Hello, I’m Con from Heart of Stone Studio. I would like to tell you about Amber.
Amber is a fossilized tree resin. A number of different trees in prehistoric times produced resin that did not decay, the way that most resins do.
The resin underwent polymerization, with molecules combining to form networks called polymers. This made the resin hard. After several million years, the volatile oils that make resin have a characteristic smell evaporated, and oxidation and continuing polymerization created a fossilized resin with a Mohs hardness of 2 to 3.
While the resin was still fresh on the trees or had just fallen off the trees onto the forest floor, it was sticky. Various insects, spiders, other arthropods, and even lizards were either attracted to the resin and fell in, or walked by and were caught by the stickiness. Plant parts were also blown in and stuck to the resin.
Because plant parts, insects, and other creatures were preserved extremely well by the resin, amber gives us a good idea of what some of the flora and smaller fauna was like millions of years ago.
Amber is found in many different places around the world.
In this post, I am going to talk about three different types of amber, labeled by the locations where they are found today.
The first is Baltic Amber. It is found along the southern edge of the Baltic Sea, along the coast of Poland and the Kaliningrad Peninsula of Russia. It is approximately 35 to 40 million years old.
Baltic Amber is usually a rich honey color, with variation in color going from yellowish to deep red. This amber often has inclusions in it, particularly insect inclusions and various plant parts.
It was used in jewelry since Stone Age times. Amber ornaments were found at Stone Age sites in Switzerland and France, and amber jewelry was found in Egyptian burials dating back to 3000 BC.
A more recent amber is Chiapas or Mexican amber, found in mines in the Simojovel area of Chiapas, Mexico. Chiapas amber is approximately 20 to 26 million years old.
This amber tends to be more yellow in color and somewhat more clear than Baltic Amber. Like Baltic Amber, Chiapas Amber often has inclusions of insects and plant parts.
Chiapas Amber was used by the Aztecs for jewelry, decorations, and utensils such as spoons.
A relatively new find of amber is Sumatran Amber, which comes from Indonesia. This is a younger amber, approximately 10 to 20 million years old.
It has a lot of color variation, from honey to red and black.
Unlike the other two ambers, Sumatran Amber does not tend to have insect and plant part inclusions. Instead, it often has swirls and spots of reddish colors, sometimes called leopard spots.
From a metaphysical standpoint, amber is said to transmute negative energy into positive energy, help with depression and stress, and increase prosperity.
We have a selection of amber cabochons at our Heart of Stone Studio website, www.heartofstonestudio.com.
Check out our YouTube video on Amber.
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