Gdańsk International Fair Co. (MTG S.A.) Faculty of Chemistry, Gdansk University of Technology

Polish Academy of Sciences, Museum of the Earth, Warsaw International Amber Association (IAA)

AMBERIF 2016

THE 23RD SEMINAR ON

BALTIC AMBER IN THE KALEIDOSCOPE OF TIME

GDAŃSK, 18 MARCH 2016

Gdańsk – Warsaw 2016

Seminar academic directors:

dr hab. inż. Ewa Wagner-Wysiecka

Abstract editors:

dr hab. inż. Ewa Wagner-Wysiecka prof. dr hab. Barbara Kosmowska-Ceranowicz

Tłumaczenie: Dorota Górak-Łuba i Piotr Łuba Publishing arrangement: Elżbieta Sontag

The Organisers of the 23rd Seminar at Amberif 2016:

Ewa Wagner-Wysiecka, Ph.D., D.Sc. Ewa Rachoń

Published by:

The Gdańsk International Fair Co. (MTG SA), Gdańsk SA

23rd Amber Seminar: Baltic Amber in the Kaleidoscope of Time

In various periods, the perception of Baltic amber (succinite) changed – like when you turn

a kaleidoscope – and this process goes on all the time. In the realm of science, this is related to

the technological progress which allows us to get more and more information that brings us

closer to finding a satisfactory answer to questions such as the origin and structure of succinite.

Historically, succinite is connected to the Gdańsk Delta and the city of Gdańsk, from where

it has travelled to the farthest corners of Europe for centuries. Also here, one of the first tests

on the physicochemical nature of succinite was performed. This issue is addressed in the paper:

Physicochemical studies on Baltic amber in Gdańsk – yesterday and today (B. Kosmowska-

Ceranowicz/E. Wagner-Wysiecka). A contemporary approach to physicochemical research on

fossil resins will be presented in the lecture Qvo vadis? Current trends and challenges in succinite

and other fossil resins (romanite) studies (E. Teodor). The short contributions, An outline of the

history of research on succinic acid in Baltic amber (A. Matuszewska) and Baltic amber in

medicine – research on the biological activity of amber (I. Kaczmarczyk), will discuss those

properties of succinite which cause it to be perceived also as a substance that can be used in

pharmaceutics and medicine.

Numerous archaeological finds continually prove the important role played by amber in

culture. Novo Mesto, Slovenia, is an interesting archaeological area to which the contribution

Novo mesto / Slovenia archaeological paradise and amber destination 2017 (M. Guštin) is

dedicated; a conference on Ancient Amber Routes will be organised there next year.

Transported along the Amber Route, among others, succinite was originally collected on the sea

shore; with time, it became more and more of a luxurious and desirable commodity so it came

to require more efficient extraction methods. Amber mining areas and methods are addressed

in the paper Baltic amber deposits and mining in the region of Gdańsk and Pomerania in the

historical aspect (A. Małka).

Time also changes our perception of amber, this remarkable material whose beauty can

be highlighted by an artist even more. This issue will be discussed in the lecture From souvenirs

to works of art – the evolution of amber artefacts in the 20th century to the present day (with

special focus on the role of Gdańsk) (A. Sobecka).

Baltic amber has always attracted the attention of people linked to it in various ways,

which gave the impulse to establish an organisation that had its Founding Meeting on 27

February 1996. Such was the beginning of the International Amber Association, with the first

President of the Board Wiesław Gierłowski. Since then, up until the present, the Association,

which celebrates its 20th anniversary this year, has been working extensively in many directions

to the benefit of the development of the amber industry, which, among other things, will be

discussed during the presentation of the 20 years of the International Amber Association: the

beginnings and current areas of activity (M. Kosior).

To sum up, time marches inexorably on, we are all aware of this, many things change –

sometimes even like they do in a kaleidoscope. For succinite too. But here, the uniqueness of

Baltic amber remains unchanged, which also gives a creative push to everyone who feels close

to succinite. I hope that this will be demonstrated by this year’s seminar as well.

Ewa Wagner-Wysiecka

TABLE OF CONTENTS

B. KOSMOWSKA–CERANOWICZ, E. WAGNER–WYSIECKA

Physicochemical studies on Baltic amber in Gdańsk – yesterday and today ........................ 5

E.D. TEODOR, G.I. BADEA, E.S. TEODOR Qvo vadis? Current trends and challenges in succinite and other fossil resins

(romanite) studies ............................................................................................................. 11

A. MAŁKA Baltic amber deposits and mining in the region of Gdańsk and Pomerania in the

historical aspect ................................................................................................................ 16

A. SOBECKA From souvenirs to works of art – the evolution of amber artefacts in the 20 th century

to the present day (with special focus on the role of Gdańsk) ............................................ 21

W. GIERŁOWSKI, M. KOSIOR The 20th Anniversary of the International Amber Association: the beginnings and

current areas of activity .................................................................................................... 27

A. MATUSZEWSKA An outline of the history of research on succinic acid in Baltic amber ................................ 31

I. KACZMARCZYK Baltic amber in medicine – research on the biological activity of amber ............................ 35

M. GUŠTIN, B. KRIŽ, J.D. OSOLNIK, P. STIPANČIĆ Novo Mesto / Slovenia archaeological paradise and amber destination 2017 .................... 36

Amberif 2016 BALTIC AMBER IN THE KALEIDOSCOPE OF TIME Page 5

Physicochemical studies on Baltic amber in Gdańsk

– yesterday and today

BARBARA KOSMOWSKA-CERANOWICZ1,3, EWA WAGNER-WYSIECKA2,3

1Polish Academy of Sciences, Museum of the Earth, Warsaw,

Aleja Na Skarpie 20/26, 27, 00-488 Warsaw, Poland 2Gdańsk University of Technology, Faculty of Chemistry, Department of Chemistry and Technology of

Functional Materials, Narutowicza 11/12, 80-233 Gdańsk, Poland 3International Amber Associaiton, ul. Warzywnicza 1, 80-838 Gdańsk, Poland

Inquisitiveness in studying the substances that surround us, to a smaller or greater

extent, is in the human nature on a daily basis. That is also the way it is with amber, which as a

substance of unique properties has been connected for centuries with culture and art to

gradually become an object of ever more intensive scientific research. Special ties between

succinite and the region of Gdańsk Pomerania, especially the city of Gdańsk, have become one

of the reasons why it is in this very place that one can pinpoint the origin of scientific amber

research. This also pertains to the research on the chemical structure of succinite and the search

for its connections to amber’s properties and also to its origin.

The 19th century brought Gdańskers who have more than just historical significance for

physicochemical research.

The Gdańsk pharmacist Dr.(h.c.) Otto Helm (b. 1826 in Słupsk [German: Stolp] – d. 1902

in Gdańsk [German: Danzig]) discovered new and previously unknown fossil resins and

understood the need to give them generic mineralogical names as separate types. And so he

coined the names gedanite (1878b), glessite (1881a), simetite (1882, (confirmed by: HELM,

CONWENTZ 1886 ); romanite (1891a), burmite (1894; 1892, 1893). The detailed description by

Helm contained the tests on the melting point, elemental analysis, quantitative sulphur content

as well as the percentage of succinic acid. He also performed such research for resins described

by other discoverers in the 1870s: schraufite, neudorfite, trinkerite, as well as krantzite (1878a)

and Apennine amber (1881b).

Baltic amber, named succinite by Breithaupt in 1820, was Helm’s particular research

subject (1891, 1895). He determined the sulphur content in succinite’s different varieties (red,

chalk, bone and brown amber), getting different results, from 0.11 to 0.36 % (VAVRA 2015). The

results of the 1882 sulphur tests – 2.46% sulphur in “black” Sicilian amber (simetite) – after 4

years of research with H. Conwetz, also a renowned Gdańsk-based researcher, were confirmed

by both of them in Sicily where they went to find the confirmation of their own tests.

During the research on Mycenaen pearls (1884), Helm posed an erroneous conclusion

that, since they contained succinic acid, the pearls came from “the Tertiary Prussian formation”

and not that they were made of succinite, which is the correct answer. This launched a discussion

which even today sometimes comes up between archaeologists and amber researchers.

We often come back to the results obtained by simpler methods which we cannot

handle today. I (BKC) mean the dry distillation of amber, which Helm described while studying

Apennine amber (1881b). He indicated the presence of succinic acid in the Baltic amber on

multiple occasions and in 1881(b) he found that this acid in the quantity above 3% was a

diagnostic for succinite. The subject came up for debate when, for example, succinic acid was

found in romanite, but the magical numbers 3 to 8% are repeated to this day. There are no

quantitative analyses to determine the content of succinic acid that could finally tell us whether

this property is a diagnostic feature of succinite.

Amber was treated (modified) in Gdańsk by Paul Hermann Dahms (1866 Gdańsk – 1922

Sopot [German: Zoppot]). Dahms was a teacher, son of a Gdańsk-based painter. He studied

Page 6 BALTIC AMBER IN THE KALEIDOSCOPE OF TIME Amberif 2016 natural sciences at the Universities of Halle and Greifswalde. From 1890, he worked

subsequently at a gymnasium (secondary school) in Kwidzyn [German: Marienwerder], a

teacher’s seminary in Lubawa [German: Löbau], a gymnasium in Grudziądz [German: Graudenz],

again in Gdańsk, and from 1909 until his death at a gymnasium in Sopot – since 1919 as its head

teacher.

Dahms published 6 articles in the section on “Mineralogical amber research” in the

periodical of The Nature Society in Gdańsk. Four are about treating amber in order to clarify it

(1896) or to make it artificially clouded (1898), and the other two discuss agate-like varieties and

layered varieties (1911), as well as the structure of succinite and any possible changes during

treatment (1901, 1906). The physical properties of resins always came first in his research. His

descriptions can be considered models.

In other periodicals, he addressed Romanian amber, inclusions, bubbles (Holräume),

water inclusions and other inclusions. He described the research on romanite (from Helm’s

collection) with admirable detail (1920). He attempted to determine the causes of the numerous

cracks that increased the beauty of this resin; he did it by testing its reaction to boiling water,

the relationship to the softening point, he came close to conclusions about the relationship to

the pressure of orogens, although he did not make any direct connection with an orogenic

process. Published posthumously, his Ambergris and Amber typescript (1926) is proof of very

inquisitive historical studies and demonstrates the author’s extensive knowledge of the world’s

fossil resins and copals.

In an anniversary mood – by the way – it is worth mentioning that we hosted many times

Edwin Kaiserling, a relative of Richard Klebs’s (1850-1911), who was a pharmacist by education

and had connections with Königsberg (Kaliningrad). Edwin Kaiserling is also a physician, so he is

not indifferent to amber. In 2005, he presented a paper at an Amberif seminar.

In Richard Klebs’s writing, we can find inspiring research on cedarite: the Canadian resin

to which he gave its generic name. Klebs performed its elemental analysis (C: 78.15 %, H: 9.89

%, O: 11.20 %, S: 0.31 %, ash: 0.45 %; he tested its hardness, partial solubility in organic solvents

(1898). Today, we know that cedarite’s microhardness is higher than that of Baltic amber. Klebs,

however, described it as “sometimes similar to that of succinite.”

After the dynamic (as far as technological progress allowed it) period of the research on

the chemistry of Baltic amber, which took place in Gdańsk in 19th and the early 20th century, the

second half of the 20th and the early 21st century have been a time when the research on the

physicochemical properties of the fossil resins has not been so strongly linked to Pomerania. The

leading role in this period has been played by the Amber Department of the Museum of the

Earth, Warsaw, where under the leadership of Barbara Kosmowska-Ceranowicz many

interdisciplinary papers were written which one could not even begin to list here. Here one

should make a note of the ATLAS (KOSMOWSKA-CERANOWICZ, 2015), which is the result of many

years of work (since 1985 until its publication) on identifying resins from all over the world.

Publishing this research gives us all not only solid knowledge but also a database of reliable data,

which is a necessary condition to reliably identify unknown substances.

The chemistry of succinite in Poland is a notion that needs to be unequivocally

associated with the name of Aniela Matuszewska, the author of many publications in this field,

whose crowning achievement is the outstanding monograph on Amber (succinite), other fossil,

subfossil, and contemporary resins (MATUSZEWSKA, 2010).

Although the most recent reports connected with characterising the physicochemical

properties of succinite carried out in Gdańsk-based centres, compared to the rest of the world,

are relatively modest, this does not mean that currently no research has been carried out in this

scope.

Amberif 2016 BALTIC AMBER IN THE KALEIDOSCOPE OF TIME Page 7

According to the knowledge of the authors of this paper, towards the end of the 1960s

such studies were taken up by Ratajczak at Poznań University, Faculty of Chemistry. In 1975, the

project was finalised with a publication of materials Atti della cooperazione Interdisciplinare

Italo-Palacca. Studi e ricerche sulla problematica dell’ambra, edited by archeologists Prof.

Z. Henzel and Prof. G. Donato. Investigations on resins using physical and chemical methods

were carried out at the Polish Academy of Sciences Central Institute of the History of Material

Culture in Warsaw under the supervision of T. Dziekoński. Towards the end of the 1970s,

research on amber was conducted at the Gdańsk University of Technology, Faculty of Chemistry.

This research was the subject of a doctoral thesis by Małgorzata Kucharska on the Selected issues

of the chemistry and technology of Baltic amber written in 1979 at the Gdańsk University of

Technology, Faculty of Chemistry (KUCHARSKA, 1979). This dissertation reflects the general global

trends which prevailed worldwide, namely looking for a research method which would shed

some light on the relationship between the properties of amber and its chemical structure.

Attention was also drawn, for example, to the as-yet unsolved problem of the origin of Baltic

amber (KUCHARSKA, KWIATKOWSKI, 1978) and the possibility of using many different research

methods in this area. In this study, the investigation of the chemical nature of succinite was

performed using for example: chromatography (thin layer liquid chromatography, gas

chromatography, mass spectrometry), mid-IR spectroscopy and thermal analysis. It was also

confirmed that succinite from various locations displays a certain characteristic variability of

chemical composition typical of natural substances (KUCHARSKA, KWIATKOWSKI, 1979). This issue,

in relation to the still debatable origin of the succinite deposits in various locations (Palaeogene

Delta of Gdańsk; the vicinity of Klesiv, Ukraine; Bitterfeld, Goitsche Mine), was also mentioned

during the Amberif Seminar (WAGNER-WYSIECKA, WICIKOWSKI, 2015). Based on the research using

X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy and far-IR spectroscopy conducted at the Gdańsk University of

Technology, significant differences have been demonstrated in the spectroscopic image (and by

the same token in the chemical composition) of succinite and Saxon succinite. The results may

be a basis for developing a method of identifying succinite coming from various locations, which

is very important, for example, in studying archaeological artefacts. Despite almost completely

identical mid-IR spectra, the differences in the chemical composition also suggest different

conditions in which the succinite from these two parts of Europe was likely formed. The results

we obtained, soon to be published, have been confirmed by an independent study (published

more than a year after our announcement) in which Wolfe and colleagues (WOLFE, 2016)

demonstrated that succinite from the Palaeogene Gdańsk Delta and Saxon succinite display

significant differences in their chemical composition.

The Bitterfeld deposits, with all their wealth and diversity of fossil resins, were an

inspiration for Professor Kosmowska-Ceranowicz and were also the subject of research

conducted at the Gdańsk University of Technology, Faculty of Chemistry, together with

Professor Eugenio Ragazzi (Italy) on comparing the chemical composition of Saxon succinite and

goitschite – a fossil resin relatively rarely found in Bitterfeld (WAGNER-WYSIECKA, RAGAZZI, 2011).

Conducted using gas chromatography and mass spectrometry, this research showed the

difference in chemical nature and, in relation to this, a different botanical origin of goitschite

than succinite; in doing so, it became the reason for a more in-depth analysis of the necessity to

name fossil resins, i.e. to give them their mineralogical appellation (WAGNER-WYSIECKA, 2012).

This would to a large extent introduce order into terminology – an issue which, as previously

mentioned, was brought up already by the pioneers of physicochemical studies on fossil resins.

The wealth of the natural specimens also compels inclusion researchers to look at the

properties of the material in which the inclusions have been observed (including also to confirm

the material’s authenticity). This is yet another area in which the physicochemical research on

succinite and other fossil resins will continue to have an ever greater significance. An example is

Page 8 BALTIC AMBER IN THE KALEIDOSCOPE OF TIME Amberif 2016 a paper by Magdalena Kowalewska and Jacek Szwedo (2009) in which they presented the

application of scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray microanalysis in testing the

chemical composition of the surfaces of Baltic amber inclusions.

Baltic amber, however, is not only a substance which causes interest among scientists

from various fields by motivating them to conduct work of a purely cognitive nature. It also the

market in which next to natural succinite, more and more often products made of treated

material are appearing in order to, for example, meet the wide and often refined tastes of the

customers. This, however, has serious (economic and legal) consequences because it may lead

to abuse when treated or pressed succinite is sold as a substance not subjected to only just

mechanical processing (cf. The Classification and Terminology of Baltic Amber (Succinite)

Gemstones of the International Amber Association). Therefore, there is a need to have reliable

methods that will allow us to identify the resin, which means not just determining the identity

of the material, but also deciding whether it is a natural substance or one that has been treated.

Taking into account the verifiability of the method, documented over many years (SCHWOCHAU

et al. 1963; SAWKIEWICZ, 1964; BECK, 1964, 1986), and the availability of the equipment, mid-IR

spectroscopy remains the most convenient method to identify fossil resins. The collaboration

between the Museum of the Earth in Warsaw and the Faculty of Chemistry at the Gdańsk

University of Technology resulted in a publication in which the results of mid-IR spectroscopic

tests for natural succinite, treated succinite and pressed succinite were presented to determine

the diagnostic sections of the spectra which make it possible for us to identify natural material

and the material that has been treated (KOSMOWSKA-CERANOWICZ i in., 2012). The results were

also presented at the Amberif 2013 Amber. Deposits – Collections – The Market symposium

(KOSMOWSKA-CERANOWICZ, WAGNER-WYSIECKA, 2013), which provided an opportunity to discuss it

in a larger group.

Scientific and technical progress gives us a multitude of different methods which, used

in different areas of science, can successfully can be also applied to test organic substances such

as fossil, subfossil, present-day resins and succinite fakes (WAGNER-WYSIECKA, 2013a,b). The

possibilities of using spectroscopic methods other than mid-IR spectroscopy to identify natural

succinite and treated succinite were tested at the Faculty of Chemistry and the Faculty of

Technical Physics and Applied Mathematics of the Gdańsk University of Technology in close

collaboration with the International Amber Association (WAGNER-WYSIECKA, 2015). It was

demonstrated that expanding the spectral scope to far IR allows us to obtain additional

information about the treatment of the material. The analysis here is also based on the bands

observed in mid-IR spectra which, however, in the latter case do not have any diagnostic value

due to their very low intensity. The possibility of using Raman spectroscopy to identify natural

and treated succinite was also discussed.

The results of early research papers on the physicochemical nature of succinite (which

we still base our research on today!) are a testament to the remarkable intellectual potential of

Gdańsk-based researchers, which brings us to a conclusion that it is high time we consolidate

our energies in order to restore to Gdańsk’s standing as a leading centre for scientific research

to serve the entire community in research on fossil resins, especially succinite, which is a great

treasure of our region.

References:

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BECK, C.W., 1986: Spectroscopic Investigations of Amber, Applied Spectroscopy Reviews, 22: 57-110.

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WAGNER-WYSIECKA, E., RAGAZZI, E., 2011:Preliminary studies comparing the chemical composition of goitschite and Saxonian succinite. IN: “Eigenschaften des Bersteins und anderer fossilier Harze aus aller Welt”, Proceedings of the Conference at the Scientific Centere of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Vienna, 21st-22nd June 2010: 65- 78, Eds. B. Kosmowska-Ceranowicz, N. Vávra, Vienna.

WAGNER-WYSIECKA, E., 2012: Goitszyt zasługuje na nazwę...Rzecz o nomenklaturze mineralogicznej żywic naturalnych. IN: XIX Seminarium Amberif 2012 "Badania inkluzji i innych właściwości bursztynu – najnowsze wyniki", Gdańsk, 24.03.2012.

WAGNER-WYSIECKA, E., 2013 (a): Instrumental methods in amber (succinite) and other fossil resins investigations. IN: The International Amber Researcher Symposium "Amber. Deposits-Collections-the Market" Gdańsk, Polska, 22-23.03.2013, 56-58

WAGNER-WYSIECKA, E., 2013 (b): Amber imitations through the eyes of a chemist. IN: Amber and its imitations, Proceedings of the International Scientific and Practical Conference, Kaliningrad, 27 June 2013, 29-34.

WAGNER-WYSIECKA, E., WICIKOWSKI, L., 2015: Sukcynit bałtycki vs. sukcynit saksoński w badaniach XRF oraz dalekiej podczerwieni. In: XXII Seminarium Amberif 2016 „Sukcynit i wybrane żywice kopalne Europy – lokalizacja, właściwości, archeologia”, Gdańsk, 27.03.2015.

WAGNER-WYSIECKA, E., KOSIOR, M., ŁUKASIK, N., WICIKOWSKI, L., 2015: Identification of natural and enhanced/treated ambers using spectroscopic techniques. Gemology&Technology, November-December 2015: 129-134.

WOLFE, A.P., MCKELLAR, R.C., TAPPERT, R., SODHI, R.N.S., MUEHELENBACHS, K., 2016: Biterfeld amber is not Baltic amber: Three geochemical tests and further constrains on the botanical affinities of succinite. Review of Paleobotanty and Palynology, 225: 21-32.

WAGNER-WYSIECKA, E., WICIKOWSKI, L., 2015: Sukcynit bałtycki vs. sukcynit saksoński w badaniach XRF oraz dalekiej podczerwieni. w: XXII Seminarium Amberif 2016 „Sukcynit i wybrane żywice kopalne Europy – lokalizacja, właściwości, archeologia”, Gdańsk, 27.03.2015.

WAGNER-WYSIECKA, E., KOSIOR, M., ŁUKASIK, N., WICIKOWSKI, L., 2015: Identification of natural and enhenced/treated ambers using spectroscopic techniques. Gemology&Technology, November-December 2015: 129-134.

WOLFE, A.P., MCKELLAR, R.C., TAPPERT, R., SODHI, R.N.S., MUEHELENBACHS, K., 2016: Biterfeld amber is not Baltic amber: Three geochemical tests and further constrains on the botanical affinities of succinite. Review of Paleobotanty and Palynology, 225: 21-32.

Amberif 2016 BALTIC AMBER IN THE KALEIDOSCOPE OF TIME Page 11

Qvo vadis? Current trends and challenges in succinite

and other fossil resins (romanite) studies

EUGENIA DUMITRA TEODOR1, GEORGIANA ILEANA BADEA1, EUGEN SILVIU TEODOR2

1National Institute for Biological Sciences, Centre of Bioanalysis, 296 Spl. Independentei, 060031,

Bucharest, Romania 2Romanian National History Museum, 12 Calea Victoriei, Bucharest, 030026, Romania

Amber is a fossil resin, extremely appreciated for its colour and beauty, and used as a

gemstone from very early times. Natural amber deposits are found all around the world, the

most famous being the ones from the Baltic sea, the Dominican republic, Sicily, Borneo, Spain,

etc.

The existence of a local amber exploitation on Romanian territory aroused the question

of geological origin of amber artefacts found by Romanian archaeologists over time. This fact

has determined the subject of a research project (2007-2010), with a consortium composed of

five institutes from Bucharest, led by the Romanian National History Museum, oriented on

diagnosing the provenance of amber discovered in archaeological contexts, which has resulted

in our initiation in the study of amber.

Prior to our own studies on Romanian amber, there were only a few comparative

analytical studies of Romanian geological amber, which concluded that it is geologically younger,

but chemically almost identical to Baltic amber (Stout et al. 2000). The great resemblance

between Baltic amber and Romanian amber made our task – namely, to separate the two types

of amber on archaeological artefacts – quite difficult to accomplish. Regarding archaeological

amber from Romanian territory, the only previously published papers were by Boroffka (2001,

2006), who considered merely a few beads of prehistoric amber.

The area of the Lower Danube is not located on the main stream of the Amber Route, but

it was in any case the beneficiary of the transcontinental trade on secondary branches, like any

other place in Europe; but unlike other places, it also had its own raw material source, mainly in

the ‘Curvature Mountains’ of Buzău County (Ghiurcă 1996; Wollmann 1996). Some

gemmologists consider that Romanian amber – usually called ‘romanite’, after the older German

rumänit – has similar gemstone qualities to Baltic amber (Ionescu 2001; Rice 2006, 283 – 8;

Nicorici 2007, 191), so there is a possibility that it was occasionally used instead of Baltic

merchandise. We use the expression ‘Baltic amber’ in the same way as Beck (1982), as a generic

synonym for the amber geologically labelled as ‘succinite’.

During the first year of the research project, we collected data from a large number of

samples of Baltic amber and romanite, provided mainly by the Romanian Geological National

Museum from its own collections (from Romania (Colti, Buzău County), from the Baltic region

(Palanga and Kaliningrad), from Germany and Poland). The main analytical techniques used were

Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), both in transmittance and reflectance mode,

and Raman spectroscopy, but we also used capillary electrophoresis, liquid chromatography

coupled with mass spectrometry (Teodor et al. 2009; Truică et al. 2012a), and thermal

desorption coupled with gas chromatography and mass spectrometry (TD – GC – MS) (Vîrgolici

et al. 2010a,b).

The next step was to work with archaeological samples, beginning with Roman Age

artefacts and going back to prehistory, for which we expected difficulties due to increased

alteration. In fact, these problems proved to be general, for each archaeological artefact, no

matter what the age. Furthermore, when analysing some recent discoveries in a good state of

conservation, where sampling is not an option, we dropped the possibility of using the

destructive techniques such as FTIR in transmittance or TD – GC – MS; the destructive techniques

Page 12 BALTIC AMBER IN THE KALEIDOSCOPE OF TIME Amberif 2016 were used as often as possible, but our aim was mainly to improve the analytical diagnostics

using non-destructive ones.

An outcome of our previous work (Litescu et al. 2012) is that Baltic amber is encountered

very early in the Neolithic, but only as three isolated beads (not published), and only in the

southern part of Romania, suggesting that the Danube Valley may be considered a secondary

Amber Route. Local amber, romanite, was also used as early as the Late Bronze Age, as proved

by artefacts originating from the largest amber deposit discovered in Romania, in the Cioclovina

cave (over 3000 beads, most of them in amber; Teodor et al. 2010).

During the 3 years of the research project on amber, the statistical reports (multivariate

data analysis applied on spectral data from FTIR or Raman analyses) raised a problem: the

relationships between the ‘standard’ geological samples and the archaeological ones are not

straightforward, as it is common to find them in different clusters or in marginal positions

(Teodor et al. 2010; Truică et al. 2012b). The genuine similarities between Baltic and Romanian

geological amber are troublesome when it comes to altered matter such as archaeological

amber, as long as we do not understand the aging processes and the specific changes. The

developing of an accelerated alteration experiment was the direct consequence of that

conclusion (Teodor et al. 2014; Badea et al. 2015) The objectives were to establish and compare

the changes that occur in samples subjected to alteration under the influence of different media

(air, water, saline etc.), and to choose which of the methods that can be applied are more

effective for marking out the differences between amber samples.

Similar experiments have already been done on Baltic amber (Shashoua 2002; Shashoua

et al. 2006; Pastorelli 2011), but those works were oriented towards conservation issues within

the museum’s repositories. First of all, our questions concern the archaeological alteration of

amber over a long span of time, being thus a different issue, related to differentiating between

altered Baltic and Romanian amber from specific contexts. In addition, given that our main task

was to deal with museum samples, we tried to improve the use of non-destructive techniques,

performing an experiment in which destructive and non-destructive analyses are both

employed, in order to compare the results.

The conclusions of our studies were that to obtain an origin diagnostic for archaeological

artefacts implies relying on data collected from raw material with known provenance. Even so,

working with altered amber is difficult and the recognition of the main traits of Baltic amber is

jeopardized (Beck et al. 1978). In our opinion, the ‘Baltic shoulder’ is not always reliable, not

even on relatively fresh or slightly altered ambers. Other bands, considered typical for Baltic

ambers IR spectra (e.g., 3048, 1642 and 887 cm-1), which are reliable on geological samples, are

rarely all present in the spectra from archaeological artefacts.

The raw material variability is important (Savkevich 1967; Beck et al. 1978), as was

observed even in FTIR transmittance mode. There are two major consequences of the variability:

first, a single acquisition for an artefact is not reliable; and, second, most of the time, multiple

data acquisitions on archaeological artefacts require non-destructive techniques.

Despite their similarity, Baltic amber and romanite do not alter in the same way. One

possible explanation could emerge from their different geological ages. However, the latter

statement might not apply in some situations, as the formation periods for Baltic amber and

romanite partially overlap (Ganzelewski 1996; Ghiurca 1996).

Another conclusion of the ageing experiment is that by alteration Baltic amber turns into

something very close to our definitions for romanite (see also Beck 1985, 195). This reminds us

that romanite is thermally altered Baltic amber (Stout et al. 2000). That alteration can occur not

only in geological strata or in our experiment (by heating the samples up to 80°C) but also during

thermal treatment applied while crafting amber artefacts (Guiliano et al. 2006, 1410). Changes

that occur in FTIR reflectance spectra (shifts of peaks, band enhancements etc.) are similar to

Amberif 2016 BALTIC AMBER IN THE KALEIDOSCOPE OF TIME Page 13 those reported for archaeological samples (Teodor et al. 2010, 2012) and generally make the

interpretation of spectra difficult; still, the two types of amber can be further differentiated, but

statistical analysis is mandatory for validation of the results.

Archaeological artefacts. A. Amor’s carriage from Rosia Montana; B. pectoral cross from Nufaru, Romania;

C. pectoral cross from Gdansk, Poland (Tabaczynska, 2006,122/10);D.pectoral cross from Nufaru; E.

pectoral cross from Gdansk (Tabaczynska, 2006, 122/7); F. typical amber bead from Nufaru; G. same,

drawing; H. Isaccea amber beads -ensemble and details. (diagram by Teodor ES, from Truică et al. 2012)

From a comparison of the ‘primary’ and ‘secondary’ sources, we understand that the

latter can be relatively altered when found, due to environmental factors. This issue is important

because until modern times amber was not collected through mining (primary source) but,

rather, by gathering on the surface (for a history of the exploitation in Buzău County, see

Wollmann 1996); therefore, a comparison between archaeological amber (which is generally

from secondary source) and mining amber is not the best starting point in the analysis of amber

artefacts.

FTIR-reflectance is a reliable tool for non-destructive investigating of amber. The spectra

are more complex than FTIR-transmittance spectra, the obtained signal are rather highly difficult

Page 14 BALTIC AMBER IN THE KALEIDOSCOPE OF TIME Amberif 2016 to ascribe and the variability of results is higher, but coupled with statistical analysis and

corroborated with other techniques (Raman spectroscopy, X-rays fluorescence) is a consistent

method to diagnose the origin of amber in archaeological artefacts.

Another important non-destructive method is Raman spectroscopy. The key advantage of

Raman spectroscopy is that it requires little to no sample preparation, while the Fourier

transform infrared (FTIR) method has constraints on sample thickness, uniformity, and dilution

to avoid saturation. An important advantage of Raman spectra over infrared lies in the fact that

water does not cause interference and thus can be used as a solvent, and the spectra can be

collected from a small volume (1 – 50 m in diameter). Whether Raman or FT-IR spectroscopy

is used, both methods have advantages and limitations, but when combined, these two methods

become a powerful tool in performing materials characterization. We can conclude that our

optimized Raman technique (laser 1064 nm, power on sample 190 mW, and 2000 scans per

sample) coupled with statistical analysis represent a promising set of tools for amber artefacts

analysis (Badea et al. 2015).

Literatura:

Badea G.I., Caggiani M. C., Colomban P., Mangone A., Teodor E.D., Teodor E. S., Radu G. L., 2015, FT-Raman and statistical analysis on thermally altered samples of amber, Applied Spectroscopy, 69, 12, 1457-1463.

Beck, C.W., Greenlie, J., Diamond, M. P., Macchiarulo, A. M., Hannenberg, A. A., and Hauck, M. S., 1978, The chemical identification of Baltic amber at the Celtic oppidum Staré Hradisko in Moravia, Journal of Archaeological Science, 5, 343 – 54.

Beck, C.W., 1982, Physical methods used to determine the geological origin of amber and other fossil resins; some critical remarks: comment (S. S. Savkevich, Phys Chem Minerals 7, 1981, 1 – 4), Physics and Chemistry of Minerals, 8, 146 – 7.

Beck, C.W., 1985, The role of the scientist: the amber trade, the chemical analysis of amber, and the determination of Baltic provenience, Journal of Baltic Studies, 16(3), 191 – 9.

Boroffka, N., 2001, Bemerkugen zu einigen Bersteinfunden aus Rumänien, Archäologisches Korrespondenzblatt, 31(3), 395 – 409.

Boroffka, N., 2006, Resursele minerale din România si stadiul actual al cercetarilor privind mineritul prehistoric, Apulum, 43, 71 – 94 (in Romanian).

Ganzelewski, M., 1996, Entstehung und Lagerstätten des Baltichen Bernsteins, in Bernstein – Tränen der Götter (eds. M. Ganzelewski and R. Slotta), 11 – 18, Katalog des Ausstellung des Deutchen Bergbau-Museums Bochum in Zusammenarbeit mit dem Ostpreußischen Landesmuseum Lüneburg und dem Siebenbürgischen Museum Gundelsheim, Bochum (in German).

Ghiurcă, V., 1996, Vergleich zwischen den fossilen Harzen Rumänien und der Ostsee, in Bernstein – Tränen der Götter (eds. M. Ganzelewski and R. Slotta), 363 – 8, Katalog des Ausstellung des Deutchen Bergbau-Museums Bochum in Zusammenarbeit mit dem Ostpreußischen Landesmuseum Lüneburg und dem Siebenbürgischen Museum Gundelsheim, Bochum (in German).

Guiliano, M., Asia, L., Onoratini, G., and Mille, G., 2006, Applications of diamond crystal ATR FTIR spectroscopy to the characterization of ambers, Spectrochemica Acta Part A: Molecular and Biomolecular Spectroscopy, 67, 1407 – 11.

Ionescu, C., 2001, Expertiza gemologica, Presa Universitara Clujeana, Cluj-Napoca (in Romanian).

Litescu, S. C., Teodor, E. D., Truică, G. I., Tache, A., and Radu, G. L., 2012, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy – useful analytical tool for non-destructive analysis, in Infrared spectroscopy – materials science, engineering and technology (ed. Th. Theophanides), 353 – 68, In Tech.

Nicorici, L., 2007, Arta giuvaiergeriei din Republica Moldova, Ph.D. dissertation, Academia de Stiinte a Moldovei, Institutul Patrimoniului Cultural, Chisinau; http://carti.itarea.org/carti/Arta si cultura/Arta giuvaiergeriei din Republica Moldova.pdf (accessed 20 June 2011) (in Romanian).

Pastorelli, G., 2011, A comparative study by infrared spectroscopy and optical oxygen sensing to identify and quantify oxidation of Baltic amber in different ageing conditions, Journal of Cultural Heritage, 12, 164 – 8.

Rice, P. C., 2006, Amber – the golden gem of the ages, 4th edn, AuthorHouse, Bloomington, IN.

Amberif 2016 BALTIC AMBER IN THE KALEIDOSCOPE OF TIME Page 15 Savkevich, S.S., 1967, Hardness and brittleness of Baltic amber, Mineralogicheskiy Sbornik, 21(2), 198 –

204.

Shashoua, Y., 2002, Degradation and inhibitive conservation of Baltic amber in museum collections, The National Museum of Denmark, Copenhagen; http://www.natmus.dk/cons/reports/2002/amber/amber.pdf (accessed 21 June 2011).

Shashoua, Y., Degn Berthelsen, M.-B. L., and Nielsen, O. F., 2006, Raman and ATR – FTIR spectroscopies applied to the conservation of archaeological Baltic amber, Journal of Raman Spectroscopy, 37, 1221 – 7.

Stout, E. C., Beck, C. W., and Anderson, K. B., 2000, Identification of rumanite (Romanian amber) as thermally altered succinite (Baltic amber), Physics and Chemistry of Minerals, 27, 665 – 78.

Teodor, E. D., Litescu, S. C., Neacsu, A., Truică, G., and Albu, C., 2009, Analytical methods to differentiate Romanian amber and Baltic amber for archaeological applications, Central European Journal of Chemistry, 7, 560 – 8.

Teodor, E. S., Teodor, E. D., Vîrgolici, M., Manea, M. M., Truică, G., and Litescu, S. C., 2010, Non-destructive analysis of amber artefacts from prehistoric Cioclovina Hoard, Journal of Archaeological Science, 37, 2386 – 96.

Teodor E.S., Petrovoiciu I., Truica G.I., Suvaila R, Teodor E.D., 2014,The effect of accelerated alteration on the discrimination between Baltic and Romanian amber, Archaeometry, 56(3), 460-478.

Truică, G. I., Teodor, E. D., Litescu, S. C., and Radu, G. L., 2012a, LC – MS and FTIR characterization on amber artefacts, Central European Journal of Chemistry, 10, 1882 – 9.

Truică, G. I., Teodor, E. D., Teodor, E. S., Lit,escu, S. C., and Radu, G. L., 2012b, FTIR – VAR and statistical studies on amber artefacts from three Romanian archaeological sites, Journal of Archaeological Science, 39, 3524 – 33.

Vîrgolici, M., Petroviciu, I., Teodor, E. D., Litescu, S. C., Manea, M. M., Ponta, C., Niculescu, G., Sarbu, C., and Medvedovici, A., 2010a, TD/CGC/MS and FT – IR characterization of archaeological amber artefacts from Romanian collections (Roman age), Revue Roumaine de Chimie, 55, 349 – 55.

Vîrgolici, M., Ponta, C., Manea, M., Negut, D., Cutrubinis, M., Moise, I., Suvaila, R., Teodor, E. S., Sârbu, C., and Medvedovici, A., 2010b, Thermal desorption/gas chromatography/mass spectrometry approach for characterization of the volatile fraction from amber specimens: a possibility of tracking geological origins, Journal of Chromatography A, 1217, 1977 – 87.

Tabaczynska, E., 2006. Amber working in Gdansk a thousand years ago. In: Kosmovska- Ceramowicz, B., Gier1owski, W. (Eds.), Amber. Views, Opinions. Scientific seminars AMBERIF e International Fair of Amber, Jewellery and Gemstones, 1994-2005. Gdansk, Warsaw, pp. 121-123.

Wollmann, V., 1996, Der Bernsteinbergbau von Colti, in Bernstein – Tränen der Götter (eds. M. Ganzelewski and R. Slotta), 369 – 77, Katalog des Ausstellung des Deutchen Bergbau-Museums Bochum in Zusammenarbeit mit dem Ostpreußischen Landesmuseum Lüneburg und dem Siebenbürgischen Museum Gundelsheim, Bochum (in German).

Page 16 BALTIC AMBER IN THE KALEIDOSCOPE OF TIME Amberif 2016

Baltic amber deposits and mining in the region of

Gdańsk and Pomerania in the historical aspect

ANNA MAŁKA

Polish Geological Institute – National Research Institute, Branch of Marine Geology,

ul. Kościerska 5, 80-328 Gdańsk, Poland

Baltic amber accumulations and deposits, commonly found in many locations in Poland’s

Pomerania Region, have long been a remarkably valuable resource for Pomerania’s inhabitants

and a foundation for the intensive prospecting and mining of this fossil. All types of succinite

deposits, distinguished by the period of deposition – the Palaeogene, Pleistocene and Holocene

– are associated with this region. Given the technical and economic conditions of the occurrence

of Palaeogene amber-bearing deposits in Pomerania, their considerable deposition depth (ca.

100 m b.g.l.), these deposits have never been mined either in the historical times or in the

present. Instead, the interest in Pomerania focused on the Quaternary deposits redeposited

from Palaeogene deposits. Compared to the Palaeogene deposits, they are characterised by low

abundance, which is why in most cases they have been mined by the local population without

proper geological or mining background. This resulted in an amber prospecting that was chaotic,

uncontrolled, shrouded in mystery and based on the proverbial lucky strike. Many of the old

amber production localities have with time sunk into oblivion, but in some cases, a subsequent

generation of prospectors would return to them and rediscover them on multiple occasions. The

occurrence of amber in Pomerania is demonstrated by toponyms – local place names preserved

until today, for example in Gdynia we have Amber Spheres (Bursztynowe Kule) and near the

village of Bąkowo there is Amber Mountain (Bursztynowa Góra). Traces of the intensive activity

of amber searchers also include relics of amber mining preserved until today, old German and

Polish texts, as well as the locations of the mining works documented on 1:25,000 topographic

maps (Urmesstischblätter, Messtischblätter) from the 19th and early 20th century.

The distribution of amber finds and old mines has been presented in a register edited by

Kosmowska-Ceranowicz (2002); the author of this article inventoried this catalogue for the

Pomeranian Region. As a result, 32 previously unknown historical amber mining locations have

been ascertained; additionally, based on a study of the cartographic sources, the exact location

of 11 historical mining sites has been determined. The aim of this article is to characterise, in

general terms, the origin and features of the Quaternary deposits of Baltic amber and to provide

a more detailed description of the state of the knowledge about the history of amber mining in

Pomerania, especially in the abundant Gdańsk region, with which a particular intensification of

prospecting, exploration and production of this valuable mineral resource is connected.

The origin and most important features of the Quaternary deposits of Baltic amber

The formation of Quaternary deposits of Baltic amber is related to the fragmentation and

redeposition of the amber-bearing deposits originally accumulated in the Upper Eocene,

deposited in the area of the present-day Bay of Gdańsk. The first stage of redeposition took

place in the Pleistocene, when due to the erosive activity of the Scandinavian glaciers moving

from the North, the Palaeogene amber-bearing sediments were broken down and transported.

Amber got dispersed in transport, as individual crumbs or in the form of large chunks dislodged

by the glacier (glacial floes). They were found at depths from several to over a dozen meters

(even up to 25 m) and created nests or elongated lenses with sizes reaching up to several meters.

Nest-like deposits of amber usually appeared in groups. Pleistocene amber-bearing deposits are

represented by quartz and glauconite sands with muscovite and amber with an admixture of

humus organic matter. They were described for the first time by Zaddach (1869) in the drillings

performed in the area of present-day Gdańsk. In the roof of the glacial floes, there were

Amberif 2016 BALTIC AMBER IN THE KALEIDOSCOPE OF TIME Page 17 Quaternary sands and clay, and the amber-bearing series was deposited at a depth of 13-23 m

(Zaddach 1869). In the Pleistocene accumulations, succinite with a great diversity of colours

(Błaszak 1987) or transparent, light yellow succinite (Ayecke 1835) predominated, usually highly

weathered and brittle. Glaciotectonics had an important significance in the formation of amber

accumulations, causing deformations to the subsurface and glacier foreland due to the load of

the glacier ice. Larger accumulations of small-grained amber were connected with the edge zone

of the Kashubian Lakeland. Another way in which the Pleistocene accumulations and deposits

of amber were formed was the dispersed transport and segregation of this material in the

sediments of outwash cones accumulated in the glacier foreland by water flowing out of and

down the glacier.

The next redeposition phase took place in the Holocene. The formation of amber deposits

in the Holocene was determined by several transgressions and regressions of the Baltic Sea and

the related coastal sedimentation processes which continue until today. In the Holocene,

succinite was washed out of Sambian cliffs and subsequently carried by currents onto the

southern shore of the Bay of Gdańsk and deposited together with detritus on the beaches

creating coastal and marine amber-bearing deposits. At present, they can be found at a depth

from several to about a dozen meters (most frequently 4-10 m) and form nests or elongated

lenses of a size from several to 100-200 m. These are littoral, grey, fine- and medium-grained

sands, with an admixture of silts and large grains of plant detritus which captured the amber in

the sediment. A significant influence on the development of amber accumulations in the

Holocene was exerted by events of a destructive nature, sometimes catastrophic ones: storms,

hurricanes and flooding. Therefore, the accumulation of Holocene amber deposits needs to be

associated mainly with old breaking wave zones and with flood plains flooded at the high level

of the sea water. Additionally, amber could have been deposited in the areas of a sudden drop

in the water flow velocity in the coastal outwash, meanders and the coastal parts of alluvial

cones. A certain influence on the formation of succinite deposits could have been exerted by

the flood backflow of rivers. The amber deposits may have been relocated and uncovered also

due to ice jam floods. An example is the formation of the river Visutla’s new mouth to the sea

(the so-called Wisła Śmiała [Bold Vistula]) in 1840, where, due to a break in a dune bank in the

vicinity of Górki Zachodnie, a large accumulation of amber got “launched” and uncovered. Larger

amber accumulations may have been formed in river-mouth cones, as in the case of the

Wisłoujście deposit. This deposit covered an area located on the eastern side of the mouth of

the Wisła Martwa [Still Vistula] within the Gdańsk city limits and, historically, it has been the

most abundant Quaternary amber deposit in Pomerania (Małka, Jegliński, Kramarska 2016).

Pomerania’s areas with amber deposits in historical times and old amber mining methods

Due to their availability, common occurrence and colour value, the earliest Baltic amber

deposits explored and produced by humans were those accumulated in the Holocene

(Kosmowska-Ceranowicz 2012). The oldest written sources to document the mining activity

indicate the 16th century as the beginning of amber mining on land. At the time, amber was

gathered after storms, on the Baltic beaches with rakes which allowed the searchers to move

and search the detritus for amber; it was also mined from greater depths by means of shovels.

The most popular and earliest place of raw amber production described in the literature was the

region of Gdańsk and, more precisely, the beaches and dunes of the Vistula Spit (Aurifaber 1555,

Münster 1588). At times, succinite was obtained by means of more sophisticated open cast

methods, using the “wet” system. Succinite was mined from shallow depths (up to ca. 3.5 m);

for this purpose, the diggers used sharp-ended long poles, with sharp semi-circular iron

elements placed at their tips. Experienced amber seekers pushed the poles into the sediments

with considerable force. Driven in multiple times and moved up and down, the poles loosened

up the dirt into which the shallow ground water could then flow, filling the mine. The low specific

Page 18 BALTIC AMBER IN THE KALEIDOSCOPE OF TIME Amberif 2016 gravity of amber made it possible for it to float up to the surface and be fished out by means of

scoop nets (Aurifaber 1555, Małka 2014).1

In the 17th century, the attention of the amber searchers was also focused mainly on the

Vistula Spit, with especially intensive production carried out in and around the mouth of the Still

Vistula. In the 18th century, attention was drawn to the danger posed by the mining of amber in

the Spit. The mining on the dunes carried out without reclaiming the land caused damage to the

dense plant cover, the relocation of moving dunes and losses in forests. As a result, mining in

the Vistula Spit was banned, only gathering and fishing for amber were allowed. The mining of

amber in the Spit was penalised with arrest and high fines (Muhl 1928). Perhaps this was the

reason why the amber searchers’ attention became directed to the highland and outwash areas

of what is now the Pomorskie Region (Voivodship). At the time, deep in-land, numerous small

amber mines began to be established. At times, the amber production was connected to

accidental finds during everyday human activities: constructing buildings, farming, land

improvement, the digging of wells, ponds, pits and ditches (Hass 1930) and even while planting

trees (Hartwig 1868). Sometimes such unplanned finds led to the systematic mining of amber in

the area in question. Sometimes, amber was found in lakes, rivers, ponds, wells, it could also

float out with the ground water in springs. Additionally, amber can be an accompanying mineral,

which is why it was possible to accidentally encounter succinite while mining sand, gravel, clay,

silt, peat or brown coal. Frequently, considerable quantities of amber were uncovered while

mining clay and silt for the needs of a local brickyard, for example in the present-day district of

Szadółki, Amber Mountain near Bąkowo, Klukowo in Gdańsk or Sucumin. Also in forests, amber-

bearing deposits were accidentally found in hollows uncovered by fallen trees, more rarely in

wetlands on even in peat bogs (Ayecke 1835). Amber-bearing deposits also got uncovered on

the slopes of the Kashubian Lakeland morainic plateau modelled by mass wasting processes:

landslides, soil falls and soil flow. Such circumstances led to the commencement of mining

activity. At times, successfully, people would return to the same places because, stochastically

speaking, irregularly occurring amber deposits were not always exhausted completely, with an

excellent example of the mouth of the Still Vistula. Amber was mined in the area of the mouth

of the Still Vistula in the 17th century (Tylkowski 1680, fide Popiołek 2006), 18th century (Bock

1767) and especially intensively in the 19th century (Ayecke 1835, Berendt 1871); in 1848 – 1849

there was no available place in or around Wisłoujście which had not been penetrated or dug out

by the local community. Nevertheless, amber in this area was successfully prospected also in

the early 20th century (Zeise 1908), and in the second half of the 20th century very large

quantities of small-grained amber were scooped out while building the Northern Port.2

Previously, mainly in the 19th century, in order to mine deposits, shallow open pit mines

were usually dug and test holes were used to explore both Pleistocene and Holocene deposits

and to enable the identification of potential amber-bearing formations. When the amber-

bearing deposits were encountered, systematic mining commenced. Amber was usually

produced by digging by the local community, as it was an additional profitable, although

significantly risky, source of profit. At times, up to 100 excavations were made before a deposit-

grade amber-bearing series was found (Döpping 1844). The production took place all year round.

1 Even today, these areas enjoy interest among amber searchers, which is proven by numerous Geological Works Designs (Projekt Robót Geologicznych) developed in order to prospect for amber in the Vistula Spit and the Żuławy Lowlands. 2 In spite of the many centuries of amber production in and around the mouth of the Still Vistula, 178 tonnes of amber were documented there as a result of the geological work carried out in 1972. This deposit has been exhausted. Today, in some places the Wisłoujście area resembles a moon landscape to which amber searchers keep coming back. In 2007, amber deposits were documented near the mouth of the Still Vistula–in Gdańsk Przeróbka. Amber is legally produced there at present. In 2013, a licence to mine amber and aggregate from the deposit (amber is an accompanying mineral) was granted to Baltex Minerały Sp. z o.o. (information from the Voivodship Geologist at the Pomorskie Voivodship Marshal’s Office).

Amberif 2016 BALTIC AMBER IN THE KALEIDOSCOPE OF TIME Page 19 Due to the loose nature of the Quaternary deposits and the related risks of getting buried,

already in the 18th century, structures made of planks and tree branches began to be used to

protect the walls of the excavations from landslides and the related real threat to the life of the

amber searchers. The timbered amber deposits were rectangular in the horizontal projection

and were shaped like a reversed trapezoid or a rectangle in the vertical section. With time,

narrow, vertical, timbered small-shaft mines were built to enable going down to considerable

depths (even up to several dozen meters) with less labour intensity. Inside such small-shaft

mines, built to reach the more deeply located nest-like amber deposits, multilevel platforms

placed one above the other were constructed. They were used to gradually toss the output from

the bottom of the shaft to the surface (Małka 2010). In rare cases, for example near Skąpe Lake

(Bytów area) or at Amber Mountain (Gdańsk area), there was underground mining: a shaft was

dug and side galleries were added. The ground and rain water which filled the shafts was

removed by hand. Sometimes, the water-saturated deposit series in the floor of the mine

created a kind of quick ground and the output was obtained using a method similar to that used

in the 16th century: by loosening up the sediments with wooden poles. In this case, the low

specific gravity of amber made it possible for it to float to the surface (Biörn 1808, fide Runge

1868). In the mid-19th century, amber was also mined near the town of Łeba. Amber was found

in wetlands and peat bogs. Due to the specific nature of the environment, mines were not built

in this area and amber was produced by persistent treading on the sediments by men (Zaddach

1869). As mining developed in Sambia in the second half of the 19th century, the mines located

in Pomerania were no longer competitive; however, for the local community amber mining was

still an attractive prospect for additional income. With time, the deposits became exhausted.

Baltic amber is a non-renewable resource, which is why its centuries-long mining causes a

gradual exhaustion of its resources. For this reason, today the amber resources found among

the Pleistocene formations are almost completely gone, which has been confirmed among

others by the geological surveys carried out in the plateau areas of the Gdańsk region. The amber

deposit in Możdżanowo is an exception, with plans to establish an amber mine in 2017.

(http://www.money.pl/).

References:

AURIFABER A., 1551, Succini historia. Königsberg.

AYCKE J.C, 1835, Fragmente zur Naturgeschichte des Bernsteins, Danzig

BERENDT G., 1866, Die Bernstein- Ablagerungen und ihre Gewinnung, [in:] Schriften der Königlichen Physikalisch-Ökonomischen Gesellschaft, 7: 107 – 130, Königsberg.

BOCK F. S., 1767, Versuch einer kurzen des Preußischen Bernsteins und einer neuen wahrscheinlichen Erklärung seines Ursprunges, Zeise und Hartung, Königsberg.

BŁASZAK M., 1987, Bursztyn w osadach trzeciorzędowych w okolicy Możdżanowa koło Słupska, Biuletyn Państwowego Instytutu Geologicznego 356: 103-119, Warszawa.

DÖPPING O., 1844, Naturgeschichte und geschichtliche Mittheilungen über den Bernstein. In: Archiv der Pharmacie, eine Zeitschrift des Apotheker-Vereins in Deutschland. Zwiete Reihe. XXXVII Band. Hannover. Hahn’sche Hofbuchhandlung.

HARTWIG G., 1868, Die unterwelt, mit ihren schätzen und wundern. Wiesbaden

HASS U., 1930, Bernsteingräberei in Hinterpommern, [in:] Heimatkalender für Ostpommern auf das Jahr 1930, Stolp.

KOSMOWSKA-CERANOWICZ B. (ed.), 2002, Znaleziska i dawne kopalnie bursztynu w Polsce, 158, Biblioteka Kurpiowska im. Stacha Konwy, Łomża.

KOSMOWSKA-CERANOWICZ B., 2012, Amber in Poland and in the World. Warszawa.

MUHL J., 1928, Die Geschichte von Stutthof, [in:] Quellen und Darstellungen zur Geschichte Westpreussens, Danzig

MÜNSTER S., 1588, Cosmographey oder Beschreibung aller Länder. Basel

Page 20 BALTIC AMBER IN THE KALEIDOSCOPE OF TIME Amberif 2016 MAŁKA A. 2010 – Dawne kopalnie i metody eksploatacji złóż bursztynu bałtyckiego. Biuletyn

Państwowego Instytutu Geologicznego, 439: 491 – 506. Warszawa

MAŁKA A., 2014, Najstarszy opis metody wydobycia sukcynitu na lądzie – relacja Andreasa Aurifabera (1514 – 1559). Bursztynisko 36/2014: 11 – 13, Gdańsk.

MAŁKA A., JEGLIŃSKI W., KRAMARSKA R., 2016, The formation of amber accumulations in the form of fossil beaches on the southern shore of the bay of Gdańsk in the holocene, [in:] Materiały pokonferencyjne Konferencji Bałtyk – Morzem Śródziemnym Europy Północnej. Gdańsk 4 – 6.06.2014 (material sent for publication in 2015).

POPIOŁEK J., 2006, Bursztyn w dawnej Polsce. Antologia 1534 – 1900, 223, Marpress, Gdańsk.

RUNGE W., 1868, Bernsteingräbereien im Samlande. In: Zeitschrift für das Berg-Hütten- und Salinen-Wesen in dem Preussischen Staate. LX Band. Berlin

ZADDACH E.G., 1869, Beobachtungen über das Vorkommendes Bernsteins und die Ausdehnung des Tertiärsgebirge in Westpreussen und Pommern, [in:] Schriften der Königlichen Physikalisch-Ökonomischen Gesellschaft, 10: 1 – 82. Königsberg.

ZEISSE, WOLFF W., 1916, Erläuterungen zur Geologischen Karte von Preußen und benachbarten Bundesstaaten. Blatt Danzig, Berlin.

Amberif 2016 BALTIC AMBER IN THE KALEIDOSCOPE OF TIME Page 21

From souvenirs to works of art – the evolution of

amber artefacts in the 20th century to the present day

(with special focus on the role of Gdańsk)

ANNA SOBECKA

University of Gdańsk, Institute of Art History, ul. Bielańska 5, Gdańsk, Poland

The first decades of the 20th century show a continuation of industrial-scale manufacture

of amber products which began already in the 19th century. In Gdańsk, mainly jewellery was

manufactured – strings of olive-shaped or regularly faceted bead necklaces, earrings, hair pins

or hat pins and jewellery cases. More rarely larger artefacts were made, such as the Art Nouveau

plaque with a view of Gdańsk shown here. Also manufactured were functional objects such as

inkwells, handles for seals and cutlery, which usually had a standardised form and functioned as

a Baltic Sea souvenir.

Fig. 1 A. Necklace, early 20th century, photo: Castle Museum Malbork (MZM for short); B. Plaque with a

view of Gdańsk, early 20th century, photo: MZM

There were private manufacturing shops in Gdańsk which produced items such as amber artefacts and they included the Gdańsk-based family company of Moritz Stumpf & Sohn (STUMPF 1926). The Stumpfs manufactured functional objects and jewellery with a focus on silver products. However, their amber-decorated work, including table ornaments, tableware and jewellery, belongs to some of the most interesting artefacts of the early 20th century. Amber jewellery and pipe mouthpieces were made by, for example, the Gdańsk-based J. Woythaler company.

Characteristically, amber products from before and right after World War I were frequently engraved with captions on their silver parts as mementos of a specific event. Regardless of whether these items were for the table (mugs, cutlery etc.), writing or simply jewellery items, in this way they were given the significant function of commemorating a moment, person or place. They were made not just by companies operating in Gdańsk (including Hugo Barth GmbH, Gompelson & Co, Ostdeutsche Bernstein-Industrie, Walter Witzki, Zausner Bernsteinwaren) but also in Gdynia, for example at the Amber Processing Factory run by Piotr Trześniak (POPKIEWICZ 2008).

Page 22 BALTIC AMBER IN THE KALEIDOSCOPE OF TIME Amberif 2016

Fig. 2 A. Box, 1913, Gdańsk, photo: MZM; B. Barometer, SBM, 1930s, photo: MZM

Another form of commemoration can be seen in products from the 1920s and 1930s. Both

in Gdańsk and in other companies associated since 1926 at the Staatliche Bernstein Manufaktur

enterprise (SBM for short), which was supposed to manage not only amber manufacture but

also mining, products began to be made on a wooden structure faced with opaque amber but

there were also ornaments made of small faceted links using traditional production techniques.

Toward the end of 1920s, SBM started to focus more and more on the artistic value of its

products. It was a significant change after several dozen years during which, apart from folk

artists, no other artists were noted to be creating in amber. The 1920s and 1930s were a time

when SBM started employing the first sculptors and designers, including Tony Koy and Jan

Holschuh, who started exerting a significant influence on all the factories subsidiary to SBM

(ERICHSON 1998). The range of the amber trade at the time was becoming more and more global

and the products from Gdańsk were reaching major cities all over Europe.

It was no longer just traditional ornaments, cases, plates, goblets or corks that were made

of amber, but also measuring devices (including clocks, barometers etc.), tobacco utensils,

inkwells, as well as decorations, medals and objects of religious character. Amber artefacts

commemorated historical events or specific persons. Therefore, amber became a material

eagerly used, as in the previous centuries, to make objects that were remarkable in terms of

both their artistry and significance.

After the disaster of World War II, the amber industry on the Polish Baltic Sea coast had

to be re-established from scratch. Manufacturers operating in the Free City of Gdańsk were

expelled, while the newly arrived population from Eastern and Central Poland did not have any

experience in amber crafting. However, attempts to work this readily available material were

made in the first post-war years. In 1954, the Amber Products Factory (Wytwórnia Wyrobów

Bursztynowych, WWB for short) was established in Gdańsk to become a monopolist in the Polish

market. The designs produced by this Gdańsk-Wrzeszcz-based cooperative were not much

different from the previous SBM design (KWIATOWSKA 2003). Simple bracelets, brooches or clip-

on earrings were made – despite the low price of raw amber – out of pressed amber. WWB

specialised in mass-produced necklaces made of irregular, multicoloured pieces, known as

“Hawaiians.” This company was later transformed into the Bursztyny Handicraft Cooperative

(Spółdzielnia Pracy Rękodzieła Artystycznego Bursztyny).

Starting from the 1960s, the interest in artistic amber craft, and in making items original

and unique in their form, gradually increased. Artists appeared who would bring the best out of

Amberif 2016 BALTIC AMBER IN THE KALEIDOSCOPE OF TIME Page 23 amber, i.e. the diversity of its natural colours and shapes. In Sopot, the Art-Region Handicraft

Association (Zrzeszenie Rękodzieła Artystycznego) was established (GIERŁOWSKI 2003).

The most important artists who played a special role in post-WWII amber and jewellery

craft include the Tri-City (Gdańsk, Gdynia and Sopot) artists and graduates of the State Higher

School of Visual Arts in Gdańsk – Maria and Paweł Fietkiewicz, who combined natural amber

pieces, remarkable in their form or transparency, with silver. They worked the-then readily

available silver by applying it in liquid form under a burner. Paweł Fietkiewicz also introduced a

method of encircling a piece of amber with a band of ever thinner silver ribbons, known as

“multiplied shell” (GRABOWSKA 2012).

The second married couple to play an important part in the history of post-WWII Polish

jewellery trade were Danuta and Szczęsny Kobielski, active in Warsaw, who began their joint

independent artistic activity in 1964. The Kobielskis experimented with various goldsmithing

techniques, with ornamental silver openwork forms and strands entwining the amber being the

most characteristic of their art (KOSMOWSKA-CERANOWICZ 2012). Also in Warsaw, Stanisław Pyra

and his two sons Grzegorz and Łukasz worked as artists; they started creating exuberant

ornaments and functional objects, bold in their form and scale, made of amber, semi-precious

stones and silver. Towards the end of the 1970s, amber attracted the interest of an outstanding

copperplate engraver – Wojciech Jakubowski, an expert in the history of art; in his pieces, one

can see a respect for tradition and an enormous aesthetic sensibility. Combining amber with

silver and a predilection for zoomorphic forms is also a characteristic feature of works by the

Gdańsk-based artist Janusz Góralski (GRABOWSKA 1982).

The sumptuous art of these artists lies at the opposite pole to the work of Maria Lewicka-

Wala, who has preferred simpler forms already since the 1970s. She also began early to combine

amber with non-jewellery materials, including thick ropes, fabric or rough wood (KOSMOWSKA-

CERANOWICZ 2012). In this way, she became a forerunner of the trend which can be described as

Ethnic Design.

Fig. 3 A. Maria and Paweł Fietkiewicz, Pendant, 1968, photo: MZM; B. Wojciech Jakubowski, Nautilus,

1994, photo: MZM; C. Giedymin Jabłoński, Cinderella, 2004, photo: the artist

From the early 1970s, amber has been an important material in the work of Giedymin

Jabłoński. Technically perfect and immensely sensitive to the purity of composition, Jabłoński is

the maker of both outstanding jewellery and “non-functional things.” Jabłoński is also a teacher

Page 24 BALTIC AMBER IN THE KALEIDOSCOPE OF TIME Amberif 2016 and the man behind the idea of the Gdańsk-based Elektronos competition. With his continuously

developing international contacts, Jabłoński endeavours to popularize amber among artists in

various countries, successfully convincing his international colleagues to use it as their artistic

material. Jabłoński’s curiosity of the world and exceptional sensitivity lead him to create

conceptually remarkable pieces (LEGNICA 2015).

In the 1980s and 90s, artistic amber craft was taken up by artists including Warsaw

Academy of Fine Arts sculpture major Jacek Byczewski and mathematician and perfectionist

jeweller Jarosław Westermark, who was the first to combine amber with diamonds. In their

works, amber often breaks out of the perfect and calculated structure made of silver, gold or

platinum, to become a sculptural element, rather than just an appliqué, a stone or some other

decoration.

In the 1980s in Sopot, Lucjan Myrtan, who had come from Silesia, established his amber

company in Sopot and for many years has been making large-sized works of amber. The grand

scale of his works has won mainly the hearts of customers outside Poland. In the 1990s, next to

commercial jewellery he also started making monumental copies of early modern era artefacts,

valued by some and by others considered an example of kitsch and misunderstanding of

tradition (Gierłowski 2003).

In the second half of the 1990s, large companies began to be established, creating both

unique and mass-produced jewellery. The most remarkable ones include: Adam Pstrągowski’s

S&A and Wojciech Kalandyk’s Art 7. Next to the companies which employ professional designers

and which market new designs, there are also dozens of companies which do not have any great

artistic ambitions, which focus on the needs of the foreign markets, increasingly often mainly

the Chinese market and the tourists visiting Gdańsk. Simultaneously, individual initiatives began

to develop, including the studio of Paulina Binek, who combines amber with natural materials

to create ethnic-style jewellery and large-sized pictures out of natural elements washed up by

the sea.

But only the late 20th and early 21st century brought an important evolution to the original

jewellery scene and a predominance of the artistic notion of amber. In 2000, Dorota Kos

received her degree at Franciszek Duszeńko’s sculptural studio at the Gdańsk Academy of Fine

Arts; she looks for ways to communicate with the world around by means of small sculptural

forms, made often out of amber itself. It is the thinking about the interaction with the audience,

the need to stir up reflection that leads to the predominance of artistic elements in jewellery

(BIŻUTERIA 2003). About the same time, the amber landscape saw the appearance of the

graduates of the Łódź Academy of Fine Arts, in which Poland’s first Department of Jewellery

Design was established, headed by Andrzej Szadkowski (BIŻUTERIA 2001). They include recognised

and award-winning artists such as Andrzej Boss, or Gdańsk-based Mariusz Gliwiński and Mariusz

Drapikowski.

Since 2006, jewellery design has been taught at the Gdańsk Academy of Fine Arts by a

graduate of the Łódź Academy of Fine Arts – Sławomir Fijałkowski, the current dean of Faculty

of Architecture and Design and head of the Experimental Design Studio. His students, including

the already recognized Alina Filimoniuk-Pilecka, Sara Gackowska, Emilia Kohut or Małgorzata

Szewczyk, experiment with amber as a material, its form and with new design techniques alike

(FIJAŁKOWSKI 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015).

In the works by present-day artists, amber is not just an ornament which decorates a

souvenir. It is becoming a material for art and design, combined both with wood and silver or

gold, but also with fabric, synthetic material or corian®. Every piece of amber is unique, which is

why items made of it are endowed with such character. The peculiar features of amber inspire

contemporary artists and allow innovative manufacture, high artistry and the versatile

application of this material.

Amberif 2016 BALTIC AMBER IN THE KALEIDOSCOPE OF TIME Page 25

Fig. 4 A. Alina Filimoniuk-Pilecka, The Ring, 2011, photo: artist; B. Sławomir Fijałkowski, Briolett 1, 2010,

photo: MZM

Owing to the concentration of art studios and manufacturing companies and the work of

the International Amber Association, the urban area of the Tri-City of Gdańsk, Gdynia and Sopot

is a leading centre in the manufacturing of the ever-popular amber souvenirs, exclusive jewellery

and unique pieces alike. For 23 years now, the Amberif International Fair has been organized in

Gdańsk every year, together with its accompanying competitions: Amberif Design Award and

Mercurius Gedanensis, which motivate artists and designers to innovate and craft their pieces

to perfection. Step by step, both the Amber Museum in Gdańsk and the Castle Museum in

Malbork procure the most interesting artistic and design pieces for their collections. The centre

of Gdańsk has many galleries in which you can see and buy original jewellery. Since last year,

exhibitions of amber artefacts have also been organized by the newly opened Gallery of the

International Amber Association.

* I am grateful to the creators of the pieces and the Castle Museum in Malbork (Muzeum

Zamkowe w Malborku – MZM) for the possibility to publish the photographs of the items.

References:

BIŻUTERIA 2001: Biżuteria w Polsce. Materiały sesji naukowej, Ed. K. Kluczwajd, Toruń

BIŻUTERIA 2003: Biżuteria w Polsce: amulet – znak – klejnot. Materiały sesji naukowej Ed. K. Kluczwajd, Toruń

BIŻUTERIA 2006: Biżuteria w Polsce: treści – teksty - przesłania. Materiały sesji naukowej Ed. K. Kluczwajd, Toruń

BURSZTYN 1999: Bursztyn – Magiczny kamień, praca zbiorowa, Malbork

ERICHSON U., TOMCZYK L. 1998: Die Staatliche Bernstein-Manufaktur Königsberg 1926-1945, Ribnitz-Damgarten

FIJAŁKOWSKI S. 2011: Trendbook 2011+, Gdańsk

FIJAŁKOWSKI S. 2012: Trendbook 2012+, Gdańsk

FIJAŁKOWSKI S. 2013: Trendbook 2013+, Gdańsk

FIJAŁKOWSKI S. 2014: Trendbook 2014+, Gdańsk

FIJAŁKOWSKI S. 2015: Trendbook 2015+, Gdańsk

Page 26 BALTIC AMBER IN THE KALEIDOSCOPE OF TIME Amberif 2016 GIERŁOWSKI W. 1999: Bursztyn i gdańscy bursztynnicy, Gdańsk

GIERŁOWSKI W. 2003: Twórczość artystyczna pomorskich bursztynników w 2. połowie XX wieku, in: Biżuteria 2003, 132-138

GIERŁOWSKI W. 2004: Wyjątkowa rola pracowni Lucjana Myrty w bursztynnictwie XX wieku, in: Życie i twórczość Lucjana Myrty, Gdańsk, 8-22

GRABOWSKA J. 1982: Polski bursztyn, Warszawa

GRABOWSKA J. 2012: Bursztynowy jubileusz Marii i Pawła Fietkiewiczów [exhibition companion],Muzeum Bursztynu, Gdańsk

KOSMOWSKA-CERANOWICZ B., GIERŁOWSKI W. 2010: Bursztyn. Poglądy, opinie, Materiały seminariów Amberif 1994-2004, Gdańsk-Warszawa

KOSMOWSKA-CERANOWICZ B., GIERŁOWSKI W. 2010: Bursztyn. Poglądy, opinie, Vol. 2, Materiały seminariów Amberif 2005-2009, Gdańsk-Warszawa

KOSMOWSKA-CERANOWICZ B., GONTARSKA W. 2012: Bursztyn nie tylko nad Bałtykiem, Warszawa

KRUSZYŃSKI T. 1927: Sztuka i przemysł artystyczny w Gdańsku, Lwów

KWIATKOWSKA K. 2003: Recepcja wzornictwa Staatliche Bernstein – Manufaktur Königsberg w wyrobach bursztynowych warsztatów powojennych, in: Biżuteria 2003, 128-131.

LEGNICA 2015: Giedymin Jabłoński i przyjaciele, Legnica

MIERZWIŃSKA E. 1998, Bursztyn w sztuce, Malbork

POPKIEWICZ E., 2008: Firmy bursztynnicze z terenu Polski i Wolnego Miasta Gdańska w latach 1925 -30, in: Bursztynisko 31, 62-65

SOBECKA A. 2011: Bursztyn w muzeum, in: Bursztyn jako przedmiot ochrony dziedzictwa kulturowego, red. J. HOCHLEITNER, Jantar, 15-26

SOBECKA A. 2014: Kontekst – kolekcja – reinterpretacja, in: Bursztyn i żuławskie konteksty kulturowe, red. J. HOCHLEITNER, Malbork, 79-97

STUMPF E. 1926: 125 Jahre Stumpf-Danzig, Danzig

Amberif 2016 BALTIC AMBER IN THE KALEIDOSCOPE OF TIME Page 27

The 20th Anniversary of

the International Amber Association:

the beginnings and current areas of activity

WIESŁAW GIERŁOWSKI, MICHAŁ KOSIOR

International Amber Association, ul. Warzywnicza 1, 80-838 Gdańsk, Poland

Social and economic background The year 1996, in which the Amber Association in Poland was established and made its

first steps on the public forum, was preceded by five years of leaps and bounds in Pomerania’s amber industry, especially in the Tri-City Area of Gdańsk, Gdynia and Sopot and its vicinity.

During the first five years after the change in Poland’s economic system, together with the freedom of enterprise and abolition of state monopoly on foreign trade, ca. 1,500 new production companies were established in the Gdańsk region, with the increase in employment exceeding 7,000 people [1].

Such development was possible because the global market had been deprived of amber products for the entire 50-year period after World War II. The primary sources of raw amber over that period were owned by the Soviet Union, while its system of rationing allowed the export of only a negligible part of the mines’ output (1-2%).

The decline and fall of the Soviet regime practically made it impossible to keep a tight rein on rationing, while the proximity of Gdańsk and the mines in Sambia meant that the main stream of their output exports was directed to us. Luckily, the mining of amber reached its all-time maximum at the time. At that point, in Yantarny, a very productive Plazhevaya mine was still operating, and the huge Primorskaya open cast mine gradually increased its output. In 1996, the storehouses of the Kaliningrad Amber Factory took in slightly over 800 tons of output (3 times more than in 2015). There was semi-legal operation of a military open cast mine in Filin, along with post-kolkhoz areas of poor-man’s shafts in Muromsky and an underdetermined number of illegal small shafts. Sambia at the time yielded over 1,000 tons of raw amber per year.

The wealth of raw amber in the Polish market was enhanced by an influx of amber illegally flushed in Volyhn, where in 1993 a state-owned mine was opened in Klesiv, which presented an unexpected source of income for the impoverished population [2].

Such favourable circumstances made it possible to create about 10,000 jobs in the Gdańsk area in processing, trade and services, but neither the entrepreneurs nor their employees managed to create a trade organisation to represent their interests.

The Gdańsk Chamber of Crafts did not reactivate the amber guild, which had a 400-year long tradition in Gdańsk, and even after 1989 stopped awarding qualification degrees (master and journeyman – over the 43 years from 1945 until 1988 only 32 master’s diplomas were awarded [3]). The artists who worked in amber in quite substantial numbers did not establish a specialised section. Businesspeople from the amber industry did not attempt to establish a commercial chamber or a business cluster. The collaboration between business and the fields of science specialising in amber, its processing and artistic activity was non-existent.

The establishment of the Amber Association in Poland The first impulse for people interested in amber to associate was given by the specialised

International Amber Fair organised from 1993 to 1995 by the Board of the MTG SA Gdańsk International Fair Company. From the beginning, not only manufacturers and buyers were encouraged to participate but also the science and art communities, even non-professional amber enthusiasts and collectors of amber curiosities, especially animal and plant inclusions. This influenced the goals of the association which was being established and the line-up of its founding committee. The founding members of the new association represented all the specialities connected with the business and science of amber. Among them, there were owners of mining, processing and wholesale/retail companies, celebrated amber scholars whose

Page 28 BALTIC AMBER IN THE KALEIDOSCOPE OF TIME Amberif 2016 specialities ranged from geology and biology to art history, along with experienced artists with a significant oeuvre and standing in their community.

The meeting of the Amber Association in Poland initiators, held on 7 January 1996, was attended by: Tadeusz Befinger, Wiesław Gierłowski, Stanisław K. Jacobson, Giedymin Jabłoński, Wojciech Kalandyk, Jacek Leśniak, Norbert Nagel and Ewa Rachoń. A list of invitations to the Founding Committee was drawn up and Wiesław Gierłowski was entrusted with designing the draft articles of association.

The Founding Meeting was held on 27 February 1996 with all the 27 invitees present. The articles of association were passed unanimously and were registered at the Voivodship Court on 29 April 1996; the Amber Association in Poland received the number 196/96 in the court register. The Articles of Association from the very beginning provided for the Association operating outside of Poland and for the right to accept members who lived abroad.

In accordance with the Articles of Association, the first general election meeting was called for 10 June 1996.

The following persons were elected for the Main Board: 1. President of the Board – Wiesław Gierłowski 2. Vice-Presidents – Prof. Barbara Kosmowska-Ceranowicz, Lucjan Myrta, Wojciech

Kalandyk 3. Secretary – Ewa Rachoń 4. Deputy Secretary – Norbert Nagel 5. Treasurer – Jacek Leśniak 6. Deputy Treasurer – Marek Felski 7. Members of the Board: Giedymin Jabłoński, Tadeusz Befinger

The first General Meeting also passed the programme of the Association’s operation, with its guidelines remaining valid until today.

The first activities on the public forum Several days after the authorities of the Associations were established, the Board called a

press conference about its objectives and forms of activity. The interest from the local newspapers and television was spectacular. We gained the opportunity to present the most important issues of the amber industry at TVP Gdańsk in a live broadcast.

The Gazeta Trójmiasto daily took up publishing a whole-page “Gazeta o bursztynie” [Newspaper about Amber] every Monday for over a dozen weeks, until the end of 1996. The features were written by Wiesław Gierłowski.

The press inspired the meeting of the Association’s Board with the principals, teachers and students of the largest French jewellery secondary school (Licee Jean Guehenno from Saint-Amand de Montrond) at the workshops of our members. This school later published a special number of Les Murs monthly dedicated to Baltic amber. The meeting began as early as in June 1996.

At the beginning (7 and 8) of August, the Association ran a seminar about the legal methods of amber flushing in the Żuławy Lowlands. It was attended by the representatives of central institutions (Poland’s Ministry of Environmental Protection, State Geological Institute, PAS Museum of the Earth, POLGEOL Geological Company, State Treasury Agricultural Agency), along with regional and municipal authorities. Invited by the Association, the Director and Chief Geologist of the Ukrburshtyn Factory came from Ukraine. The Factory obtains a significant part of its output on the Volyhn-Polese frontier by means of flushing.

The first day of the seminar consisted in watching amber being flushed from Ryszard Omen’s licensed plot in Wiślinka and there a lively discussion began, to continue the next day after papers were delivered by Prof. Barbara Kosmowska-Ceranowicz, Dr Małgorzata Masłowska, Wiesław Gierłowski and Andrzej Suszek. The mining demonstration and the discussion were shown on several TV stations, and newspapers printed reports and photographs.

On 6 October 1996, we participated in a scientific session in Pasłęk organised by the University of Gdańsk about the fate of the Amber Room.

Amberif 2016 BALTIC AMBER IN THE KALEIDOSCOPE OF TIME Page 29

On 15 December 1996, the Association hired premises at the Trade Fair Centre at ul. Beniowskiego 5, Gdańsk, and furnished it with office and computer equipment. The Association’s office was located at these premises until the trade fair area was sold by MTG SA in September 2014. The first half year of the Association’s activity concluded with three important developments:

The Association’s trade mark was approved based on the design by Giedymin Jabłoński with the Latin name of the Association and the image of the Heliades crying with amber tears.

The first issue of our regular newsletter was published. The name BURSZTYNISKO, coined by Gabriela Gierłowska, was selected in a competition.

Recommendation principles were developed regarding amber companies (recommending stones made of pressed amber and settings made of non-precious metals was ruled out) and being subject to the inspection of the Association’s experts (there were no experts at the time yet).

Already in 1996, the list of the Association’s members included 63 people, 1997 concluded with 75 and since 2014 it has exceeded 300 people from 30 countries (39% of members are from outside Poland). Soon the Association became a strong voice of the amber industry, first of Poland and later also of other countries where amber products are manufactured and sold.

In the first year of the Association’s activity, its goals were formulated and remain valid and current to this day:

- Facilitate the movement to collect natural amber specimens and collections of old and contemporary artistic amber artefacts

- Create a system for identifying Baltic amber - Inspire and run publishing activity - Collaborate with schools and vocational training improvement centres - Collaborate with state and local government bodies as regards protecting the amber

profession and related professions - Inspire research aimed at prospecting, exploring, documenting and mining amber

deposits - Establish permanent collaboration with scientific centres from abroad - Undertake all and any measures to ensure a sustainable development of the Polish amber

industry - Ensure Baltic amber’s high standing in Poland and in the global market

Since 1997, over the subsequent years, the Association organised joint exhibitions stands on multiple occasions for the manufacturers of amber jewellery at trade shows abroad, beginning with: JCK Las Vegas in 1997, through the shows in Orlando (Florida), Osaka, Tokyo, Paris and Beijing. This allowed individual companies to gain a presence in many of the world’s markets.

At the beginning of 1998, a dedicated person was employed to run the Association’s Office and the founding meeting of the KIGB National Chamber of Amber Commerce was held (the Board of the Association was the founding body of the Chamber and the first authorities were elected exclusively from among the Board’s members).

As the years went by, the activity of the Association became more and more international and more and more people from abroad joined its ranks. This is why in 2002 the General Meeting of the Amber Association passed its new Articles of Association. Since then, the Association has borne the name of the International Amber Association, which also brought an update in the Association’s logo.

The year 2008, memorable due to the economic crisis, was a threshold moment for the Association and its members from the economic point of view. The US market which, until that time, was the predominating customer, now for reasons including the weakened US dollar brought its purchases to a standstill. This forced the amber industry to look for new markets.

Page 30 BALTIC AMBER IN THE KALEIDOSCOPE OF TIME Amberif 2016 Since that time, Chinese buyers have become an ever more significant customer for amber products.

Since the first years of the Association’s activity, its members worked in an expert group made up of geologists, chemists, gemmologists, amber experts and practitioners, to create a classification of Baltic amber gemstones, imitations, raw amber and semi-finished products. It is an unquestionable achievement, which is recognised by laboratories abroad, amber researchers and sellers. This objective could not have been achieved had it not been for our collaboration with Universities: the University of Silesia (Dr hab. Aniela Matuszewska), the Gdańsk University of Technology (Dr hab. inż. Ewa Wagner-Wysiecka), the University of Gdańsk (Prof. Szadziewski’s team) and the PAS Museum of the Earth (Prof. dr hab. Barbara Kosmowska-Ceranowicz). This became the ground work for a systematic description of amber and the future operation of the Amber Laboratory.

The current area of activity Formulated at the beginning of the Association’s activity, since 2015 its goals have been

implemented in a new head office, on the premises leased from the City of Gdańsk in Warzywnicza Street parallel to the River Motława, in the old part of Gdańsk. The efforts and generosity of the Association’s members made it possible for the derelict facilities to be remodelled and equipped to open the International Amber Association’s office, Gallery and Amber Laboratory. The purchase of the FTIR spectrophotometer used for non-destructive testing of amber was especially important for the amber community.

Commercial products (jewellery, sculptures, semi-finished products) as well as collector’s items (inclusions, large pieces of raw amber) or historical artefacts are tested and certified at the Laboratory.

The IAA Gallery is a place to present contemporary jewellery design and amber artefacts. It is a place for meetings and productive discussion about the world today, design and amber.

During its 20 years, the Association has become an organiser and inspirer of a significant number of amber-related events in Poland and worldwide. The Association and its members have initiated and participated in many international and national exhibitions, symposiums, conferences, promotion and publishing initiatives. They have participated in trade shows, but most of all its members have created a fashion for amber jewellery and items decorated with amber, which in 2016 are reaching truly high-end prices.

At the end, we need to explain the meaning of the Polish word bursztynnik (amber professional). An amber professional is not a bursztyniarz (small-time amber dealer). These words are not identical. In post-WWII Poland, bursztyniarz usually referred to amber gatherers, diggers and grinders, whereas bursztynnik was a term used by art historians to describe artists and artisans [4]. The establishment of the Amber Association, with its founding members being not just artists and artisans but also collectors, art historians, researchers, company owners and museum experts, has expanded and given a new meaning to this word. Today, bursztynnik describes all of the above – people who work with amber. Unfortunately, recent years have also changed the meaning of the word bursztyniarz, who in the understanding of popular press mines amber illegally.

References:

1. Figures from 1995; see Wiesław Gierłowski, „Gewinnung und Vearbeitung von Bernstein in Polen (1945-1995)” in: BERNSTEIN TRANEN DER GÖTTER, 311-320. Bochum 1996

2. Wiesław Gierłowski, Stan obecny i perspektywy rozwoju polskiego bursztynnictwa, in: Streszczenia referatów seminarium Amberifu 1995

3. From the files of the Gdańsk Chamber of Crafts

4. Antoni R. Chodyński, Spis bursztynników gdańskich od XVI do początku XIX wieku ("Rocznik Gdański" 1981 Vol. 41 booklet 1).

Amberif 2016 BALTIC AMBER IN THE KALEIDOSCOPE OF TIME Page 31

An outline of the history of research on succinic acid

in Baltic amber

ANIELA MATUSZEWSKA

University of Silesia, Faculty of Earth Sciences, Department of Geochemistry, Mineralogy and

Petrography, ul. Będzińska 60, 41-200 Sosnowiec, Poland

Abstract

A historical outline of the development of research on the content and occurrence manner of succinic acid in Baltic amber is presented. This development is determined by the aspects of both primary knowledge (for example fossil resins classification) and applied knowledge (for example research on the biostimulation influence of succinic acid on living organisms, including the human body). This research is facilitated by the progress in the technologies of research instruments and their ever greater availability in research laboratories.

Since the first contact of primitive humans with amber, as can be inferred from the later traces, based on the finds of amulets, cornerstone offerings and amber ornaments in tombs, this “stone,” warm to the touch and warm in colour, lightweight and burning with a scent, had originally been treated as an artefact of magic. Perhaps intuition and observations, and then experience, gave it a subsequent medicinal importance. However, many centuries had passed before the natural medicine gained recognition, when chemical analysis made it possible to identify the individual components of amber and, later still, to associate them with specific physiological influence on the human being. Succinic acid is one such component (Fig. 1 A, B).

Fig.1. A. The structural formula of succinic acid; B. Succinic acid crystals (photo: T. Smużyński,

RynekJubilerski.pl)

When in 1546 Georgius Agricola was the first to perform the dry distillation of amber, he

described preliminarly the fractions he had obtained. Today, they are described as succinic acid,

amber oil and amber colophony. Fig. 2 presents an IR spectrum of succinic acid obtained during

such a process.

The products usually not collected during this process include the released decomposition

gases and highly volatile compounds, mainly terpenes. Agricola did not determine succinic acid

to be an acidic compound, although he recorded its sour taste. Perhaps due to its clearly

crystalline structure, he commented on this component as “similar to salt.” Later, this

description was repeated as the following terms: sal succini (succinite salt) or sal volatile (volatile

salt); other terms used included: flos succini (succinite flower) or the “spirit of amber”

(Chambers, 1728), until N. Lémery (1875) defined this substance as an acid (Beck, 1999, loc.cit.).

According to other sources, the English chemist Robert Boyle (17th century) was the first one to

write on this matter (Popiołek, 2010). To emphasise the significance ascribed to the succinic acid

found in succinite, a suggestion was later made to give it a name of succinellite (Hey, 1950),

which, however, was not adopted (Vavra, 2009).

Page 32 BALTIC AMBER IN THE KALEIDOSCOPE OF TIME Amberif 2016

Fig.2. IR absorption spectrum of succinic acid (from Matuszewska, 2010).

An impulse for further succinic acid research came, for example, from medical investigations. However, it was only in the 18th century in Europe that more serious research on the medicinal properties of succinic acid and its salts began – including succinates and their role in biological systems (including the aspect of stimulating the proper functioning and development of the human body). In 1858, Louis Pasteur emphasized that despite the relatively low content of succinic acid in natural products, it should not be disregarded as a remedy. In 1886, the Nobel Prize winner Robert Koch, a pioneer of modern bacteriology, tested the beneficial effects of succinic acid on himself (Moshkov, 2013). Already in 1930, succinic acid was used in medicine as a biological stimulant. Recently, it has been proven that succinic acid salts given after long-term illnesses and serious trauma allow one to quickly regain immunity to diseases as well as mental capacity including the ability to focus (Gierłowska, 2002).

The primary and applied research objectives have been a motivator to learn even more about the physicochemical structure and chemical composition of amber. E. Schmidt and A. Erdös (1933), for example, subjected amber to various processes of dissolution and distillation, obtaining succinic acid, among other things. O. Helm (1877), a mineralogist and physician, obtained quantitative data for the succinic acid content in a larger population of baltic amber samples. The range of the results (3.3-8.2%) which he obtained using dry distillation became subsequently a widespread determinant for succinite. He also pointed out that the weathered crust of raw amber contained almost twice as much succinic acid as a non-weathered sample of yellow amber (for example 8.2% compared to 3.2-4.0%) (Helm, 1881). For a sample of Romanian amber, he designated a content of 5.2% of succinic acid. Further research reported the presence of succinic acid also in some other fossil resins from Romania, Sicily and Portugal (La Baume, 1935).

The source of succinic acid in Baltic amber can be of various origin (including oxidation or microbiological processes; for example Savkevich, Shaks, 1964; Szykuła et al., 1990; Matuszewska, 2010). In his 1983 study, R.C.A. Rottländer stated that succinite did not contain any free acid or free succinic anhydride. The latter (but not succinic acid) should originate in the dry distillation of succinite. Succinic acid, in turn, can be released in the process of alkaline saponification from the specific structures likely present in succinite. However, the research by S. Yamamoto et al. (2006) performed on succinite from Bitterfeld (Germany) showed that, in the solvent extracts of this fossil resin, free succinic acid was identified along with 6 of its different esters. The contentious issue of succinic acid’s presence in succinite compelled researchers to analyse this subject further. A relatively simple method – thin layer chromatography (TLC) – was used for the qualitative identification of succinic acid in the solvent extracts of amber (Matuszewska, John, 2004). Quantitative research, in turn, requires more precise techniques and testing equipment. Liquid chromatography with mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS) for the quantitative determination of succinic acid in amber extracts was used by E.D. Teodor et al.

Amberif 2016 BALTIC AMBER IN THE KALEIDOSCOPE OF TIME Page 33 (2008). The content of bounded and free succinic acid in amber was determined by means of gas chromatography with mass spectrometry (GC-MS) after preliminary derivatisation of extracts to block succinic acid’s functional groups (Matuszewska, Kurkiewicz, 2011). To evaluate the content of free succinic acid in water-and-methanol amber extract, negative-ion electrospray ionisation with mass spectrometry (ESI-MS) was used. Free succinic acid was also an object of study by L. Tonidandela et al. (2009). L. Synoradzki et al. (2014) designed a method to determine the quantity of succinic acid using gas chromatography with flame ionisation detection (GC-FID) after the silylation of an amber extract sample.

However, there is still the issue of not just the quantity of succinic acid but also the way it occurs in succinite that needs researching. Electroscanning microscopy tests on succinite showed that free succinic acid occurs as fine crystals in the free spaces of the amber structure (Kosmowska-Ceranowicz et al., 2008; Fig. 3).

Fig.3. Microcrystals of succinic acid in the bubbles in white amber (from Kosmowska-Ceranowicz et al.,

2008).

Bounded succinic acid can, in turn, be combined with other molecules or an amber

macromolecule by means of ester bonds, which was indicated already by Mills and colleagues

(Gough, Mills, 1972; Mills et al. 1984/85). Recent research (using GC-MS with succinic acid

derivatisation in situ by means of hexamethyldisilazane) even demonstrated specific types of

connections (Poulin, Helwig, 2014). Also promising is the research towards a wider medicinal

use of succinic acid. Already in the 1970s, the well-known authority on amber research

S.S. Savkevich (1970) found that amber’s medicinal properties resulted from the presence of

succinic acid. At the time, attempts were made to prove that succinic acid could biostimulate

crop growth. The most intensive research of this kind is still performed in Russia (Moshkov,

2013), including the pharmacological effect of succinic acid salts at the cellular level. Interest in

this compound is also increasing in other countries: in Poland, for example for the purpose of

cosmetics manufacture (e.g. Synoradzki et al., 2014). Moreover, research is carried out on

optimizing the biotechnological methods of obtaining succinic acid, for example from glucose

(for example Meynial-Salles et al., 2008).

Summary

The development of analytical methods is conducive to the quantitative and qualitative

research on succinic acid, in order to find out how succinic acid is bounded in the structure of

amber. Further research should move towards unifying the techniques of preparing samples for

research and selecting an optimum research method. Besides a better understanding of the

physicochemical structure of succinite, the obtained knowledge about succinic acid’s bonding

manners will make it possible for it to be released more efficiently from amber and to explain

the mechanism of its release when amber is in contact with the human skin. Another important

research direction is to continue the search for succinic acid in other resins and to explain the

reasons for it being formed in amber.

Page 34 BALTIC AMBER IN THE KALEIDOSCOPE OF TIME Amberif 2016 References:

Beck C.W., 1999, The chemistry of amber. – Est. Mus. Cienc. Natur. Alava , 14 (No espec.2). Proceed. World Congress on Amber Inclusions Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain, 20-23 October 1998, 33-48

Chambers E., ed., 1728, Spirit of amber, Cyclopaedia, p. 75 Gierłowska G., 2002, Bursztyn w lecznictwie, Ofic. Bursztynowa Hossa, Gdańsk Gough I.J., Mills J.S, 1972, The composition of succinite (Baltic amber), Nature, 239, 528-528 Helm O., 1877, Notizen über die chemische und physikalische Beschaffenheit des Bernsteins, Arch.

Pharm., 211, 229-246 Helm O., 1881, Über sicilianischen und rumänischen Bernstein, Schr. naturf. Ges., Danzig , N.F.5, 1-2,

293-296 Hey, M.H., 1950, An Index of Mineral Species & Varieties arranged chemically. 609 pp., London (British

Museum). Kosmowska-Ceranowicz B., Kulicki C., Kuźniarski M., 2008, Mikrokryształy w bursztynie oraz

mikrostruktury w bursztynie i jego imitacjach, Prace Muz. Ziemi, No. 49, 109-131 La Baume W., 1935, Zur Naturkunde und Kulturgeschichte des Bernsteins, , Schr. naturf. Ges., Danzig ,

N.F.20, 1, 5-48 Lémery N., 1875, Cours de Chimie, Paris, (cyt za Beck (1999) Matuszewska A., 2010, Bursztyn (sukcynit) i inne żywice kopalne, subfosylne i współczesne, Ofic. Wyd.

WWW, Wyd. UŚ, Katowice Matuszewska A., John A., 2004, Some possibilities of thin-layer chromatographic analysis of the

molecular phase of Baltic amber and other natural resins, Acta Chrom. 14, 82-91 Matuszewska A., Kurkiewicz S., 2011, Bernsteinsäure in Succinit- Genese und quantitative Analyse, w:

Eigenschaften des Bernsteins und anderer fossiler Harze aus aller Welt, Proc. Confer., Sci. Centre, Polish Acad. Sci. in Vienna, 21-22 June 2010, Eds. B. Kosmowska-Ceranowicz, N. Vavra, Vienna, 109-119

Meynial-Salles I., Dorotyn S., Soucaille Ph., 2008,A new process for the continuous production of succinic acid from glucose at high yield, titer, and productivity, Biotech. Bioengin., 99(1), 129-135

Mills J.S, White R., Gough I.J.,1984/1985, The chemical composition of Baltic amber, Chem. Geol., 47, 15-39

Moshkov N.N., 2013, Healing Warmth of Amber. Beauty, health and longevity from nature, Intern. Acad. Fundam. Studies, Kaliningrad, 144 pp.

Popiołek J., 2010, Z dziejów badań i wykorzystania właściwości bursztynu, Bursztyn. Poglądy i opinie. MSB, Gdańsk – Warszawa, 93-98.

Poulin J., Helwig K., 2014, Inside Amber: The structural role of succinic acid in Class Ia and Class Id resinite, Anal. Chem., 86(15), 7428-7435

Rottländer R.C.A., 1983, Einführung in die naturwissenschaftlichen Methoden in der Archäologie, in: Rottländer, R. (ed.): Archaeologica Venatoria. Vol. 6 – 604 pp. (Arch Venat. Inst. Vorg. Univ. Tübingen)

Savkevich S.S., 1970, Jantar, Niedra, Leningrad Savkevich S.S., Shaks I.A., 1964, Infrakrasnyje spiektry pogłoszenija bałtijskowo jantarija, Żur. Prikł.

Chimii, 37(5), 1120-1122 Schmid L., Erdös A., 1933, Chemische Untersuchuung des Bernsteins, Ann. Chem., 503, 269-276 Synoradzki L., Sobiecka A., Tumiłowicz P., Majchrzak M., Mierzejewska J., Kobiela T., Arct J., Pytkowska

K., Safarzyński S., 2014 , Analiza bursztynu i bursztynowych surowców kosmetycznych, abstr., XXVIII spotkanie badaczy bursztynu nt. Nowości o bursztynie, Muzeum Ziemi PAN, Warszawa

Szykuła J., Hebda C., Orpiszewski J., Aichholz R., Szynkiewicz A.,1990, Studies on neutral fraction of Baltic amber, Prace Muz. Ziemi, No. 41, 15-20

Teodor E.D., S.C. Litescu, A. Neascu, G.Truica, C.Albu, 2006, Analytical methods to differentiate Romanian amber and Baltic amber for archaeological application, Cent. Europ. J. Chem, 7 (3), 560-568

Tonidandel L., Ragazzi E., Traldi P., 2009, Mass spectrometry in the characterization of ambers. II. Free succinic acid in fossil resins of different origin, Rapid. Commun. Mass Spectrom., 23(3), 403-408

Vávra N., 2009, The Chemistry of Amber – Facts, Findings and Opinions, Ann. Naturhist. Mus. Wien, 111, A 445-474

Yamamoto S., Otto A., Krumbiegel G., Simoneit B.R.T., 2006, The natural product biomarkers in succinite, glessite and stantienite ambers from Bitterfeld, Germany, Rev. Palaeobot. Palynol., 140, 27-49

Amberif 2016 BALTIC AMBER IN THE KALEIDOSCOPE OF TIME Page 35

Baltic amber in medicine – research on the biological

activity of amber

IGOR KACZMARCZYK

University of Warsaw, Faculty of Biology, ul. I. Miecznikowa 1, 02-096 Warsaw, Poland

According to the historical data, the oldest ornaments and amulets made of Baltic amber date back to Palaeolithic Period. In Antiquity, succinite was a commodity desired mainly for its use in jewellery. In order to get it, huge expeditions were sent to the coast of the Baltic Sea; they followed the Amber Route to obtain this valuable material and in this way it reached the entire Roman Empire. The interest in amber did not fade in the periods that followed. Apart from its beauty, it was caused curiosity because of its electrostatic properties, but was also considered a medicine for many ailments. In folk tales, information about the medicinal or even magical properties of Baltic amber had been handed down generation after generation. Over the centuries, amber in the form of raw uncut pieces, powder, compresses, ointments or tinctures was used to treat many diseases: from those of bacterial origin, for example the plague, to rheumatic ailments and diseases of the nervous system (Duffin, 2015). In his 1728 work, the English encyclopaedist Ephraim Chambers wrote that “In times of Plague, those who work in Amber at Koningsberg are said to be never infected” (Chambers, 1728). Although as regards geological, physical and chemical research, many present-day studies widely address the subject of amber, nevertheless it is interesting that the folk tales and beliefs about the medicinal properties of amber fostered over the centuries are being studied as part of historical publications only in the 21st century, while many descriptions of these properties, such as the use of amber tinctures or amber distillation products, are still waiting to be collected in once place (Duffin, 2015). Moreover, it has not yet been studied if indeed the tales and legends contain a grain of truth and this very research gap has become an inspiration to take up microbiological studies on the influence of fossil and subfossil resin extracts and the substances isolated from them on selected pathogenic microorganisms. The latest research results indicate that looking for a substance with medicinal potential in amber is justified and constitutes a remarkably promising branch of science which, when developed, may yield many interesting conclusions. Baltic amber, Mexican amber, Cretaceous Canadian amber (cedarite), Colombian copal and gedanite were used in the research (Matuszewska, 2010). During the tests, a method to prepare extracts from fossil resins was developed and the extracts’ influence on a number of microorganisms (gram positive and gram negative bacteria and fungi) was examined, including pathogens as per the recommended methodology (Hryniewicz, 2001). Additionally, the bactericidal effect of Baltic amber extracts was compared with that of the extracts from other fossil and subfossil resins.

Acknowledgements

The author would like to thank Prof. dr hab. Michał Obuchowski (Intercollegiate Faculty of Biotechnology, University of Gdańsk and Medical University of Gdańsk) for the scientific support and for providing the equipment necessary to perform the preliminary part of microbiological research, Dr Elżbieta Sontag (University of Gdańsk, Faculty of Biology, Department of Invertebrate Zoology and Parasitology) for providing the fossil and subfossil resins for research, the Management of the Pomeranian Science and Technology Park Gdynia for providing the equipment necessary to carry out the second part of the microbiological studies, Dr Magdalena Cichowicz and mgr Klaudia Palenica (Pomeranian Science and Technology Park Gdynia, Microbiology Laboratory) for scientific support during the second part of microbiological research.

References:

Chambers E., Cyclopaedia, or, an Universal Dictionary of Arts and Sciences, 1728. Great Britain, accessed: 11.2015.

Duffin C.J., 2015. Historical survey of the internal use of unprocessed amber. Acta Med. Hist. Adriat. 13(1): 41-74.

Hryniewicz W., Sulikowska A., Szczypa K. i inni: Rekomendacje doboru testów do oznaczania wrażliwości bakterii na antybiotyki i chemioterapeutyki. Mikrob. Med. 2001; 4: 16-40

Matuszewska A., 2010. Bursztyn (sukcynit), inne żywice kopalne, subfosylne i współczesne. Oficyna Wydawnicza Wacław Walasek. Katowice.

Page 36 BALTIC AMBER IN THE KALEIDOSCOPE OF TIME Amberif 2016

Novo Mesto / Slovenia archaeological paradise and

amber destination 2017

MITJA GUŠTIN1, BORUT KRIŽ2, JASNA DOKL OSOLNIK2, PETRA STIPANČIĆ2

1 Pusterla 7, SI-6330 Piran, Slovenia, 2 Dolenjski Muzej Novo mesto, Muzejska ulica 7, SI-8000 Novo Mesto, Slovenia

The town of Novo mesto is located in the centre of Dolenjska region (in old documents called

also Lower Carniola, eastern Slovenia), the medieval core lies in the meander of the river Krka. The

region and the area of the town itself are belonging to the richest archaeological areas between the

Adriatic coast and Eastern Alps slops.

Novo mesto has been known as one of the most important Early Iron Age sites in the area

more than 100 years. This reputation has been further reinforced by intensive archaeological

excavations in the second half of the 20th century, which has brought a mass of local and imported

artefacts from antiquity of artistic and craft production. One of the most known archaeological object

are the vessels and belt buckles decorated in famous situla art.

More than eight hundred cremation graves have been found corresponding to the Late Bronze

Age period. From the Early Iron Age seven necropolises with almost 1000 excavated

inhumation graves under the tumuli are known in the Novo mesto area and almost eight hundred

cremation graves from the Late Iron Age period. The Novo mesto area was also well settled with

more than four hundred cremation graves during the Roman period; more modest are the layers in

the Late Antiquity, and in the Early Medieval period.

In frame of the history of Novo mesto, the prehistoric (especially in the period of the

“flourishing Carniolan Hallstatt”) amber stands out among the archaeological finds, and has been

presented in numerous exhibitions and publications.

A huge quantity of amber beads in the archaeological layers of Novo mesto encourages

Dolenjski muzej (Museum of Dolenjska region) to pay a special attention in spring 2017 to this

precious material. In Novo mesto will be, together with The International Research Centre of the

Ancient Roads and the Ways of Communication among the Peoples from San Marino, organised a

4th International Conference of the Ancient Roads: The Ancient Amber Routes - The Commercial

Roads. Within the conference will be held a special spring manifestation with divers exhibitions

including archaeological, historical and modern amber production.

Fig. Early Iron Age glass and amber beads from Novo mesto-Kapiteljska njiva, tumulus 36, grave 10 (photo

B. Križ).

References: Bakarić, L., B. Križ, M. Šoufek 2006, Pretpovijesni jantar i staklo iz Prozora u Lici i Novog Mesta u Dolenskoj /

Prehistoric Amber and Glass from Prozor in Lika and Novo mesto in Dolenjska. Zagreb.

Guštin, M., B. Križ 2007, Lady and her attire: reflections of status and cult in grave 30/4 from Ivanec near Družinska vas. – W: Scripta Praehistorica in Honorem Biba Teržan, Situla 44, 491-503.

Križ, B., P. Turk 2003, Bernstein- und Glasschmuck aus Novo Mesto Slowenien. Schriftenreihe des Keltenmuseums Hochdorf/Enz 5.