Amber: Golden Gem of the Ages: Fourth Edition

   Amber, a gemstone sought after by ancient Stone Age sun worshipers because its beautiful radiance resembled the sun’s rays, well deserves the title, “golden gem of the ages.”  In early Greek and Roman civilizations, amber was so revered it was available only to nobility.  Ladies of the Roman court desired it for its brilliant hue and for protection from evil spells that it was believed to bestow upon the wearer.  In reverence to its talismanic powers, gladiators wore amber amulets when venturing into the coliseum.  Throughout Europe, amber was worn as protection against various and sundry illnesses.

            Although ancient man and the peoples of many later civilizations treasured amber as highly as gold, little was known of its origin until the age of science brought proof that it originated from the sticky resin that flowed from prehistoric trees.  Few gems match amber in respect to its mode of creation, the depth of its history, and its transmission of aesthetic pleasure to man.  None can match it in the range of human knowledge and scientific  information its study reveals.

            Over the centuries, amber primarily came into human hands from the seashores and outcroppings of amber-bearing strata near the Baltic Sea; however, smaller deposits have been found in other places throughout the world.  By the late 1800s, the Baltic amber industry had become highly organized, with extensive mining taking place in East Prussia, a region that is now part of Poland, Lithuania, and the Kaliningrad Oblast--a roughly square landform, approximately 40 kilometers by 32 kilometers jutting out into the Baltic Sea called the Kalinin district of the Russian republic.  Over 16,168 tons of amber were produced in this region alone between 1876 and 1935, and from 1951 to 1986 over 17,700 tons were recovered.  Geologic surveys by Eastern European scientists estimate the Baltic amber-bearing earth contains anywhere from 45 to 2677 grams of amber per cubic meter.  Therefore, much amber is still being produced in the Baltic area and elsewhere.

            During the 1800s, scientists began studying the geology, insects, and other evidences of fauna and flora of the past entrapped in amber resin as it flowed from trees in primeval forests in the “Amberland” of the Baltic.  These researchers studied inclusions in amber, morphology of amber as it was found i