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{{short description|Fossilized tree resin}}
{{Other uses}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2020}}
[[File:Amber2.jpg|thumb|An ant inside [[Baltic amber]]]]
[[File:Amber Bernstein many stones.jpg|thumb|right|Unpolished amber stones]]

'''Amber''' is [[fossil]]ized tree [[resin]]. Examples of it have been appreciated for its color and natural beauty since the [[Neolithic]] times,<ref name=Grimaldi2009/> and worked as a [[gemstone]] since antiquity.<ref name=Jersey>"Amber" (2004). In Maxine N. Lurie and Marc Mappen (eds.) ''Encyclopedia of New Jersey'', Rutgers University Press, {{ISBN|0813533252}}.</ref> Amber is used in [[jewelry]] and as a healing agent in [[Traditional medicine|folk medicine]].

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 contains animal and plant material as [[Inclusion (mineral)|inclusions]].<ref name="NYT-20161208">{{cite news |last=St. Fleur |first=Nicholas |title=That Thing With Feathers Trapped in Amber? It Was a Dinosaur Tail |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/08/science/dinosaur-feathers-amber.html |date=8 December 2016 |work=[[The New York Times]]|url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161208224540/http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/08/science/dinosaur-feathers-amber.html |archive-date=8 December 2016}}</ref> Amber occurring in coal seams is also called '''resinite''', and the term ''ambrite'' is applied to that found specifically within New Zealand coal seams.<ref>Poinar GO, Poinar R. (1995) ''The quest for life in amber''. Basic Books, {{ISBN|0-201-48928-7}}, p. 133</ref>

==Etymology==
The English word ''amber'' derives from [[Arabic]] {{lang|ar-Latn|ʿanbar}} {{lang|ar|عنبر|rtl=yes}}<ref name="Harper-2022">{{Cite encyclopedia |title=amber |encyclopedia=[[Online Etymology Dictionary]] |url=https://www.etymonline.com/word/amber |date=18 September 2022 |editor-last=Harper |editor-first=Douglas}}</ref> from Middle Persian {{lang|pal-Phli|𐭠𐭭𐭡𐭫|rtl=yes}} ({{lang|pal|ʾnbl}} {{IPA|/ambar⁠/}}, "ambergris") via [[Medieval Latin|Middle Latin]] {{lang|la|ambar}} and [[Middle French]] {{lang|mfr|ambre}}. The word referred to what is now known as [[ambergris]] (''ambre gris'' or "gray amber"), a solid waxy substance derived from the [[sperm whale]]. The word, in its sense of "ambergris", was adopted in [[Middle English]] in the 14th century.<ref>{{Citation |title=Middle English Compendium |date=2024-03-10 |url=https://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/middle-english-dictionary/dictionary/MED3030 |publisher=University of Michigan}}</ref>

In the [[Romance languages]], the sense of the word was extended to [[Baltic amber]] (fossil resin) from as early as the late 13th century.<ref>{{Cite web |last=austin |date=2018-04-17 |title=Amber History |url=https://amberinternational.net/amber-history/ |access-date=2024-04-22 |website=Amber International |language=en-US}}</ref> At first called white or yellow amber ({{lang|fr|ambre jaune}}), this meaning was adopted in English by the early 15th century. As the use of ambergris waned, this became the main sense of the word.<ref name="Harper-2022" />{{better source needed|date=August 2020}}

The two substances ("yellow amber" and "gray amber") conceivably became associated or confused because they both were found washed up on beaches. Ambergris is less dense than water and floats, whereas amber is denser and floats only in concentrated saline, or strong salty seawater though less dense than stone.<ref>see: Abu Zaid al Hassan from Siraf & Sulaiman the Merchant (851), ''Silsilat-al-Tawarikh (travels in Asia)''.{{clarify|date=September 2013}}<!--"see" this for what? what is this substantiating?--></ref>

The classical names for amber, [[Ancient Greek]] {{wikt-lang|grc|ἤλεκτρον}} ({{tlit|grc|ēlektron}}) and one of its [[Latin]] names, ''electrum'',{{refn|group=lower-alpha|In Latin the name ''succinum'' was unambiguously used for amber while ''[[electrum]]'' was also used for an alloy of gold and silver.{{refn|{{Cite web |title=LacusCurtius • Electrum and Amber (Smith's Dictionary, 1875) |url=https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/secondary/SMIGRA*/Electrum.html |access-date=2024-12-07 |website=penelope.uchicago.edu}}}}}} are connected to a term {{lang|grc|ἠλέκτωρ}} ({{tlit|grc|ēlektōr}}) meaning "beaming Sun".<ref name=King1>
[[Homeric Greek|Homeric]] ([[Iliad]] 6.513, 19.398). The feminine {{lang|grc|ἠλεκτρίς}} being later used as a name of the [[Moon]].
{{Cite book|last = King|first = Rev. C.W.|title = The Natural History of Gems or Decorative Stones|publisher = Cambridge (UK)|year = 1867|page = 315|url = http://www.farlang.com/gemstones/king-gems-decorative-stones/page_315|url-status = live|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070929090553/http://www.farlang.com/gemstones/king-gems-decorative-stones/page_315|archive-date = 29 September 2007}}</ref><ref>The derivation of the modern term  "[[electricity|electric]]"  from the Greek word for amber dates to the 1600 ([[Neo-Latin|Latin]] ''electricus'' "amber-like", in ''De Magnete'' by [[William Gilbert (astronomer)|William Gilbert]]). {{Cite book|last = Heilbron|first = J.L.|title = Electricity in the 17th and 18th Centuries: A Study of Early Modern Physics|publisher = University of California Press|year = 1979|page = 169|isbn = 978-0-520-03478-5|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=UlTLRUn1sy8C&pg=PA169}}.
The word  "[[electron]]"  (for the fundamental particle) was coined in 1891 by the Irish physicist [[George Johnstone Stoney|George Stoney]] whilst analyzing elementary charges for the first time. {{cite web|url = http://www.emporia.edu/earthsci/amber/amber.htm|author = Aber, Susie Ward|publisher = Emporia State University|title = Welcome to the World of Amber|access-date = 11 May 2007|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070428124042/http://www.emporia.edu/earthsci/amber/amber.htm|archive-date = 28 April 2007|url-status = dead}}.</ref> According to myth, when [[Phaethon|Phaëton]], son of [[Helios]] (the Sun) was killed, his mourning sisters became [[Populus|poplar]] trees, and their tears became ''elektron'', amber.<ref>Michael R. Collings, ''Gemlore: An Introduction to Precious and Semi-Precious Stones'', 2009, p. 20</ref> The word ''elektron'' gave rise to the words ''electric, electricity'', and their relatives because of amber's ability to bear a charge of [[static electricity]].<ref name="electric">[https://www.etymonline.com/word/electric "Electric." ''Online Etymological Dictionary.''] Retrieved 6 September 2018.</ref>

===Varietal names===
A number of regional and varietal names have been applied to ambers over the centuries, including '''allingite''', '''beckerite''', '''gedanite''', '''kochenite''', '''krantzite''', and '''stantienite'''.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.mindat.org/min-188.html |title=Amber |publisher=Mindat.org |access-date=August 9, 2024}}</ref>{{sfn|Rudler|1911|p=793}}

==History== 
[[Theophrastus]] discussed amber in the 4th century BCE, as did [[Pytheas]] ({{circa|330 BCE}}), whose work "On the Ocean" is lost, but was referenced by Pliny, according to whose ''[[Natural History (Pliny)|Natural History]]'':<ref name="pliny37-11">''Natural History'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.02.0137%3Abook%3D37%3Achapter%3D11 37.11] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924171950/http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.02.0137%3Abook%3D37%3Achapter%3D11 |date=24 September 2015 }}.</ref><blockquote>Pytheas says that the [[Gutones]], a people of Germany, inhabit the shores of an estuary of the Ocean called [[Mentonomon]],<ref>{{Cite web |title=Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854), MENTONOMON |url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0064:entry=mentonomon-geo |access-date=2025-04-22 |website=www.perseus.tufts.edu}}</ref> their territory extending a distance of six thousand stadia; that, at one day's sail from this territory, is the Isle of [[Abalus]], upon the shores of which, amber is thrown up by the waves in spring, it being an excretion of the sea in a concrete form; as, also, that the inhabitants use this amber by way of fuel, and sell it to their neighbors, the [[Teutones]].</blockquote>[[File:Amber Fisher.jpg|thumb|Fishing for amber on the coast of Baltic Sea. Winter storms throw out amber nuggets. Close to Gdańsk, Poland.]]
Earlier Pliny says that Pytheas refers to a large island—three days' sail from the [[Scythia]]n coast and called [[Baltia|Balcia]] by [[Xenophon of Lampsacus]] (author of a fanciful travel book in Greek)—as ''Basilia''—a name generally equated with ''Abalus''.<ref>''Natural History'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.02.0137;query=chapter%3D%23172;layout=;loc=4.26 IV.27.13] or IV.13.95 in the Loeb edition.</ref> Given the presence of amber, the island could have been [[Heligoland]], [[Zealand]], the shores of [[Gdańsk Bay]], the [[Sambia Peninsula]] or the [[Curonian Lagoon]], which were historically the richest sources of amber in northern Europe.{{citation needed|date=December 2018}} There were well-established trade routes for amber connecting the Baltic with the Mediterranean (known as the "[[Amber Road]]"). Pliny states explicitly that the Germans exported amber to [[Pannonia]], from where the [[Adriatic Veneti|Veneti]] distributed it onwards.

The ancient Italic peoples of southern Italy used to work amber; the National Archaeological Museum of Siritide (Museo Archeologico Nazionale della Siritide) at [[Policoro]] in the [[province of Matera]] ([[Basilicata]]) displays important surviving examples. It has been suggested that amber used in antiquity, as at [[Mycenae]] and in the prehistory of the Mediterranean, came from deposits in [[Sicily]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Beck |first=Curt W. |date=1966-09-01 |title=Analysis and Provenience of Minoan and Mycenaean Amber, I |url=https://grbs.library.duke.edu/index.php/grbs/article/view/11401/4147 |journal=Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Studies |volume=7 |issue=3 |pages=191–211 |via=}}</ref>

[[File:Gouttes-drops-resine-2.jpg|thumb|upright|Wood [[resin]], the source of amber]]
Pliny also cites the opinion of [[Nicias]] ({{circa}} 470–413 BCE), according to whom amber{{blockquote|is a liquid produced by the rays of the sun; and that these rays, at the moment of the sun's setting, striking with the greatest force upon the surface of the soil, leave upon it an unctuous sweat, which is carried off by the tides of the Ocean, and thrown up upon the shores of Germany.}} Besides the fanciful explanations according to which amber is "produced by the Sun", Pliny cites opinions that are well aware of its origin in tree resin, citing the native Latin name of ''succinum'' (''sūcinum'', from ''sucus'' "juice").<ref>Compare [[succinic acid]] as well as ''succinite'', a term given to a particular type of amber by [[James Dwight Dana]]</ref> In Book 37, section XI of ''Natural History'', Pliny wrote:

{{blockquote|
Amber is produced from a marrow discharged by trees belonging to the pine genus, like gum from the cherry, and resin from the ordinary pine. It is a liquid at first, which issues forth in considerable quantities, and is gradually hardened [...] Our forefathers, too, were of opinion that it is the juice of a tree, and for this reason gave it the name of "succinum" and one great proof that it is the produce of a tree of the pine genus, is the fact that it emits a pine-like smell when rubbed, and that it burns, when ignited, with the odour and appearance of torch-pine wood.<ref>{{cite book |author=Pliny the Elder |author-link=Pliny the Elder |title=Natural History |page=Book 37.XI }}</ref>
}}

He also states that amber is also found in Egypt and India, and he even refers to the [[Electrostatics|electrostatic]] properties of amber, by saying that "in Syria the women make the [[spindle whorl|whorl]]s of their spindles of this substance, and give it the name of ''harpax'' [from ἁρπάζω, "to drag"] from the circumstance that it attracts leaves towards it, chaff, and the light fringe of tissues".

The Romans traded for amber from the shores of the southern [[Baltic Sea|Baltic]] at least as far back as the time of [[Nero]].<ref>{{cite book|title=Goodbye, Eastern Europe: An Intimate History of a Divided Land| last=Mikanowski|first=Jacob |  publisher=Pantheon Books|isbn=9781524748500 |location=New York | date=2022|page=4}}</ref>

Amber has a long history of use in China, with the first written record from 200 BCE.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Chen|first1=Dian|last2=Zeng|first2=Qingshuo|last3=Yuan|first3=Ye|last4=Cui|first4=Benxin|last5=Luo|first5=Wugan|date=November 2019|title=Baltic amber or Burmese amber: FTIR studies on amber artifacts of Eastern Han Dynasty unearthed from Nanyang|journal=Spectrochimica Acta Part A: Molecular and Biomolecular Spectroscopy|language=en|volume=222|article-number=117270|doi=10.1016/j.saa.2019.117270|pmid=31226615|bibcode=2019AcSpA.22217270C|s2cid=195261188}}</ref> Early in the 19th century, the first reports of amber found in North America came from discoveries in [[New Jersey]] along [[Crosswicks Creek]] near [[Trenton, New Jersey|Trenton]], at [[Camden, New Jersey|Camden]], and near [[Woodbury, New Jersey|Woodbury]].<ref name="Jersey" />

==Composition==
Amber is [[Homogeneity and heterogeneity|heterogeneous]] in composition, but consists of several [[resin]]ous substances more or less soluble in [[ethanol|alcohol]], [[diethyl ether|ether]] and [[chloroform]], associated with an insoluble [[Bitumen|bituminous]] substance.{{sfn|Rudler|1911|p=792}} Amber is a [[macromolecule]] formed by free [[radical polymerization]]<ref name=Anderson2023>{{cite journal | last = Anderson | first = L.A. | year = 2023 | title = A chemical framework for the preservation of fossil vertebrate cells and soft tissues | journal = Earth-Science Reviews | volume = 240 | article-number = 104367 | doi = 10.1016/j.earscirev.2023.104367 | bibcode = 2023ESRv..24004367A | s2cid = 257326012 | doi-access = free }}</ref> of several precursors in the [[labdane]] family, for example, [[communic acid]], [[communol]], and [[biformene]].{{sfn|Rudler|1911|p=792}}<ref>Manuel Villanueva-García, Antonio Martínez-Richa, and Juvencio Robles [http://www.arkat-usa.org/ark/journal/2005/I06_Juaristi/1567/EJ-1567C.asp Assignment of vibrational spectra of labdatriene derivatives and ambers: A combined experimental and density functional theoretical study] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060412074659/http://www.arkat-usa.org/ark/journal/2005/I06_Juaristi/1567/EJ-1567C.asp |date=12 April 2006 }} [[Arkivoc]] (EJ-1567C) pp. 449–458</ref> These labdanes are [[diterpene]]s (C<sub>20</sub>H<sub>32</sub>) and [[triene]]s, equipping the organic skeleton with three [[alkene]] groups for [[polymerization]]. As amber matures over the years, more polymerization takes place as well as [[isomerization]] reactions, [[Cross-link|crosslinking]] and [[Cyclic compound|cyclization]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Moldoveanu |first=S.C. |title=Analytical pyrolysis of natural organic polymers |publisher=Elsevier |year=1998}}</ref><ref name=Anderson2023/>

{{Anchor|Oil of amber}}Most amber has a hardness between 2.0 and 2.5 on the [[Mohs scale of mineral hardness|Mohs scale]], a [[refractive index]] of 1.5–1.6, a [[Relative density|specific gravity]] between 1.06 and 1.10, and a melting point of 250–300&nbsp;°C.<ref>{{cite book | last1=Poinar | first1=George O. | last2=Poinar | first2=Hendrik N. | last3=Cano | first3=Raul J. | title=Ancient DNA | chapter=DNA from Amber Inclusions | publisher=Springer New York | location=New York, NY | year=1994 | isbn=978-0-387-94308-4 | doi=10.1007/978-1-4612-4318-2_6 | pages=92–103}}</ref> Heated above {{convert|200|C}}, amber decomposes, yielding an '''oil of amber''', and leaves 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".{{sfn|Rudler|1911|p=792}}

Impurities are quite often present, especially when the resin has dropped onto the ground, so the material may be useless except for varnish-making. Such impure amber is called ''firniss''.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Braswell-Tripp |first=Pearlie |title=Real Diamonds & Precious Stones of the Bible |publisher=Xlibris Corporation |year=2013 |isbn=9781479796441 |location=Bloomington |pages=70 |language=en}}</ref> Such [[Inclusion (mineral)|inclusion]] of other substances can cause the amber to have an unexpected color. [[Pyrite]]s may give a bluish color. ''Bony amber'' owes its cloudy opacity to numerous tiny bubbles inside the resin.{{sfn|Rudler|1911|p=793}} However, so-called ''black amber'' is really a kind of [[Jet (gemstone)|jet]].<ref name="GOPoinar1992">{{cite book | title=Life in Amber | publisher=Stanford University Press | last=Poinar | first=George O.  | year=1992 | location=Stanford, California | page=9}}</ref> In darkly clouded and even opaque amber, inclusions can be imaged using high-energy, high-contrast, high-resolution [[X-ray]]s.<ref>{{cite news |last=Amos |first=Jonathan |date=1 April 2008 |title=BBC News, " Secret 'dino bugs' revealed", 1 April 2008 |work=BBC News |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7324564.stm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100828135744/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7324564.stm |archive-date=28 August 2010}}</ref>

== Formation ==
Molecular polymerization,<ref name=Anderson2023/> resulting from high pressures and temperatures produced by overlying sediment, transforms the resin first into [[copal]]. Sustained heat and pressure drives off [[terpene]]s and results in the formation of amber.<ref>{{Cite book | first=Patty C.|last=Rice|title=Amber: Golden Gem of the Ages. 4th Ed.|publisher=AuthorHouse|year=2006|isbn=978-1-4259-3849-9}}</ref> For this to happen, the resin must be resistant to decay. Many trees produce resin, but in the majority of cases this deposit is broken down by physical and biological processes. Exposure to sunlight, rain, microorganisms, and extreme temperatures tends to disintegrate the resin. For the resin to survive long enough to become amber, it must be resistant to such forces or be produced under conditions that exclude them.<ref>Poinar, George O. (1992) ''Life in amber''. Stanford, Calif.: Stanford University Press, p. 12, {{ISBN|0804720010}}</ref> Fossil resins from Europe fall into two categories, the Baltic ambers and another that resembles the ''[[Agathis]]'' group. Fossil resins from the Americas and Africa are closely related to the modern genus ''[[Hymenaea]]'',<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Lambert |first1=JB |last2=Poinar |first2=GO Jr. |year=2002 |title=Amber: the organic gemstone |journal=Accounts of Chemical Research |volume=35 |issue=8 |pages=628–36 |doi=10.1021/ar0001970 |pmid=12186567}}</ref> while Baltic ambers are thought to be fossil resins from plants of the family [[Sciadopityaceae]] that once lived in north Europe.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Wolfe|first=A. P.|author2=Tappert, R.|author3=Muehlenbachs, K.|author4=Boudreau, M.|author5=McKellar, R. C.|author6=Basinger, J. F.|author7=Garrett, A.|title=A new proposal concerning the botanical origin of Baltic amber|journal=Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences|date=30 June 2009|volume=276|issue=1672|pages=3403–3412|doi=10.1098/rspb.2009.0806|pmid=19570786|pmc=2817186}}</ref>[[File:Baltic-amber-fossils-inclusions.jpg|thumb|Baltic amber with inclusions]]
The abnormal development of resin in living trees (''succinosis'') can result in the formation of amber.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Sherborn |first1=Charles Davies |year=1892 |title=Natural Science: A Monthly Review of Scientific Progress, Volume 1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uCzPAAAAMAAJ&q=succinosis&pg=PA379}}</ref> [[File:Bernstein Bitterfeld, Gedanit, Bruchstücke 5658.jpg|thumb|Amber from Bitterfeld]]

==Extraction and processing==

=== Distribution and mining ===
[[File:Baltic-amber-deposit-Yantarny.jpg|thumb|upright=1.35|[[Open cast]] amber mine "Primorskoje" in Jantarny, Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia]]

[[File:Amber miners2.jpg|thumb|Extracting Baltic amber from Holocene deposits, Gdańsk, Poland]]Amber is globally distributed in or around all continents,<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Klages |first1=Johann P. |last2=Gerschel |first2=Henny |last3=Salzmann |first3=Ulrich |last4=Nehrke |first4=Gernot |last5=Müller |first5=Juliane |last6=Hillenbrand |first6=Claus-Dieter |last7=Bohaty |first7=Steven M. |last8=Bickert |first8=Torsten |date=2024-11-12 |title=First discovery of Antarctic amber |journal=Antarctic Science |volume=36 |issue=5 |language=en |pages=439–440 |doi=10.1017/S0954102024000208 |bibcode=2024AntSc..36..439K |issn=0954-1020|doi-access=free }}</ref> mainly in rocks of [[Cretaceous]] age or younger. Historically, the coast west of [[Königsberg]] in [[Prussia (region)|Prussia]] was the world's leading source of amber. The first mentions of amber deposits there date back to the 12th century.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Tantsura |first=Michael |date=2016-07-27 |title=The History of Russian Amber, Part 1: The Beginning |url=https://leta.st/en/blog/2016/07/history-of-russian-amber-1/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180315013751/https://leta.st/blog/2016/07/history-of-Russian-amber-1/ |archive-date=2018-03-15 |access-date= |website=Leta |language=en-US}}</ref> [[Juodkrantė#History|Juodkrantė]] in [[Lithuania]] was established in the mid-19th century as a mining town of amber. About 90% of the world's extractable amber is still located in that area, which was transferred to the [[Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic]] of the [[USSR]] in 1946, becoming the [[Kaliningrad Oblast]].<ref>{{cite web|url = http://gurukul.ucc.american.edu/ted/amber.htm|publisher =  Gurukul.ucc.american.edu|title = Amber Trade and the Environment in the Kaliningrad Oblast|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120706182814/http://gurukul.ucc.american.edu/ted/amber.htm |archive-date=6 July 2012 }}</ref>

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. Then nodules of ''blue earth'' have to be removed and an opaque crust must be cleaned off, which can be done in revolving barrels containing sand and water. Erosion removes this crust from sea-worn amber.{{sfn|Rudler|1911|p=793}} [[Dominican amber]] is mined through [[bell pit]]ting, which is dangerous because of the risk of tunnel collapse.<ref>Wichard, Wilfred and Weitschat, Wolfgang (2004) Im Bernsteinwald. – Gerstenberg Verlag, Hildesheim, {{ISBN|3-8067-2551-9}}</ref>

An important source of amber is [[Kachin State]] in northern [[Myanmar]], which has been a major source of amber in China for at least 1,800 years. Contemporary mining of this deposit has attracted attention for unsafe working conditions and its role in funding [[Internal conflict in Myanmar|internal conflict in the country]].<ref>{{Cite web|last=Hunt|first=Katie|date=20 September 2020|title='Blood amber' may be a portal into dinosaur times, but the fossils are an ethical minefield for palaeontologists|url=https://www.cnn.com/2020/09/19/world/blood-amber-myanmar-fossils-scn/index.html|access-date=2020-09-20|website=CNN}}</ref> Amber from the [[Rivne Oblast]] of Ukraine, referred to as [[Rivne amber]], is mined illegally by organised crime groups, who deforest the surrounding areas and pump water into the sediments to extract the amber, causing severe environmental deterioration.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2017-01-31|title=The Dramatic Impact of Illegal Amber Mining in Ukraine's Wild West|url=https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2017/01/illegal-amber-mining-ukraine/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191001204244/https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2017/01/illegal-amber-mining-ukraine/|url-status=dead|archive-date=1 October 2019|access-date=2020-09-22|website=National Geographic News|language=en}}</ref>

===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 luster is given by polishing with flannel.{{sfn|Rudler|1911|p=793}}

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 that cause the turbidity. Small fragments, formerly thrown away or used only for varnish are now used on a large scale in the formation of "ambroid" or "pressed amber".{{sfn|Rudler|1911|p=793}} 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."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Project Gutenberg |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oil4DgAAQBAJ&pg=PT2383 |title=The Project Gutenberg Encyclopedia |date = January 2021|publisher=Prabhat Prakashan}}</ref>

Amber has often been imitated by other resins like [[copal]] and [[kauri gum]], as well as by [[celluloid]] and even glass. Baltic amber is sometimes colored artificially but also called "true amber".{{sfn|Rudler|1911|p=793}}

== Appearance ==
[[File:Colours of Baltic Amber.jpg|thumb|Unique colors of Baltic amber. Polished stones.]]

Amber occurs in a range of different colors. As well as the usual yellow-orange-brown that is associated with the color "amber", amber can range from a whitish color through a pale lemon yellow, to brown and almost black. Other uncommon colors include red amber (sometimes known as "cherry amber"), green amber, and even [[blue amber]], which is rare and highly sought after.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.gemselect.com/gem-info/amber/amber-gemstone-information-and-education.php|title=Amber: Natural Organic Amber Gemstone & Jewelry Information; GemSelect|website=www.gemselect.com|access-date=2017-08-28|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170828193355/https://www.gemselect.com/gem-info/amber/amber-gemstone-information-and-education.php|archive-date=28 August 2017}}</ref>

Yellow amber is a hard fossil resin from evergreen trees, and despite the name it can be translucent, yellow, orange, or brown colored. Known to the Iranians by the Pahlavi compound word kah-ruba (from ''kah'' "straw" plus ''rubay'' "attract, snatch", referring to its electrical properties<ref name="electric" />), which entered Arabic as kahraba' or kahraba (which later became the Arabic word for [[electricity]], كهرباء ''kahrabā{{'}}''), it too was called amber in Europe (Old French and Middle English ambre). Found along the southern shore of the Baltic Sea, yellow amber reached the Middle East and western Europe via trade. Its coastal acquisition may have been one reason yellow amber came to be designated by the same term as ambergris. Moreover, like ambergris, the resin could be burned as an incense. The resin's most popular use was, however, for ornamentation—easily cut and polished, it could be transformed into beautiful jewelry. 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".<ref>"Amber". (1999). In G. W. Bowersock, Peter Brown, Oleg Grabar (eds.) ''Late Antiquity: A Guide to the Postclassical World'', Harvard University Press, {{ISBN|0674511735}}.</ref>

[[File:Ambre bleu dominicain 21207.jpg|thumb|right|[[Blue amber]] from Dominican Republic]]
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 {{convert|100|kg|lbs|abbr=on}} is found per year, which makes it valuable and expensive.<ref>{{cite journal|author=Manuel A. Iturralde-Vennet |year=2001 |title=Geology of the Amber-Bearing Deposits of the Greater Antilles |journal=Caribbean Journal of Science |volume=37 |issue=3 |pages=141–167 |url=http://academic.uprm.edu/publications/cjs/Vol37b/37_141-167.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110511133007/http://academic.uprm.edu/publications/cjs/Vol37b/37_141-167.pdf |archive-date=11 May 2011 }}</ref>

Sometimes amber retains the form of drops and [[stalactite]]s, just as it exuded from the ducts and receptacles of the injured trees.{{sfn|Rudler|1911|p=793}} 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.

==Classification==
Amber can be classified into several forms. Most fundamentally, there are two types of plant resin with the potential for fossilization. [[Terpenoid]]s, produced by [[conifer]]s and [[Flowering plant|angiosperms]], consist of ring structures formed of [[isoprene]] (C<sub>5</sub>H<sub>8</sub>) units.<ref name=Grimaldi2009/> [[Phenol formaldehyde resin|Phenolic resins]] are today only produced by angiosperms, and tend to serve functional uses. The extinct [[Medullosales|medullosan]]s produced a third type of resin, which is often found as amber within their veins.<ref name=Grimaldi2009/> 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 spectrometry]].<ref name=Grimaldi2009/> The overall chemical and structural composition is used to divide ambers into five classes.<ref name=Anderson1992ii>{{cite journal |doi=10.1016/0146-6380(92)90051-X|title=The nature and fate of natural resins in the geosphere—II. Identification, classification and nomenclature of resinites|year=1992|last1=Anderson|first1=K|last2=Winans|first2=R|last3=Botto|first3=R|journal=Organic Geochemistry|volume=18|issue=6|pages=829–841|bibcode=1992OrGeo..18..829A |url=https://zenodo.org/record/1258329}}</ref><ref name=Anderson1992iii/> There is also a separate classification of amber gemstones, according to the way of production.{{Citation needed|date=January 2021}}

===Class I===
This class is by far the most abundant. It comprises labdatriene carboxylic acids such as communic or [[ozic acid]]s.<ref name=Anderson1992ii/> It is further split into three sub-classes. Classes Ia and Ib utilize regular labdanoid diterpenes (e.g. communic acid, communol, biformenes), while Ic uses ''enantio'' labdanoids (ozic acid, ozol, ''enantio'' biformenes).<ref>{{cite book |doi=10.1021/bk-1995-0617.ch006|title=Amber, Resinite, and Fossil Resins|year=1996|last1=Anderson|first1=Ken B.|volume=617|pages=105–129|chapter=New Evidence Concerning the Structure, Composition, and Maturation of Class I (Polylabdanoid) Resinites|series=ACS Symposium Series|isbn=978-0-8412-3336-2}}</ref>

'''Class Ia''' includes ''succinite'' (= 'normal' Baltic amber) and ''glessite''.<ref name=Anderson1992iii/> They have a communic acid base, and they also include much succinic acid.<ref name=Anderson1992ii/> [[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 from 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 greater than many other fossil resins. Its specific gravity varies from 1.05 to 1.10.{{sfn|Rudler|1911|p=792}} It can be distinguished from other ambers via [[infrared spectroscopy]] through a specific [[Carbonyl group|carbonyl]] absorption peak. Infrared spectroscopy can detect the relative age of an amber sample. Succinic acid may not be an original component of amber but rather a degradation product of [[abietic acid]].<ref name="Rottlaender1970">{{cite web|url=http://www.natmus.dk/cons/reports/2002/amber/amber.pdf |title=Degradation and inhibitive conservation of Baltic amber in museum collections |year=2007 |author=Shashoua, Yvonne |work=Department of Conservation, The National Museum of Denmark |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110511212102/http://www.natmus.dk/cons/reports/2002/amber/amber.pdf |archive-date=11 May 2011 }}</ref>

'''Class Ib''' ambers are based on communic acid; however, they lack succinic acid.<ref name="Anderson1992ii" />

'''Class Ic''' is mainly based on ''enantio''-labdatrienonic acids, such as ozic and zanzibaric acids.<ref name="Anderson1992ii" /> Its most familiar representative is Dominican amber,.<ref name="Grimaldi2009" /> which is mostly transparent and often contains a higher number of fossil inclusions. This has enabled the detailed reconstruction of the ecosystem of a long-vanished tropical forest.<ref>George Poinar, Jr. and Roberta Poinar, 1999. ''The Amber Forest: A Reconstruction of a Vanished World'', (Princeton University Press) {{ISBN|0-691-02888-5}}</ref> 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]]".<ref>Grimaldi, D. A. (1996) Amber – Window to the Past. – American Museum of Natural History, New York, {{ISBN|0810919664}}</ref>

===Class II===
These ambers are formed from resins with a sesquiterpenoid base, such as [[Cadinenes|cadinene]].<ref name=Anderson1992ii/>

===Class III===
These ambers are [[polystyrene]]s.<ref name=Anderson1992ii/>

===Class IV===
Class IV is something of a [[Wastebasket taxon|catch-all]]: its ambers are not polymerized, but mainly consist of [[cedrene]]-based sesquiterpenoids.<ref name=Anderson1992ii/>

===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 main variety is ''[[Copaline|Highgate copalite]]''.<ref name=Anderson1992iii>{{Cite journal |doi=10.1016/0146-6380(93)90111-N|title=The nature and fate of natural resins in the geosphere—III. Re-evaluation of the structure and composition of Highgate Copalite and Glessite|year=1993|last1=Anderson|first1=K|last2=Botto|first2=R|journal=Organic Geochemistry|volume=20|page=1027|issue=7|bibcode=1993OrGeo..20.1027A |url=https://zenodo.org/record/1258331}}</ref>

==Geological record==
[[File:HALAMB48.JPG|thumb|upright|Typical amber specimen with a number of indistinct inclusions]]
The oldest amber recovered dates to the [[Carboniferous|late Carboniferous]] period ({{Ma|Upper carboniferous|round=-1}}).<ref name=Grimaldi2009>{{Cite journal |doi=10.1126/science.1179328|pmid=19797645|title=Pushing Back Amber Production|year=2009|last1=Grimaldi|first1=D.|journal=Science|volume=326|issue=5949|bibcode=2009Sci...326...51G|pages=51–2|s2cid=206522565}}</ref><ref name=Bray2009>{{cite journal |doi=10.1126/science.1177539|title=Identification of Carboniferous (320 Million Years Old) Class Ic Amber|year=2009|last1=Bray|first1=P. S.|last2=Anderson|first2=K. B.|journal=Science|volume=326|issue=5949|pages=132–134|pmid=19797659|bibcode=2009Sci...326..132B|s2cid=128461248}}</ref> Its chemical composition makes it difficult to match the amber to its producers – it is most similar to the resins produced by flowering plants; however, the first flowering plants appeared in the Early Cretaceous, about 200 million years after the oldest amber known to date, and they were not common until the [[Late Cretaceous]]. Amber becomes abundant long after the Carboniferous, in the [[Early Cretaceous]],<ref name=Grimaldi2009/> when it is found in association with insects. The oldest amber with arthropod inclusions comes from the [[Late Triassic]] (late [[Carnian]] {{circa}} 230&nbsp;Ma) of Italy, where four microscopic (0.2–0.1&nbsp;mm) mites, ''[[Triasacarus]],'' ''[[Ampezzoa]], [[Minyacarus]]'' and ''[[Cheirolepidoptus]],'' and a poorly preserved [[nematocera]]n fly were found in millimetre-sized droplets of amber.<ref name="pnas2012">{{Cite journal|last1=Schmidt|first1=A. R.|last2=Jancke|first2=S.|last3=Lindquist|first3=E. E.|last4=Ragazzi|first4=E.|last5=Roghi|first5=G.|last6=Nascimbene|first6=P. C.|last7=Schmidt|first7=K.|last8=Wappler|first8=T.|last9=Grimaldi|first9=D. A.|year=2012|title=Arthropods in amber from the Triassic Period|journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences|volume=109|issue=37|pages=14796–801|doi=10.1073/pnas.1208464109|pmc=3443139|pmid=22927387|bibcode=2012PNAS..10914796S|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Sidorchuk|first1=Ekaterina A.|last2=Schmidt|first2=Alexander R.|last3=Ragazzi|first3=Eugenio|last4=Roghi|first4=Guido|last5=Lindquist|first5=Evert E.|date=February 2015|title=Plant-feeding mite diversity in Triassic amber (Acari: Tetrapodili)|url=http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14772019.2013.867373|journal=Journal of Systematic Palaeontology|language=en|volume=13|issue=2|pages=129–151|doi=10.1080/14772019.2013.867373|bibcode=2015JSPal..13..129S |s2cid=85055941|issn=1477-2019|url-access=subscription}}</ref> The oldest amber with significant numbers of arthropod inclusions comes from Lebanon. This amber, referred to as [[Lebanese amber]], is roughly 125–135&nbsp;million years old, is considered of high scientific value, providing evidence of some of the oldest sampled ecosystems.<ref name="PoinarOthers2011a">Poinar, P.O., Jr., and R.K. Milki (2001) ''Lebanese Amber: The Oldest Insect Ecosystem in Fossilized Resin.'' Oregon State University Press, Corvallis. {{ISBN|0-87071-533-X}}.</ref>

In Lebanon, more than 450 outcrops of Lower Cretaceous amber were discovered by Dany Azar,<ref>{{cite journal |last=Azar|first=Dany|title=Lebanese amber: a "Guinness Book of Records"|journal=Annales Universitatis Paedagogicae Cracoviensis|year=2012|volume=111|pages=44–60}}</ref> a Lebanese paleontologist and entomologist. Among these outcrops, 20 have yielded biological inclusions comprising the oldest representatives of several recent families of terrestrial arthropods. Even older [[Jurassic]] amber has been found recently in Lebanon as well. Many remarkable insects and spiders were recently discovered in the amber of Jordan including the oldest [[zoraptera]]ns, [[Cleridae|clerid beetles]], [[Umenocoleidae|umenocoleid]] [[cockroach|roaches]], and achiliid [[planthopper]]s.<ref name="PoinarOthers2011a"/>

[[File:Snailamber.jpg|thumb|upright|A snail and a few insects trapped within Burmese amber]]

[[Burmese amber]] from the [[Hukawng Valley]] in northern Myanmar is the only commercially exploited Cretaceous amber. [[Uranium–lead dating]] of [[zircon]] crystals associated with the deposit have given an estimated depositional age of approximately 99 million years ago. Over 1,300 species have been described from the amber, with over 300 in 2019 alone.

Baltic amber is found as irregular [[Nodule (geology)|nodule]]s in marine [[Glauconite|glauconitic]] sand, known as ''blue earth'', occurring in Upper Eocene strata of [[Sambia Peninsula|Sambia]] in Prussia.{{sfn|Rudler|1911|p=792}} It appears to have been partly derived from older [[Eocene]] deposits and it occurs also as a derivative phase in later formations, such as [[Drift (geology)|glacial 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 does not seem to differ from that of the existing genus it has been also called ''Pinus succinifera''. It is improbable 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.{{sfn|Rudler|1911|p=793}}

===Paleontological significance===
{{Paleontology}}

Amber is a unique preservational mode, preserving otherwise unfossilizable parts of organisms; as such it is helpful in the reconstruction of ecosystems as well as organisms;<ref>[http://db.bbc.co.uk/radio4/science/amber.shtml BBC – Radio 4 – Amber] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060212064001/http://db.bbc.co.uk/radio4/science/amber.shtml |date=12 February 2006 }}. Db.bbc.co.uk (16 February 2005). Retrieved on 23 April 2011.</ref> the chemical composition of the resin, however, is of limited utility in reconstructing the phylogenetic affinity of the resin producer.<ref name=Grimaldi2009/> Amber sometimes contains animals or plant matter that became caught in the resin as it was secreted. [[Insect]]s, [[spider]]s and even their webs, [[annelid]]s, [[frog]]s,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna17168489 |title=Scientist: Frog could be 25 million years old |work=NBC News |date=16 February 2007}}</ref> [[crustacean]]s, [[bacteria]] and [[amoebae]],<ref>{{Cite journal|url= http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/museum/171online/PB171BMWPG1.html|author= Waggoner, Benjamin M.|title= Bacteria and protists from Middle Cretaceous amber of Ellsworth County, Kansas|journal= PaleoBios|volume= 17|issue= 1|pages= 20–26|date= 13 July 1996|url-status= live|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20070808104139/http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/museum/171online/PB171BMWPG1.html|archive-date= 8 August 2007}}</ref> marine microfossils,<ref>{{Cite journal | last2 = Schmidt| last6 = Saint Martin| last8 = Breton| last9 = Néraudeau | first1 = V. | first2 = A.| last4 = Struwe| last5 = Perrichot | first3 = S. | first4 = S. | first5 = V.| last3 = Saint Martin| last1 = Girard | first6 = J. | first7 = D. | first8 = G. | first9 = D.| title = Evidence for marine microfossils from amber| journal = Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America| volume = 105| issue = 45| last7 = Grosheny| pages = 17426–17429| year = 2008| pmid = 18981417| pmc = 2582268 | doi = 10.1073/pnas.0804980105|bibcode = 2008PNAS..10517426G | doi-access = free}}</ref> wood, flowers and fruit, hair, feathers<ref name="NYT-20161208" /> and other small organisms have been recovered in Cretaceous ambers (deposited c. {{Ma|130}}).<ref name="Grimaldi2009" /> There is even an [[ammonite]] ''[[Puzosia (Bhimaites)]]'' and marine [[gastropods]] found in [[Burmese amber]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Dilcher|first1=David|last2=Wang|first2=Bo|last3=Zhang|first3=Haichun|last4=Xia|first4=Fangyuan|last5=Broly|first5=Pierre|last6=Kennedy|first6=Jim|last7=Ross|first7=Andrew|last8=Mu|first8=Lin|last9=Kelly|first9=Richard|date=2019-05-10|title=An ammonite trapped in Burmese amber|journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences|language=en|pages=11345–11350|doi=10.1073/pnas.1821292116|issn=0027-8424|pmid=31085633|volume=116|issue=23|pmc=6561253|doi-access=free|bibcode=2019PNAS..11611345Y }}</ref>

[[File:Fossil frog in amber.png|thumb|left|Skeleton of the frog ''[[Electrorana]]'' preserved in mid-Cretaceous [[Burmese amber]].|alt=]]

The preservation of prehistoric organisms in amber forms a key plot point in [[Michael Crichton]]'s 1990 novel ''[[Jurassic Park (novel)|Jurassic Park]]'' and the [[Jurassic Park (film)|1993 movie adaptation]] by [[Steven Spielberg]].<ref>{{cite book| title=The Making of Jurassic Park| author=Don Shay & Jody Duncan| year=1993| page=4}}</ref> In the story, scientists are able to extract the preserved blood of [[dinosaurs]] from prehistoric [[mosquitoes]] trapped in amber, from which they genetically clone living dinosaurs. Scientifically this is as yet impossible, since no amber with fossilized mosquitoes has ever yielded preserved blood.<ref>{{cite magazine| url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/a-fossilized-blood-engorged-mosquito-is-found-for-the-first-time-ever-1749788/| title=A Fossilized Blood-Engorged Mosquito is Found for the First Time Ever| author=Joseph Stromberg| magazine=Smithsonian Magazine| date=2013-10-14| access-date=2018-07-07}}</ref> Amber is, however, conducive to preserving [[DNA]], since it dehydrates and thus stabilizes organisms trapped inside. One projection in 1999 estimated that DNA trapped in amber could last up to 100&nbsp;million years, far beyond most estimates of around 1&nbsp;million years in the most ideal conditions,<ref>{{cite news| title=Preservation of key biomolecules in the fossil record: Current knowledge and future challenges| author=J.L. Bada, X.S. Wang, H. Hamilton| publisher=Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Vol. 354| year=1999| pages=77–87}}</ref> although a later 2013 study was unable to extract DNA from insects trapped in much more recent [[Holocene]] [[copal]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=News Staff |title=Extracting Dinosaur DNA from Amber Fossils Impossible, Scientists Say |url=http://www.sci-news.com/paleontology/science-dinosaur-dna-amber-01383.html |website=SciNews |access-date=23 August 2018}}</ref> In 1938, 12-year-old [[David Attenborough]] was given a piece of amber containing prehistoric creatures from his adoptive sister; it would be the focus of his 2004 BBC documentary ''[[The Amber Time Machine]].''<ref>{{cite news |title=Jewel of the Earth |url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/transcripts/3305_jewel.html |access-date=2 July 2021 |publisher=PBS |archive-date=3 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210603022425/https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/transcripts/3305_jewel.html |url-status=live}}</ref>

==Use==
[[File:Altamira Ambre MHNT.PRE.2012.0.615.jpg|thumb|[[Solutrean]] amber from [[Cave of Altamira|Altamira]] in the [[Muséum de Toulouse]]]]
Amber has been used since prehistory ([[Solutrean]]) in the manufacture of jewelry and ornaments, and also in [[Traditional medicine|folk medicine]].

===Jewelry===
[[File:amber.pendants.800pix.050203.jpg|thumb|upright|Pendants made of amber. The oval [[pendant]] is {{convert|52|by|32|mm|in|frac=4|abbr=on}}.]]
[[File:Halssnoer van barnstenen kralen.png|thumb|upright|Amber necklace from 2000 to 1000 BCE]]
Amber has been used as jewelry since the [[Stone Age]], from 13,000 years ago.<ref name=Grimaldi2009/> Amber ornaments have been found in Mycenaean tombs and elsewhere across Europe.<ref>[http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=8456512 Curt W. Beck, Anthony Harding and Helen Hughes-Brock, "Amber in the Mycenaean World" ''The Annual of the British School at Athens'', vol. 69 (November 1974), pp. 145–172. DOI:10.1017/S0068245400005505] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131105124301/http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=8456512 |date=5 November 2013 }}</ref> To this day it is used in the manufacture of smoking and glassblowing mouthpieces.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pipesandtobaccos.com/pipesandtobaccos/info/insights/baldoview.htm |title=Interview with expert pipe maker, Baldo Baldi. Accessed 10-12-09 |publisher=Pipesandtobaccos.com |date=11 February 2000|url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060216124403/http://www.pipesandtobaccos.com/pipesandtobaccos/info/insights/baldoview.htm |archive-date=16 February 2006 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://steinertindustries.com/osc/advanced_search_result.php?search_in_description=1&keywords=amber&osCsid=d8f7cf307cfb59b1356aa7e3abfaa59e |title=Maker of amber mouthpiece for glass blowing pipes. Accessed 10-12-09 |publisher=Steinertindustries.com |date=7 May 2007|url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716134239/http://steinertindustries.com/osc/advanced_search_result.php?search_in_description=1&keywords=amber&osCsid=d8f7cf307cfb59b1356aa7e3abfaa59e |archive-date=16 July 2011 }}</ref> Amber's place in culture and tradition lends it a tourism value; [[Palanga Amber Museum]] is dedicated to the fossilized resin.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Schüler |first1=C. J. |title=Along the Amber Route: St. Petersburg to Venice |date=2022 |publisher=Sandstone Press |isbn=978-1-912240-92-0 |page=71 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=q3j3DwAAQBAJ&pg=PT71 |language=en |quote=With more than a quarter of a million pieces, this is thought to be the world's largest collection of amber}}</ref>

===Historical medicinal uses===
Amber has long been used in folk medicine for its purported healing properties.<ref name="test">{{cite journal|url=http://faculty.ksu.edu.sa/16796/Pediatric%20Gastroenterology%20resources/Teething%20facts%20and%20%20fictions.pdf|title=Teething: Facts and Fiction|author=Lisa Markman|journal=Pediatr. Rev.|year=2009|volume=30|pages=e59–e64|doi=10.1542/pir.30-8-e59|issue=8|pmid=19648257|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130510010735/http://faculty.ksu.edu.sa/16796/Pediatric%20Gastroenterology%20resources/Teething%20facts%20and%20%20fictions.pdf|archive-date=10 May 2013|citeseerx=10.1.1.695.5675|s2cid=29522788 }}</ref> Amber and extracts were used from the time of [[Hippocrates]] in ancient [[Greece]] for a wide variety of treatments through the Middle Ages and up until the early twentieth century.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Riddle|first=John M.|date=1973|title=AMBER in ancient Pharmacy: The Transmission of Information About a Single Drug: A Case Study|journal=Pharmacy in History|volume=15|issue=1|pages=3–17}}</ref>

Amber necklaces are a traditional European remedy for [[Baby colic|colic]] or [[Teething|teething pain]] with purported analgesic properties of succinic acid, although there is no evidence that this is an effective remedy or delivery method.<ref name="test"/><ref name="HealthyChildren.org-2018">{{Cite web|url=http://www.healthychildren.org/English/ages-stages/baby/teething-tooth-care/Pages/Amber-Teething-Necklaces.aspx|title=Teething Necklaces and Beads: A Caution for Parents|website=HealthyChildren.org|date=20 December 2018 |access-date=2018-12-21}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/amber-waves-of-woo/|title=Amber Waves of Woo|date=2014-04-11|website=Science-Based Medicine|language=en-US|access-date=2018-12-21}}</ref> The [[American Academy of Pediatrics]] and the [[Food and Drug Administration|FDA]] have warned strongly against their use, as they present both a choking and a strangulation hazard.<ref name="HealthyChildren.org-2018" /><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.fda.gov/MedicalDevices/Safety/AlertsandNotices/ucm628900.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181220213155/https://www.fda.gov/MedicalDevices/Safety/AlertsandNotices/ucm628900.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=20 December 2018|title=Safety Communications - FDA Warns Against Use of Teething Necklaces, Bracelets, and Other Jewelry Marketed for Relieving Teething Pain or Providing Sensory Stimulation: FDA Safety Communication|last=Health|first=Center for Devices and Radiological|website=www.fda.gov|language=en|access-date=2018-12-21}}</ref>

===Scent of amber and amber perfumery===

In [[ancient China]], it was customary to burn amber during large festivities. If amber is heated under the right conditions, oil of amber is produced, and in past times this was combined carefully with [[nitric acid]] to create "artificial musk" – a resin with a peculiar [[musk]]y odor.<ref name="Amber">{{cite web|url=http://www.aphrodisiacs-info.com/amber.html|title=Amber as an aphrodisiac|website=Aphrodisiacs-info.com|access-date=19 September 2012|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130117090500/http://www.aphrodisiacs-info.com/amber.html|archive-date=17 January 2013}}.</ref> Although when burned, amber does give off a characteristic "pinewood" fragrance, modern products, such as [[perfume]], do not normally use actual amber because fossilized amber produces very little scent. In perfumery, scents referred to as "amber" are often created and patented<ref>Thermer, Ernst T. "Saturated indane derivatives and processes for producing same" {{US patent|3703479}}, {{US patent|3681464}}, issue date 1972</ref><ref>Perfume compositions and perfume articles containing one isomer of an octahydrotetramethyl acetonaphthone, John B. Hall, Rumson; James Milton Sanders, Eatontown {{US patent|3929677}}, Publication Date: 30 December 1975</ref> to emulate the opulent golden warmth of the fossil.<ref>[http://sorceryofscent.blogspot.com/2008/07/amber-perfumery-myth.html Sorcery of Scent: Amber: A perfume myth] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100114155516/http://sorceryofscent.blogspot.com/2008/07/amber-perfumery-myth.html |date=14 January 2010 }}. Sorceryofscent.blogspot.com (30 July 2008). Retrieved on 23 April 2011.</ref>

The scent of amber was originally derived from emulating the scent of [[ambergris]] and/or the plant resin [[labdanum]], but since sperm whales are endangered, the scent of amber is now largely derived from labdanum.<ref>{{cite journal|url=https://teresacasimiro.com.sapo.pt/Bibliographic_References/21.pdf|title=Characterization of the Portuguese-Grown Cistus ladanifer Essential Oil|author1=Gomes, Paula B. |author2=Mata, Vera G. |author3=Rodrigues, A. E. |journal=Journal of Essential Oil Research|year=2005|doi=10.1080/10412905.2005.9698864|volume=17|issue=2|pages=160–165|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120324060544/http://teresacasimiro.com.sapo.pt/Bibliographic_References/21.pdf|archive-date=24 March 2012|citeseerx=10.1.1.694.8772|s2cid=96688538}}</ref> The term "amber" is loosely used to describe a scent that is warm, musky, rich and honey-like, and also somewhat earthy. [[Benzoin (resin)|Benzoin]] is usually part of the recipe. [[Vanilla]] and [[clove]]s are sometimes used to enhance the aroma. "Amber" perfumes may be created using combinations of labdanum, benzoin resin, copal (a type of tree resin used in incense manufacture), vanilla, [[Agathis|Dammara resin]] and/or synthetic materials.<ref name="Amber" />

In Arab Muslim tradition, popular scents include amber, [[jasmine]], [[musk]] and oud ([[agarwood]]).<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MImdEAAAQBAJ&dq=musk+oud+arab+culture&pg=PT75 | title=QATAR (EN ANGLAIS) 2023/2024 Petit Futé | isbn=9782305096186 | last1=Auzias | first1=Dominique | last2=Labourdette | first2=Jean-Paul | date=23 November 2022 | publisher=Petit Futé }}</ref>

== Imitation substances ==

Young resins used as imitations:<ref>{{Harvnb|Matushevskaya|2013|pp=11–13}}</ref>
* Kauri resin from ''[[Agathis australis]]'' trees in New Zealand.
* The [[copal]]s ([[subfossil]] resins). The African and American ([[Colombia]]) copals from ''[[Fabaceae|Leguminosae]]'' trees family (genus ''[[Hymenaea]]''). [[Dominican amber|Amber of the Dominican]] or Mexican type ([[#Class I|Class I]] of fossil resins). Copals from Manilia ([[Indonesia]]) and from New Zealand from trees of the genus ''[[Agathis]]'' (family [[Araucariaceae]])
* Other fossil resins: [[burmite]] in [[Burma]], [[rumanite]] in [[Romania]], and simetite in [[Sicily]].
* Other natural resins — [[cellulose]] or [[chitin]], etc.

Plastics used as imitations:<ref>{{Harvnb|Matushevskaya|2013|pp=13–19}}</ref>
* [[Stained glass]] (inorganic material) and other [[Ceramic|ceramic materials]]
* [[Celluloid]]
* [[Nitrocellulose|Cellulose nitrate]] (first obtained in 1833<ref name="Wagner-Wysiecka 2013 30">{{Harvnb|Wagner-Wysiecka|2013|p=30}}</ref>) — a product of treatment of cellulose with nitration mixture.<ref name="Bogdasarov 2013 38">{{Harvnb|Bogdasarov|Bogdasarov|2013|p=38}}</ref>
* Acetylcellulose (not in the use at present)
* [[Galalith]] or "artificial horn" (condensation product of casein and [[formaldehyde]]), other trade names: Alladinite, Erinoid, Lactoid.<ref name="Wagner-Wysiecka 2013 30"/>
* [[Casein]] — a conjugated protein forming from the casein precursor – caseinogen.<ref>{{Harvnb|Bogdasarov|Bogdasarov|2013|p=37}}</ref>
* Resolane (phenolic resins or phenoplasts, not in the use at present)
* [[Bakelite]] resine (resol, phenolic resins), product from [[Africa]] are known under the misleading name "African amber".
* [[Urea|Carbamide]] resins — [[Melamine resin|melamine]], formaldehyde and urea-formaldehyde resins.<ref name="Bogdasarov 2013 38"/>
* Epoxy [[Phenol formaldehyde resin|novolac]] (phenolic resins), unofficial name "antique amber", not in the use at present
* [[Polyesters]] (Polish amber imitation) with [[styrene]]. For example, unsaturated polyester resins (polymals) are produced by Chemical Industrial Works "[[Organika]]" in [[Sarzyna]], [[Poland]]; estomal are produced by [[Laminopol]] firm. Polybern or sticked amber is artificial resins the curled chips are obtained, whereas in the case of amber – small scraps. "African amber" (polyester, synacryl is then probably other name of the same resine) are produced by Reichhold firm; Styresol trade mark or alkid resin (used in Russia, Reichhold, Inc. patent, 1948.<ref>{{Harvnb|Wagner-Wysiecka|2013|p=31}}</ref>
* [[Polyethylene]]
* [[Epoxy resin]]s
* [[Polystyrene]] and polystyrene-like polymers ([[vinyl polymer]]s).<ref name="Wagner-Wysiecka 2013 32">{{Harvnb|Wagner-Wysiecka|2013|p=32}}</ref>
* The [[Acrylic resin|resins of acrylic type]] ([[vinyl polymer]]s<ref name="Wagner-Wysiecka 2013 32"/>), especially [[Poly(methyl methacrylate)|polymethyl methacrylate PMMA]] (trade mark Plexiglass, metaplex).

==See also==
* [[Ammolite]]
* [[Illyrian amber jewellery]]
* [[List of types of amber]]
* [[Petrified wood]]
* [[Pearl]]
* [[Poly(methyl methacrylate)#Acrylate resin casting|Poly(methyl methacrylate)]]
* [[Precious coral]]

==Notes==
{{reflist|group=lower-alpha}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Refbegin}}
*{{EB1911 |last=Rudler |first=Frederick William |wstitle=Amber (resin)|display=Amber |volume=1 |pages=792–794}}
{{Refend}}

== Bibliography ==
* {{cite book |last1=Bogdasarov |first1=Albert |last2=Bogdasarov |first2=Maksim |year=2013 |chapter=Forgery and simulations from amber |trans-chapter=Подделки и имитация янтаря |editor1-last=Kostjashova |editor1-first=Z. V. |title=Янтарь и его имитации |script-title=ru:Материалы международной научно-практической конференции 27 июня 2013 года |trans-title=Amber and its imitations |chapter-url=http://www.ambermuseum.ru/home/materials/read?id=548f584d138c69fc0a0002a9 |language=ru |location=[[Kaliningrad]] |publisher=[[Kaliningrad Amber Museum]], Ministry of Culture (Kaliningrad region, Russia) |pages=113 |isbn=978-5-903920-26-6 |access-date=9 July 2016 |archive-date=16 February 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200216162639/https://www.ambermuseum.ru/home/materials/read%3Fid%3D548f584d138c69fc0a0002a9 |url-status=dead }}
* {{cite book |last1=Matushevskaya |first1=Aniela |year=2013 |chapter=Natural and artificial resins – chosen aspects of structure and properties |editor1-last=Kostjashova |editor1-first=Z. V. |title=Янтарь и его имитации |script-title=ru:Материалы международной научно-практической конференции 27 июня 2013 года |trans-title=Amber and its imitations |chapter-url=http://www.ambermuseum.ru/home/materials/read?id=548f584d138c69fc0a0002a9 |language=ru |location=[[Kaliningrad]] |publisher=[[Kaliningrad Amber Museum]], Ministry of Culture (Kaliningrad region, Russia) |pages=113 |isbn=978-5-903920-26-6 |access-date=9 July 2016 |archive-date=16 February 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200216162639/https://www.ambermuseum.ru/home/materials/read%3Fid%3D548f584d138c69fc0a0002a9 |url-status=dead }}
* {{cite book |last1=Wagner-Wysiecka |first1=Eva |year=2013 |chapter=Amber imitations through the eyes of a chemist |trans-chapter=Имитация янтаря глазами химика |editor1-last=Kostjashova |editor1-first=Z. V. |title=Янтарь и его имитации |script-title=ru:Материалы международной научно-практической конференции 27 июня 2013 года |trans-title=Amber and its imitations |chapter-url=http://www.ambermuseum.ru/home/materials/read?id=548f584d138c69fc0a0002a9 |language=ru |location=[[Kaliningrad]] |publisher=[[Kaliningrad Amber Museum]], Ministry of Culture (Kaliningrad region, Russia) |pages=113 |isbn=978-5-903920-26-6 |access-date=9 July 2016 |archive-date=16 February 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200216162639/https://www.ambermuseum.ru/home/materials/read%3Fid%3D548f584d138c69fc0a0002a9 |url-status=dead }}

==External links==
{{Commons and category|Amber|Amber}}
*[http://www.farlang.com/gemstones/amber Farlang many full text historical references on Amber] [[Theophrastus]], [[George Frederick Kunz]], and special on [[Baltic amber]].
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20050731084240/http://fossilinsects.net/lib.htm IPS Publications on amber inclusions] International Paleoentomological Society: Scientific Articles on amber and its inclusions
* [http://www.webmineral.com/data/Amber.shtml Webmineral on Amber] Physical properties and mineralogical information
* [http://www.mindat.org/min-188.html Mindat Amber] Image and locality information on amber
* [https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E0CE2DD123BF936A1575AC0A964958260 NY Times] 40&nbsp;million year old extinct bee in Dominican amber

{{Jewellery|state=expanded}}
{{Prehistoric technology}}
{{Gemstone}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Amber| ]]
[[Category:Fossil resins]]
[[Category:Amorphous solids]]
[[Category:Traditional medicine]]