The Amber Book

The Amber Book explains how amber forms and its role in human history. It is a lesson in art, gemology, science, geography and archaeology - accompanied by photos of many types of amber from a variety of localities in a variety of uses. This book is a 6 3/4" x 9" hardcover with 134 pages.

The Amber BookTable of Contents
Publisher's Foreword	9
Amber facts	10
The raw material for most of today's amber was produced around 20-50 million years ago	12
Thanks to amber, we know that the insects of millions of years ago don't differ much from those living today	24
Are there dinosaurs in amber?	39
The curious belief that amber came from lynx urine may be a result of a linguistic misinterpretation	42
European amber is found mostly on the coasts of the Baltic and North Seas	47
Amber exists in many parts of the world, but its quality, origin, and age differ significantly from place to place	52
In the East Baltic region of Samland, amber was fished with nets from boats or by wading into the water from the shore	58
Both medicine and magic have attributed healing and protective qualities to amber	68
Residential and grave site excavations indicate that amber was valued highly as far back as the early Stone Age, when it was worn as amulets or as jewelry	71
After centuries of artistic innovation, interest in amber crafting declined and was not rekindled until modern times	95
There are several methods for testing whether a piece of amber is genuine	117
Jewelry made from natural amber becomes more beautiful the more it is worn	120
Other amber facts	122
Bibliography	129