Any precious stone is beautiful and unique, but amber has always attracted special attention. Solar gems stand out due to their rich palette, unusual texture, and inclusions inside the cabochons, which have been preserved since prehistoric times. And our article will acquaint you with amazing facts about petrified resin! At yantar.ua, we are passionate about sharing the wonders of this extraordinary gem. Our article will acquaint you with amazing facts about petrified resin, shedding light on its historical significance and modern applications.

1. Gold gems have long been used to create various accessories due to their plasticity and ease of processing. So, one of the oldest works is dated 10,000 BC. This pendant decorated with a geometric pattern was found in Jutland (Denmark). Other similar things were also discovered there - three-dimensional figurines of birds, a horse, a moose and a bear made of whole pieces of petrified resin. However, these products are much younger - according to archaeologists' research, they were made "only" in the 7th century. B.C.
   
   
   
   
2. Roman rulers also valued amber. In particular, Nero ordered the arena for gladiatorial fights to be decorated with gems. In order to collect the required amount of precious stones, special detachments of horsemen went to all corners of the empire. They brought so many cabochons that they were attached even to the fence surrounding the amphitheater.
   
   
   
   
3. In the 15th century Baltic amber gained the most popularity. However, the Teutonic Order had a monopoly on it, due to which the trade in sunstones was significantly limited. Under the patronage of the knights, many wonderful works were created, including Catholic rosaries. These rosaries, shimmering with golden lights, are present in the paintings of many artists of that era - from Jan van Eyck to Jos van Cleve.
   
   
   
   
4. The unusual properties of amber were known to the ancient Greeks. In particular, Thales (VII century BC) discovered that if a cabochon is rubbed against wool, it begins to attract straws to itself. Such were the first experiments with electricity, which hundreds of years later became the basis for the works of L. Galvani, A. Ampere, M. Faraday, N. Tesla and many others.
   
   
   
   
5. But this is far from all that amber is valuable for. In 400 BC Hippocrates noticed that solar gems help with mental disorders, strengthen immunity, treat sore throat, laryngitis, bronchitis and other otolaryngological ailments, and also cleanse the skin. Some of the methods described by the "father of medicine" are still used today!
   
   
6. Archaeologists also study precious stones. Thanks to the fact that butterflies, beetles and dragonflies fell into the solidifying resin, scientists were able to learn about insects that existed in the Triassic and Eocene eras. There are also bigger finds: recently, in a piece of Burmese amber, an enantiornis chick was discovered, which is about 99 million years old! It has a unique structure of the skeleton - this bird is able to fly from the moment it is born, without needing parental care. But the story told in the famous book "Jurassic Park" is, unfortunately, implausible. At the current stage of the development of science, it is impossible to extract the DNA of creatures imprisoned in amber, because the term of decay of nucleic bonds is only 521 years. However, experts do not lose hope - and who knows, maybe soon their efforts will be crowned with success!
   
   
   
   
7. Most solar gems belong to the Upper Cretaceous and Paleogene periods, which means that their age is less than 90 million years. But there are also older stones - yes, in 2009, a piece of amber was discovered in Illinois, which was formed more than 320 million years ago! This discovery changed the idea of plant evolution.
   
8. The largest single piece of the gem weighs 47.5 kg. It was found by Indonesian miners on the island of Sumatra in 2014. It is now kept in a museum in Copenhagen. Amber has a brown shade and an almost opaque structure. But when ultraviolet or sunlight hits it, it glows with an unusual blue hue.
   
   
   
   
9. Another famous deposit of gold stones is the southeastern coast of the Baltic Sea. During the three-thousand-year history of fishing, more than 125 million kg of gems thrown by the tide have been mined there. Especially many finds occur after storms, the most productive of which are awarded the name "amber storms". For example, in 1878, near Palmniken (now the village of Yantarne), there were so many cabochons left on the sand that local residents collected them for two years.

And our online store will help you buy handmade products from natural amber. These gems are more durable and have a variety of shades - which means that jewelry, interior accessories and souvenirs created from them are durable and exclusive!