BALTIC   AMBER   INCLUSIONS

Due to the nature of the pine sap, sometimes insects and plants were trapped in the sticky resin which later dried, hardened and became covered with organic matter and soil. These inclusions provide invaluable information to the scientific community due to the superiority of amber as a fossil material in terms of purity of preservation and elegance of detail. Some organisms even look alive. Occasionally pieces have recorded evidence of the struggle which occurred as the insect tried to free itself from the sticky resin. Delicate structures such as compound eyes, the structure of the veins of a wing, antennae, legs, and body hairs are often perfectly preserved and can be studied in detail. Studies done with the scanning electron microscope have revealed evidence of tissue being preserved to the cell nuclei level. DNA has been successfuly extracted from the bacteria inside the abdomen of a bee preserved in Dominican Amber. Scientists are studying ancient samples of air bubbles trapped in amber to determine the level of oxygen in the Earth's atmosphere 67 million years ago. Amber is a golden window into the distant past.

Primitive tribes saw both beauty and mystical qualities in amber. It was considered talismanic giving the wearer powers to ward off the evil eye because of the plants and animals entombed within the amber.

The first written records report that amber was used in relationship with the sun cults. Amber carved in the shape of a disc has been found in archaeological digs and was used as a sun symbol by the cultures inhabiting the coast of the Baltic Sea. Nowadays as well as in ancient times amber is called "sun-stone".

The Classical Greeks called amber "elektron", a root from which the English word for electricity is derived. The Greeks noticed that when amber is rubbed with a wool or silk cloth the surface of the amber becomes charged with static electricity.