelled as early as the 5th century B.C.
Trees and resin may be transported and deposited in quiet water sediments that formed the bottom of a lagoon or delta at the margin of a sea. Wood and resin are buried under the sediment and while the resin becomes amber, the wood becomes lignite.
The geological reason for the concentration of amber rings in this region has been described by a number of authorities N.O. Holst, the Swedish State Geologist referred to an ancient river called the ‘Alnarps’ which he wanted to call the ‘Amber River’.
The geological reason for the concentration of amber rings in this region has been described by a number of authorities N.O. Holst, the Swedish State Geologist referred to an ancient river called the ‘Alnarps’ which he wanted to call the ‘Amber River’.
This is a problem when attributing Baltic fossil resin to a species of pine, as up until recently no extant pine tree resin was known to contain succinic acid. What is equally interesting is the presence of Pseudolarix pine cones in a fossil resin discovered on the Axel Heiburg island in Canada which also has succinic acid present.
Amber is generally yellow or yellow brown and translucent, and it is pretty when polished.
