amber

1. A hard translucent yellow, orange, or brownish-yellow fossil resin, used for making jewelry and other ornamental objects.
2. A brownish yellow.

1. Having the color of amber; brownish-yellow.
2. Made of or resembling amber: an amber necklace.

[Middle English ambre, from Old French, from Medieval Latin ambra, ambar, from Arabic 'anbar, ambergris, amber.]

Background

Although considered a gem, amber is a wholly-organic material derived from the resin of extinct species of trees. In the dense forests of the Middle Cretaceous and Tertiary periods, between 10 and 100 million years ago, these resin-bearing trees fell and were carried by rivers to coastal regions. There, the trees and their resins became covered with sediment, and over millions of years the resin hardened into amber. Although many amber deposits remain in ocean residue, geological events often repositioned the amber elsewhere.

For thousands of years, amber has been carved and worked into beads, jewelry, and other types of ornamentation. However, today amber is valued primarily for the astounding array of fossils preserved inside. As sticky resin was exuded by the trees, animals, minerals, and plant materials were trapped in it. As the resin hardened, these fossils—called inclusions—were perfectly preserved, providing modern scientists with invaluable information about extinct species.

Unlike other types of fossils, amber fossils are three-dimensional, with life-like colors and patterns. Even the internal structures of cells may be intact. Often, insects were caught by the resin in active poses, along with their predators, prey, and internal and external parasites. Previously-unknown genera of fossilized insects have been discovered in amber. Intact frogs and lizards, snake skins, bird feathers, hair and bones of mammals, and various plant materials have been preserved in amber. In some cases, deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) can be extracted from the fossilized organisms and compared with that of its modern-day counterparts.

History

Amber has been a highly-valued material since earliest times. Worked amber dating back to 11,000 B.C. has been found at archeological sites in England. Amber was widely believed to have magical healing powers. It was used to make varnish as long ago as 250 B.C., and powdered amber was valued as incense. Amber was also traded throughout the world. By identifying the type of amber used in ancient artifacts, scholars can determine the geographical source of the amber and draw conclusions about early trade routes.

In about 600 B.C., the Greek philosopher Thales rubbed amber with silk, causing it to attract dust and feathers. This static electricity was believed to be a unique property of amber until the sixteenth century, when English scientist William Gilbert demonstrated that it was characteristic of numerous materials. He called it electrification, after elektron, the Greek word for amber.

In the Western Hemisphere, the Aztecs and Mayans carved amber and burned it as incense. The Taino Indians of the island of Hispaniola offered gifts of amber to Christopher Columbus.

The decorative use of amber culminated in 1712 with the completion of an entire banquet room made of amber panels constructed for King Frederick I of Prussia. In the nineteenth century amber attained new significance when German scientists began studying the fossils imbedded in it.

Raw Materials

Resins are complex substances that include oily compounds called terpenes. Over time, some terpenes evaporate while others condense and become cross-linked to each other, forming hard polymers. However, different species of trees produce different types and amounts of resins. The exact structure and composition of amber depends on the makeup of the original tree resin, the age of the amber, the environment in which it was deposited, and the thermal conditions and geological forces to which it was exposed. Thus, even amber obtained from similar locations may vary in chemical structure and physical characteristics.

Types of amber

Although deposits of amber occur throughout the world, amber from the coast of the Baltic Sea is the best-known. It is called succinite amber because it contains a substantial amount of succinic acid. Most Baltic amber came from pine tree resin. Amber that lacks succinic acid is classified as retinite amber.

Amber from Mexico and the Dominican Republic began forming 20-30 million years ago from the resins of extinct species of Hymenaea or algarrobo trees. These flowering trees thrived in the canopy of extensive tropical rain forests. They produced copious amounts of resin that eventually hardened into amber. Torrential rains washed the amber to deltas where it was covered with silt. As sea levels changed, the amber settled on the sea floor and the sediment over it hardened into rock. Later, mountain formation pushed up the rocks.

Design

Physical characteristics

Many components of amber are similar to those of modern resins. However the cross-linking of these compounds makes the amber hard, with a high melting point and low solubility. Amber has a hardness of 2-3 on Mohs's scale, the standard for minerals and gems. On this scale, talc is I and diamond is 10. Amber softens at 302°F (150°C) and melts at 482-662°F (250-350°C). With a specific gravity of 1.05-1.12, amber is only slightly more dense than water. It will not completely dissolve in organic solvents.

Amber usually occurs as small irregular masses, nodules, or droplets. Although it can be many different colors, it is most often pale to golden yellow or orange and can be fluorescent. After a few years of exposure to light and air, amber often turns dark red and develops numerous cracks on the surface. Some amber is translucent or even transparent. However, trapped air bubbles can cause amber to be cloudy or opaque. Amber is a poor conductor of heat and large changes in temperature can cause it to fracture.

The Manufacturing
Process

Amber is extracted in different ways, depending on its location. Baltic amber washes up along the shores of the Baltic Sea and as far away as Denmark, Norway, and England. The largest deposits of North American amber are found on the surface of openpit clay mines in Arkansas. In New Jersey, Cretaceous amber is dug from the sand and clay of abandoned pit mines. It is screened, washed, and examined for inclusions. In Asia, amber is found in coal mines. Until the mid-twentieth century, highly-prized amber was mined from deep pits in northern Burma (now Myanmar).

Mining and washing

• Drops or blocks of Baltic amber are mined from open pits of 40-60 million-year-old glauconite sand. Glauconite is a hydrated potassium-iron silicate mineral and these deposits are called "blue earth" because of their blue-green color. After the surface has been cleared, the blue earth is dug out with steam shovels and dredges. It is poured through grates at a washing plant, where streams of water are used to separate the amber from the sand. In the early twentieth century, up to one million lb (450,000 kg) of amber per year were extracted from the blue earth layer of the Samland Peninsula in the eastern Baltic.

  Mexican and Dominican amber may be exposed by landslides on steep mountain slopes and extracted with picks and shovels. It also is mined from pits dug deep into the ground. Much Dominican amber is mined from narrow tunnels carved as far as 600 ft (183 m) into the sides of mountains. Water is baled or pumped out of the tunnels and the miners crawl through, chisel at the rock, and pick out the exposed amber. Dominican amber is washed by the miner, sorted by size, and examined for inclusions.

Clarifying and coloring

• Large trapped air bubbles result in a foamy or frothy type of amber. Microscopic bubbles result in bony or osseous amber that looks like dried bone. Very cloudy amber is called bastard. Amber is clarified by heating in rapeseed oil. The oil penetrates bubbles near the surface and reduces the cloudiness, making even bony or bastard amber more transparent. Amber also may be clarified by heating under pressure with nitrogen and then baking in an oven. Clarification darkens the amber and produces disc-like stress marks, called "sun spangles." Amber may be stained green or reddish. Mexican and Dominican amber is usually clear and transparent and does not need clarifying.

Cutting and reshaping

• For jewelry or carving, amber usually is worked by hand, with a jeweler's saw and fine-toothed files. It is wet-sanded with 320-grit cloth and finished with a 400- or 600-grit wet-sanding cloth. It can be drilled with dry steel drills, using a low speed and slight pressure, to prevent heating and cracking.
• To obtain a clear view of inclusions, one end of an amber piece may be chipped off. Amber with inclusions may be cut or reshaped for examination of the biological specimen or to separate two specimens. Cutting is done with a jeweler's hand saw or, for larger pieces, with a high-speed trim saw with a diamond blade, at speeds up to 4,200 rpm.
• Reshaping is done with various grades of sandpaper. Rough edges from the saw blade may be smoothed with 200- and 400-grit paper, by hand or with a belt sander equipped with a water cooling system, to remove dust and prevent overheating and fracturing or glazing.

Polishing

• Amber for jewelry is polished with tin oxide or cerium oxide, using a leather buff, Jelt wheel or pad, or chamois board. Periodic polishing with a silicone-based wax restores shine and decreases evaporation and surface oxidation.

  Dominican amber is polished with a sander, following the natural contours. Surface oxidation of Dominican amber diminishes the fluorescence and the blue, green, or purple color. Removing the outer layer and repolishing restores the fluorescence. Repolishing may be done by hand or with a cotton buffing wheel, using dental polishing compound, an abrasive for plastics, or other fine neutral-colored polishing compounds. A final hand polishing removes the polishing compound.

  Cretaceous amber more than 65 million years old is very brittle and fractured. After several years of exposure, it is prone to disintegration. Encasing Cretaceous amber in a synthetic resin helps to preserve it.

Pressing

• For producing gems, small clear pieces of amber are softened and fused in a vacuum with steam at 400°F (204°C) or above.
• The pieces are pressed through a fine steel sieve or mesh, mixed, and hardened into blocks. This pressed amber is called ambroid or amberoid and may contain bubbles that have elongated under the heat and pressure. Sometimes modern insect inclusions are inserted into pressed amber and the ambroid may be dyed, usually dark red.

Other processing

• Small pieces of poor quality amber, including about 90% of Baltic amber, are distilled in huge, dry iron retorts. About 60% is recovered as amber colophony, a high-grade varnish. Another 15—20% becomes amber oil, used in medicines, casting, and the highest grade of varnish. About 2%of the products are distilled acids, such as succinic acid, that are used for medicines and varnishes.

Quality Control

Harder and, presumably, older amber is usually considered to be of higher quality. Since mining costs are 28% higher than the value of raw amber, its value is based primarily on its inclusions or on its eventual processing into jewelry and art objects. Therefore, amber is graded according to its size and beauty, as well as the presence and type of inclusions.

Imitation amber with fake inclusions has been produced for at least 600 years. Fresh resins, synthetic polystyrenes, Bakelite, epoxy resins, celluloid, colored glass, plastics, and polyesters all have been used for imitation amber. However, true amber can be distinguished by its hardness, melting temperature, lack of solubility, fluorescence, specific gravity, refractive index (measure of the degree that it bends light), and odor on burning. Sometimes true amber is fractured, a cavity is carved in it for an inclusion embedded in fresh resin, and the piece is resealed.

Byproducts/Waste

About 90% of the world's extractable amber is located in the Kaliningrad region of Russia on the Baltic Sea. There, amber mining and processing has caused widespread environmental degradation. More than 100 million tons of waste has been discharged into the Baltic from the Palmnicken (Yantarny) mine over the past century. This insoluble waste causes high turbidity in the Baltic Sea. The waters of the pollution-sensitive Baltic take 25-30 years to renew themselves.

The Future

The easily-extracted, top layers of Baltic amber were exhausted by the mid-1800s. However it is estimated that over 180,000 tons of amber remain in the Yantarny mine in Kaliningrad. At the current rate of extracetion, amber could be mined there for another 300 years. In addition, mining has resumed in Myanmar and the high-quality Burmese amber is being sold to museums.

Although the process of amber formation from tree resin continues, it takes millions of years for the resin to harden into amber. As amber deposits are depleted by mining, and resin-bearing trees are cut or burned rather than allowed to fossilize, the supply of raw amber will continue to dwindle.

Where to Learn More

Books

Anderson, K. B., and J. C. Crelling, eds. Amber, Resinite, and Fossil Resins. Washington, DC: American Chemical Society, 1995.

Grimaldi, David A. Amber: Window to the Past. New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc. and the American Museum of Natural History, 1996.

Poinar Jr., George, and Roberta Poinar. The Amber Forest: A Reconstruction of a Vanished World. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1999.

Other

"Amber Trade and the Environment in the Kaliningrad Oblast." TED Case Studies. 27 July 2001. <http://gurukul.ucc.american.edu/ted/amber.htm>.

Brost, Leif. "Amber: A Fossilized Tree Resin." The Swedish Amber Museum Home Page. 27 July 2001. <http://www.brost.se/eng/education/facts.html>.

[Article by: Margaret Alic]

Most commonly, a generic name for all fossil resins, although it has been restricted by some to refer only to succinite, the mineralogical species of fossil resin making up most of the Baltic Coast deposits. Resins generally are complex mixtures of mono-, sesqui-, di-, and triterpenoids; however, some resins contain aromatic phenols. Among the plants, primarily trees, that produce copious amounts of resin that may fossilize to become amber, two-thirds are tropical or subtropical.

Although ambers occur throughout the world in deposits from Carboniferous to Pleistocene in age, they have been reported most commonly from Cretaceous and Tertiary strata and often are associated with coal or lignites. Amber may contain beautifully preserved insects, spiders, flowers, leaves, and even small animals. The most extensively studied deposits are those from the Baltic Coast, Alaska, Canada, Burma, Dominican Republic, and Mexico.

When amber is used for jewelry, it usually is transparent yellow, reddish-brown, or “amber” color. Translucent or semitranslucent amber is used for pipe stems, decorating small boxes, and a variety of ornamental purposes. The specific gravity varies from 1.05 to 1.10, and hardness from 1 to 3 on Mohs scale.

At one time, chemical studies of amber were mineralogically oriented because the purpose was to describe and classify amber as a semiprecious gem. However, phytochemical studies comparing fossil and present-day resins are providing information regarding the botanical origins of ambers.

The predominantly tropical or subtropical occurrence of amber-producing plants through geologic time has led to evolutionary studies of the natural purpose of resins and their possible defensive role for trees against injury and disease inflicted by the high diversity of insects and fungi in tropical environments. See also Gem; Mineralogy; Resin.

For more information on amber, visit Britannica.com.

Occasionally said to be rubbed on sore eyes and sprained limbs (Henderson, 1866: 113), or worn for chest ailments (Folk-Lore 53 (1942), 98). One soldier from the First World War reckoned he owed his life to his amber bead (Lovett, 1925: 13).

Amber is the fossil resin of trees. The two major deposits of amber are in the Dominican Republic and Baltic. Amber came from a coniferous tree that is now extinct. Amber is usually yellow or orange in color, semitransparent or opaque with a glossy surface. It is used by both artisans and scientists.

hypericum perforatum.

For other uses, see Amber (disambiguation).

Amber pendants. The oval pendant is 52 by 32 mm (2 by 1.3 inches).

Worry beads (masbaha) made of Dominican blue amber.

An ant inside amber

A mosquito and a fly in this Baltic amber necklace are between 40 and 60 million years old

A spider trapped in amber

The Amber Room was reconstructed from the Kaliningrad amber.

The Amber Frog bow, the frog part of which is sculpted from Baltic amber.^[1]

Unpolished amber stones

Wood resin, the source of amber

Amber (or, technically, resinite) is fossilized tree resin (not sap), which has been appreciated for its color and natural beauty since Neolithic times. Good quality amber is used for the manufacture of ornamental objects and jewelry. There are five classes of amber, defined on the basis of their chemical constituents.

Because it originates as a soft, sticky tree resin, amber sometimes includes animal and plant material as inclusions.

Contents 1 Appearance 2 Formation 3 Chemistry 4 Classification 4.1 Class I 4.1.1 Ia 4.1.2 Ib 4.1.3 Ic 4.2 Class II 4.3 Class III 4.4 Class IV 4.5 Class V 5 Geological record 5.1 Paleontological significance 6 Inclusions 7 Use 8 Collection 9 Treatment 10 Counterfeit amber 11 Etymology 12 Amber Frog Violin Bow 13 See also 14 References 15 External links

Appearance

Amber occurs in a range of different colors. As well as the usual yellow-orange-brown that is associated with the color "amber", amber itself can range from a whitish color through a pale lemon yellow, to brown and almost black. Other more uncommon colors include red amber (sometimes known as "cherry amber"), green amber, and even blue amber, which is rare and highly sought after.

Much of the most highly-prized amber is transparent, in contrast to the very common cloudy amber and opaque amber. Opaque amber contains numerous minute bubbles. This kind of amber is known as "bony amber".

Although all Dominican amber is fluorescent, the rarest Dominican amber is blue amber. It turns blue in natural sunlight and any other partially or wholly ultraviolet light source. In long-wave UV light it has a very strong reflection, almost white. Only about 100 kg is found per year, which makes it valuable and expensive.^[2]

Sometimes amber retains the form of drops and stalactites, just as it exuded from the ducts and receptacles of the injured trees. It is thought that, in addition to exuding onto the surface of the tree, amber resin also originally flowed into hollow cavities or cracks within trees, thereby leading to the development of large lumps of amber of irregular form.^[3]

Formation

Molecular polymerization, resulting from high pressures and temperatures produced by overlying sediment, transforms the resin first into copal. Sustained heat and pressure drives off turpenes and results in the formation of amber.^[4]

Chemistry

Amber is heterogeneous in composition, but consists of several resinous bodies more or less soluble in alcohol, ether and chloroform, associated with an insoluble bituminous substance. Amber is a macromolecule by free radical polymerization of several precursors in the labdane family, communic acid, cummunol and biformene.^[5] These labdanes are diterpenes (C₂₀H₃₂) and trienes which means that the organic skeleton has three alkene groups available for polymerization. As amber matures over the years, more polymerization will take place as well as isomerization reactions, crosslinking and cyclization. The average composition of amber leads to the general formula C₁₀H₁₆O.

Classification

Amber can be classified into several forms. Most fundamentally, there are two types of plant resin with the potential for fossilization. Terpenoids, produced by conifers and angiosperms, consist of ring structures formed of isoprene (C5H8) units.^[6] Phenolic resins are today only produced by angiosperms, and tend to serve functional uses. The extinct medullosans produced a third type of resin, which is often found as amber within their veins.^[6] The composition of resins is highly variable; each species produces a unique blend of chemicals which can be identified by the use of pyrolysis–gas chromatography–mass spectroscopy.^[6] The overall chemical and structural composition is used to divide ambers into five classes.^[7][8]

Class I

This class is by far the most abundant. It comprises labdatriene carboxylic acids such as communic or ozic acids.^[7] It is further split into three sub-classes. Classes Ia and Ib utilise regular labdanoid diterpenes (e.g. communic acid, communol, biformenes), whilst Ic uses enantio labdanoids (ozic acid, ozol, enantio biformenes).^[9]

Ia

Includes Succinite (= 'normal' Baltic amber) and Glessite.^[8] Have a communic acid base. They also include much succinic acid.^[7]

Baltic amber yields on dry distillation succinic acid, the proportion varying from about 3% to 8%, and being greatest in the pale opaque or bony varieties. The aromatic and irritating fumes emitted by burning amber are mainly due to this acid. Baltic amber is distinguished by its yield of succinic acid, hence the name succinite. Succinite has a hardness between 2 and 3, which is rather greater than that of many other fossil resins. Its specific gravity varies from 1.05 to 1.10. It can be distinguished from other ambers via IR spectroscopy due to a specific carbonyl absorption peak. IR spectroscopy can detect the relative age of an amber sample.^{[verification needed]} Succinic acid may not be an original component of amber, but rather a degradation product of abietic acid.^[10]

Ib

Like class Ia ambers, these are based on communic acid; however, they lack succinic acid.^[7]

Ic

This class is mainly based on enantio-labdatrienonic acids, such as ozic and zanzibaric acids.^[7] Its most familiar representative is Dominican amber.^[6]

Dominican amber differentiates itself from Baltic amber by being mostly transparent and often containing a higher number of fossil inclusions. This has enabled the detailed reconstruction of the ecosystem of a long-vanished tropical forest.^[11] Resin from the extinct species Hymenaea protera is the source of Dominican amber and probably of most amber found in the tropics. It is not "succinite" but "retinite".^[12]

Class II

These ambers are formed from resins with a sesquiterpenoid base, such as cadinene.^[7]

Class III

These ambers are polystyrenes.^[7]

Class IV

This class is something of a wastebasket; its ambers are not polymerized, but mainly consist of cedarane-based sesquiterpenoids.^[7]

Class V

Class V resins are considered to be produced by a pine or pine relative. They comprise a mixture of diterpinoid resins and n-alkyl compounds. Their type mineral is Highgate Copalite.^[8]

Geological record

The oldest amber recovered dates to the Upper Carboniferous period (320 million years ago).^[6] Its chemical composition makes it difficult to match the amber to its producers - it is most similar to the resins produced by flowering plants, which did not evolve until the Jurassic, around 180 million years ago. Amber becomes abundant soon afterwards, in the Early Cretaceous, 150 million years ago,^[6] when it is found in association with insects.

Commercially most important are the deposits of Baltic and Dominican amber.^[13]

Baltic amber or succinite (historically documented as Prussian amber) is found as irregular nodules in a marine glauconitic sand, known as blue earth, occurring in the Lower Oligocene strata of Samland in Prussia (Latin: Sambia), in historical sources also referred to as Glaesaria. After 1945 this territory around Königsberg was turned into Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia, where it is now systematically mined.^[14] It appears, however, to have been partly derived from yet earlier Tertiary deposits (Eocene); and it occurs also as a derivative mineral in later formations, such as the drift. Relics of an abundant flora occur as inclusions trapped within the amber while the resin was yet fresh, suggesting relations with the flora of Eastern Asia and the southern part of North America. Heinrich Göppert named the common amber-yielding pine of the Baltic forests Pinites succiniter, but as the wood, according to some authorities, does not seem to differ from that of the existing genus it has been also called Pinus succinifera. It is improbable, however, that the production of amber was limited to a single species; and indeed a large number of conifers belonging to different genera are represented in the amber-flora.

Paleontological significance

Amber is a unique preservational mode, preserving otherwise unfossilizable parts of organisms; as such it is helpful in the reconstruction of ecosystems and organisms.^[15]

The chemical composition of the resin is, unfortunately, of limited utility in reconstructing the phylogenetic affinity of the resin producer.^[6]

Amber sometimes contains animals or plant matter that became caught in the resin as it was secreted. Insects, spiders and their webs, annelids, frogs,^[16] crustaceans, bacteria and amoebae,^[17] marine microfossils,^[18] wood, flowers and fruit, hair, feathers and other small organisms have been recovered in ambers dating to 130 million years ago.^[6] In most cases the original organic material has decayed, leaving only a cavity, and sometimes remnants of resistant materials such as chitin.^{[citation needed]}

Inclusions

The abnormal development of resin has been called succinosis. Impurities are quite often present, especially when the resin dropped on to the ground, so that the material may be useless except for varnish-making, whence the impure amber is called firniss. Enclosures of pyrites may give a bluish color to amber. The so-called black amber is only a kind of jet. Bony amber owes its cloudy opacity to minute bubbles in the interior of the resin.

Inclusions in darkly clouded and even opaque amber inclusions can be imaged using high-energy, high-contrast, high-resolution x-rays.^[19]

Use

Amber has been used since antiquity in the manufacture of jewelry and ornaments, and also forms the flavoring for akvavit liquor.

Amber has been used since the Neolithic, from 13,000 years ago.^[6] Amber ornaments have been found in Mycenaean tombs and elsewhere across Europe. Folklore attributed it medicinal properties. Turkish fable has it that mouthpieces made from it prevents infection when pipes are shared. To this day it is used in the manufacture of smoking and glassblowing mouthpieces.^[20][21] Amber's place in culture and tradition lends it a tourism value; one museum is even dedicated to the mineral.

Collection

Amber is globally distributed, mainly in rocks of Cretaceous age or younger. historically, the coast around Königsberg in Prussia was the world's leading source of amber; about 90% of the world's extractable amber is still located in the Kaliningrad Oblast of Russia on the Baltic Sea.^[22] Pieces of amber torn from the seafloor are cast up by the waves, and collected by hand, dredging or diving. Elsewhere, amber is mined, both in open works and underground galleries. The nodules from the blue earth have to be freed from matrix and divested of their opaque crust, which can be done in revolving barrels containing sand and water. Erosion removes this crust from sea-worn amber.

Dominican amber, especially Dominican blue amber, is mined through bell pitting, which is dangerous due to the risk of the tunnel collapse.^[23]

Treatment

The Vienna amber factories, which use pale amber to manufacture pipes and other smoking tools, turn it on a lathe and polish it with whitening and water or with rotten stone and oil. The final lustre is given by friction with flannel.

When gradually heated in an oil-bath, amber becomes soft and flexible. Two pieces of amber may be united by smearing the surfaces with linseed oil, heating them, and then pressing them together while hot. Cloudy amber may be clarified in an oil-bath, as the oil fills the numerous pores to which the turbidity is due. Small fragments, formerly thrown away or used only for varnish, are now used on a large scale in the formation of "amberoid" or "pressed amber". The pieces are carefully heated with exclusion of air and then compressed into a uniform mass by intense hydraulic pressure; the softened amber being forced through holes in a metal plate. The product is extensively used for the production of cheap jewelry and articles for smoking. This pressed amber yields brilliant interference colors in polarized light. Amber has often been imitated by other resins like copal and kauri, as well as by celluloid and even glass. Baltic amber is sometimes colored artificially, but also called "true amber".

Counterfeit amber

Often amber (particularly with insect inclusions) is counterfeited using a plastic resin. A simple test consists of touching the object with a heated pin and determining if the resultant odor is of wood resin. If not, the object is counterfeit, although a positive test may not be conclusive owing to a thin coat of real resin. Often counterfeits will have a too-perfect pose and position of the trapped insect.

Etymology

The English word amber stems from the old Arabic word anbargris or ambergris and refers to an oily, perfumed substance secreted by the sperm whale. Arabic a'mbar > Middle English ambre > Old French ambre > Medieval Latin ambra (or ambar). It floats on water and is washed up on the beaches. Due to a confusion of terms (see: Abu Zaid al Hassan from Siraf & Sulaiman the Merchant (851), Silsilat-al-Tawarikh (travels in Asia)^[24], it came to be the name for fossil resin, which is also found on beaches, and which is lighter than stone, but not light enough to float.

The presence of insects in amber was noticed by Pliny the Elder in his Naturalis Historia and led him to the (correct) theory that at some point, amber had to be in a liquid state to cover the bodies of insects. Hence he gave it the expressive name of succinum or gum-stone, a name that is still in use today to describe succinic acid as well as succinite, a term given to a particular type of amber by James Dwight Dana (see below under Baltic Amber).

The Greek name for amber was ηλεκτρον (electron) and was connected to the Sun God, one of whose titles was Elector or the Awakener.^[25] It is discussed by Theophrastus, possibly the first ever mention of the material, and in the 4th century BC.

The modern term "electron" comes from the Greek word for amber (which was then translated as electrum), and was chosen because of the material's electrostatic properties. It was coined in 1891 by the Irish physicist George Stoney whilst analyzing elementary charges for the first time.^[26][27]

Heating amber will soften it and eventually it will burn, which is why in Germanic languages the word for amber is a literal translation of burn-Stone (In German it is Bernstein, in Dutch it is barnsteen etc.). Heated above 200°C, amber suffers decomposition, yielding an "oil of amber", and leaving a black residue which is known as "amber colophony", or "amber pitch"; when dissolved in oil of turpentine or in linseed oil this forms "amber varnish" or "amber lac".

Amber from the Baltic Sea has been extensively traded since antiquity and in the main land, from where amber was traded 2000 years ago, the natives called it glaes (referring to its see-through similarity to glass).

The Baltic Lithuanian term for amber is Gintaras and Latvian Dzintars. They and the Slavic jantar are thought to originate from Phoenician jainitar (sea-resin). However, while most Slavic languages, such as Russian and Czech, retain the old Slavic word, in the Polish language, despite still correct, it is used very rarely (even considered archaic) and was replaced by the word bursztyn deriving from the German analogue.

Amber Frog Violin Bow

The Amber Frog bow by Keith Peck made in 1996/97 commissioned by Gennady Filimonov. Baltic amber has been used to create the "frog" part of a violin bow. It was commissioned by Gennady Filimonov and made by the late American Master Bowmaker Keith Peck [23] The Amber Frog / Picture bow (copy of F.N. Voirin), is the first documented amber frog bow (made in 1996-97) that was (and is) a complete success. It is still being played by Gennady Filimonov.

See also

• List of types of amber
• List of minerals
• Ammolite
• Copal
• Dominican amber
• Spirit of amber
• Oil of amber
• Amber Road
• Amber Room
• Baltic amber

References

1. ^ Jessamyn Reeves-Brown (November 1997). "Mastering New Materials: Commissioning an Amber Bow, no.65". Strings magazine. http://www.stringsmagazine.com/instruments/Back_Issues/ST65/AmberBow65.html. Retrieved 2007-04-09. 
2. ^ Manuel A. Iturralde-Vennet 2001. Geology of the Amber-Bearing Deposits of the Greater Antilles. Caribbean Journal of Science, Vol. 37, No. 3, 141-167, 2001 http://academic.uprm.edu/publications/cjs/Vol37b/37_141-167.pdf
3. ^ What is amber?
4. ^ Rice, Patty C. (2006). Amber: Golden Gem of the Ages. 4th Ed.. AuthorHouse. ISBN 1-4259-3849-3. 
5. ^ Assignment of vibrational spectra of labdatriene derivatives and ambers: A combined experimental and density functional theoretical study Manuel Villanueva-García, Antonio Martínez-Richa, and Juvencio Robles Arkivoc (EJ-1567C) pp 449-458 Online Article
6. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i} Grimaldi, D.. doi:10.1126/science.1179328.  edit
7. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h} doi:0.1016/0146-6380(92)90051-X
   This citation will be automatically completed in the next few minutes. You can jump the queue or expand by hand
8. ^ ^{a b c} Anderson, K.; Botto, R. (1993). "The nature and fate of natural resins in the geosphere—III. Re-evaluation of the structure and composition of Highgate Copalite and Glessite☆". Organic Geochemistry 20: 1027. doi:10.1016/0146-6380(93)90111-N.  edit
9. ^ Anderson, K. B. (19962009). New Evidence Concerning the Structure, Composition, and Maturation of Class I (Polylabdanoid) Resinites. pp. 105–129. doi:10.1021/bk-1995-0617.ch006.  edit
10. ^ (Rottlaender, 1970)
11. ^ George Poinar, Jr. and Roberta Poinar, 1999. The Amber Forest: A Reconstruction of a Vanished World, (Princeton University Press) ISBN 0691028885
12. ^ Grimaldi, D. A.: Amber - Window to the Past. - American Museum of Natural History, New York 1996
13. ^ Lecture at the university of cologne http://www.fortunecity.com/campus/geography/243/ambdepos.html
14. ^ Langenheim, Jean (2003). Plant Resins: Chemistry, Evolution, Ecology, and Ethnobotany. Timber Press Inc.. ISBN 0-88192-574-8. 
15. ^ Howard Stableford, BBC, Radio 4: amber http://db.bbc.co.uk/radio4/science/amber.shtml
16. ^ Scientist: Frog could be 25 million years old
17. ^ Template:Cite jouurnal
18. ^ PMID 18981417 (PubMed)
    Citation will be completed automatically in a few minutes. Jump the queue or expand by hand
19. ^ BBC News, " Secret 'dino bugs' revealed", 1 April 2008
20. ^ Interview with expert pipe maker, Baldo Baldi . Accessed 10-12-09.
21. ^ Maker of amber mouthpiece for glass blowing pipes. Accessed 10-12-09.
22. ^ How Products Are Made: Amber
23. ^ Wilfred Wichard und Wolfgang Weitschat: Im Bernsteinwald. - Gerstenberg Verlag, Hildesheim, 2004, ISBN 3-8067-2551-9
24. ^ "abu_zaid". Archived from the original on 2009-10-25. http://www.webcitation.org/5knHG1q1E. 
25. ^ King, Rev. C.W. (1867). The Natural History of Gems or Decorative Stones. Cambridge (UK).  Amber Chapter, Online version
26. ^ Susie Ward Aber. "Welcome to the World of Amber". Emporia State University. http://www.emporia.edu/earthsci/amber/amber.htm. Retrieved 2007-05-11. 
27. ^ Origin of word Electron

• This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica, Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.
• "Amber (resin)" in the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Amber

• The World of Amber Professor Aber's amber page, Earth Science Department of Emporia State University
• Jessamyn Reeves-Brown (November 1997). "Mastering New Materials: Commissioning an Amber Bow, no.65". Strings magazine. http://www.stringsmagazine.com/instruments/Back_Issues/ST65/AmberBow65.html. Retrieved 2007-04-09. 
• Farlang many full text historical references on Amber Theophrastus, George Frederick Kunz, and special on Baltic amber.
• IPS Publications on amber inclusions International Paleoentomological Society: Scientific Articles on amber and its inclusions
• Webmineral on Amber Physical properties and mineralogical information
• Mindat Amber Image and locality information on amber
• NY Times 40 million year old extinct bee in Dominican amber

v • d • e Jewellery Forms Anklet · Belt buckle · Belly chain  · Bracelet · Brooch · Chatelaine · Crown · Cufflink · Earring · Necklace · Ring · Tiara · Tie bar · Watch (pocket) Making People Bench jeweler · Goldsmith · Jewelry designer · Lapidary · Watchmaker Processes Casting (centrifugal, lost-wax, vacuum) · Enameling · Engraving · Filigree · Metal clay · Plating · Polishing · Repoussé and chasing · Soldering · Stonesetting · Wire wrapping Tools Draw plate · File · Hammer · Mandrel · Pliers Materials Precious metals Gold · Palladium · Platinum · Rhodium · Silver Precious metal alloys Colored gold · Crown gold · Electrum · Platinum sterling · Sterling silver · Britannia silver · Tumbaga Base metals/alloys Brass · Bronze · Copper · Pewter · Stainless steel · Titanium Mineral Gemstones Aventurine · Agate · Alexandrite · Amethyst · Aquamarine · Carnelian · Citrine · Diamond · Emerald · Garnet · Jade · Jasper · Malachite · Lapis lazuli · Moonstone · Onyx · Opal · Peridot · Quartz · Ruby · Sapphire · Sodalite · Sunstone · Tanzanite · Tiger's Eye · Topaz · Tourmaline Organic Gemstones Amber · Copal · Coral · Jet · Pearl · Abalone Terms Carat (mass) · Carat (purity) · Finding · Millesimal fineness Related Topics: Body piercing · Fashion · Gemology · Metalworking · Wearable art

This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

Dansk (Danish)
n. - rav, ravgul farve
adj. - rav-, ravgul

Nederlands (Dutch)
amber, ambersteen/ -kleur, amber-

Français (French)
n. - ambre
adj. - d'ambre, (Aut) orange (les feux), à l'orange

Deutsch (German)
n. - Bernstein, Amber, gelbe Ampel
adj. - bernsteinfarben, gelb

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - (ορυκτολ.) ήλεκτρο (κν. κεχριμπάρι)
adj. - κεχριμπαρένιος

Italiano (Italian)
ambra, luce gialla del semaforo

Português (Portuguese)
n. - âmbar (m) (Quím.) (Geol.)
adj. - âmbar

Русский (Russian)
янтарь

Español (Spanish)
n. - ámbar
adj. - de color ámbar

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - bärnsten
adj. - bärnstensfärgad

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
琥珀, 黄色, 琥珀色, 黄褐色, 琥珀色的, 琥珀的

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 琥珀, 黃色, 琥珀色, 黃褐色
adj. - 琥珀色的, 琥珀的

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 호박, 호박 빛
adj. - 호박의, 호박 빛의

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 琥珀, こはく色
adj. - こはく色の, 黄色の

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) الكهرمان (صفه) اللون الكهرماني, كهرماني اللون وهو الأصفر الضارب الى الحمره‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮שרף-עצים מאובן ושקוף במקצת המשמש בתעשיית התכשיטים, ענבר, הצבע הצהוב שברמזור‬
adj. - ‮חום-צהבהב‬

If you are unable to view some languages clearly, click here.

To select your translation preferences click here.