The Age of Natural Amber Stone

Amber is millions of years old and is made up of fossilized resin of trees. It contains souvenirs from the early history of the life on the planet. Hence, it is often called as a time capsule. Even prehistoric man found this organic gem quite attractive. One can see this in the ancient beads and carvings found everywhere.

Amber is the gem that glows like honey or sun-drops. Most scientists agree that it would be unlikely to find something so ancient. Most amber is 25 to 50 million years old.

The color of amber gem varies from yellow to dark brown to almost black. Amber can also be found in green and blue-gray colors, but it is very rare. The color of amber denotes the area from where it has originated. Also one can judge the age of the amber from its colour.

Paleolithic man in Austria also used amber gemstones (45000 - 12000 B.C.). The nomadic hunters of the Mesolithic age (12000 - 4000 B.C.) used amber to hunt animals. They carved phases of the moon, hunting seasons and the animals that they hunted on amber.

The Neolithic man (4000-1900 B.C.) started using amber as decorative articles and jewels. The rich people of these societies usually owned amber jewelry and used to gift it to their friends and relatives.

Later, towards the end of the eighth century B.C. the Greeks started using amber for inlay work in gold and ivory. Romans used amber gemstone in the first century B.C to first century A.D, where they made rings and vessels out of amber.

Ancient Greeks called amber 'Elektron' - meaning 'made out of the sun'. One ancient account explains that 'amber is the juice of the setting sun that congeals in the sea, which is why it can be found on beaches.

The amber stone was mined in the mountains of Lebanon by Aftim Acra, who has a collection of amber pieces containing 700 insects, including termites, moths, caterpillars, spiders, pseudo-scorpions, and midges. Over 1,000 species of extinct insects have been found in amber.

The Baltic States and the Dominican Republic are the two main sources of amber in the market today. Amber from the Baltic is older and more valuable but amber from the Dominican Republic is more likely to have insect inclusions, which are prized by collectors.

The largest mine in the Baltic region is in Russia, west of Kaliningrad. Baltic amber is found in Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Poland, Russia, and occasionally washed up on the shores of the Baltic Sea as far away as Denmark, Norway, and England. Other amber sources include Myanmar (formerly Burma), Lebanon, Sicily, Mexico, Romania, Germany, and Canada.