Many new specimens for sale. Please contact us at kbrucksch@hotmail.com.
Amber
Gladiator (?), Hukawng Valley, Myanmar, copyright by Alex Beigel.
Large pseudoscorpion in Myanmar amber
A rare scorpion, Hukawng Valley, Myanmar.
A snail shell, Hukawing Valley, Myanmar.
Amber (or resinite) is fossilised tree resin (not sap), which has been appreciated for its colour and natural beauty since Neolithic times. In the Greek mythology amber was believed to be tears of the Heliades, the daughters of the sun god.
When the volatile liquids evaporate the resin begins to polymerise. After 100s or 1000s of years it becomes 'copal' - also called 'young amber' - and after millions of years the resin becomes amber.
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.
Amber specimens
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 being correct, jantar is used very rarely (even considered archaic) and was replaced by the word bursztyn (burn stone) deriving from the German analogue (Bernstein).
Baltic sea amber inclusions.
Amber occurs in a range of different colours. As well as the usual yellow-orange-brown that is associated with the colour "amber", amber itself can range from a whitish colour through a pale lemon yellow, to brown and almost black. Other more uncommon colours 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.
Amber inclusions from Hukawng Valley, Myanmar.
The oldest amber recovered dates to the Upper Carboniferous period (). 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 . Amber becomes abundant soon afterwards, in the Early Cretaceous, , when it is found in association with insects.
Commercially most important are the deposits of Baltic and Dominican amber.
Amber inclusions from various locations.
Baltic amber or succinite (historically documented as Prussian amber) is found as irregular nodules in 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. 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.
Amber inclusions from the Baltic sea and Mexico.
Amber can be found in many parts of the world ( Baltic Sea, Borneo, Canada, China, Dominican Republic, France, Italy, Japan, Lebanon, Mexico, Myanmar, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Spain). The best samples with inclusions though come from the Baltic region, Dominican Republic and Myanmar.
More interesting reading on:
We have many interesting inclusions in mainly Myanmar amber for sale. For purchase please contact me at kbrucksch@hotmail.com or Alex Beigel in Germany at info@amberinclusions.de. Alex takes excellent photos of insect inclusions. Below are a few examples.
Larva, Hukawng Valley, Myanmar.
Assassin spider 'Archaeidae', Hukawng Valley, Myanmar.
Spider, Hukawng Valley, Myanmar.
2 baltic amber and a Colombian copal inclusions
Myanmar amber inclusions
How beautiful I am.
