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Amber is the ancient and fossilized resin of long dead trees that grew in forests millions of years ago. Over the eons, chemical and physical changes occurred, fossilizing the resin to produce the Amber we know today. Research indicates that Amber ranges from about 2 million to 360 million years in age although most gem quality Amber ranges from 5 million to 50 million years. Amber is a unique gem. On top of its beauty, Amber bequeaths man valuable scientific data through its ability to act as a window on the past. Its unique ability to preserve the organic tissues of prehistoric life forms is valued by both gem collectors and scientists.
In classical times, Amber was used medicinally and was also believed to offer a magical light for the deceased as they progressed through the underworld. Given this association, Amber was once believed to provide magicians and sorcerers with special powers. Other attributes associated with Amber include love, strength, luck, healing, protection and the ability to calm stressed nerves.
When you rub Amber, static electricity is
generated. In fact, the word electricity is derived from the ancient Greek
word for Amber, “elektron” or “sun made”. Although a fossilized plant
resin that generally consists of organic carbon, hydrogen and oxygen
structures, the composition varies depending on the type of parental plant
species.
The organic inclusions commonly found in Amber include plant debris, small
animals and a variety of pre-historic insects. These ancient creatures are
predominantly extinct ancestors of today’s cockroaches, ants, termites,
caddis flies, centipedes, crickets, scorpions and millipedes. These
preserved life forms were trapped by fresh sticky resin that oozed from
coniferous trees millions of years ago. Preserved in the Amber, the
insects are visible in almost perfect condition, showing the position they
were in when they were entombed millions of years ago.
The most valued variety of Amber for manufacturing jewelry and decorative
objects is Baltic Amber. Occurring in yellow, golden and brown colors,
Baltic Amber is also known as Succinite after its parent tree pinus
succinfera that was common in the tertiary period, some 50 million years
ago. At present, the primary source of Baltic Amber is the various
deposits around the Russian port of Kaliningrad, the old German enclave of
Koenigsberg. Incredibly light, Amber is occasionally buoyant in salt water
and is sometimes transported long distances by the sea, having been found
as far away as the beaches of England and Scotland. It’s from this ability
it gains one of its common names, “Seastone”. Important secondary sources
include the Dominican Republic and Mexico.
Since the Jurassic Park movies, interest in insect and
animal included Amber has exploded, making it highly collectable. In
regard to the film Jurassic Park, the alleged source of the dinosaur DNA
was Dominican Amber. However Dominican Amber is thought to be about 25
million years too young to truly contain dinosaur DNA, making the plot
slightly inaccurate. However, other Amber sources from around the world
could potentially contain the genetic material of these avian ancestors.
In 1994 a molecular biologist from California reported that he had
extracted DNA from an insect sealed in Amber 120 to 130 million years ago.
Dr. Raul Canu claimed the insect was trapped when dinosaurs ruled the
earth; leading people to speculate that Michael Crichton’s novel could one
day become a scientific reality. |
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