Recherches en cours  / ‘Ερευνες σε εξέλιξη

Amber is a raw material that has fascinated people since time immemorial. The amber products are known since the Palaeolithic. However, the research on its role in prehistory is not easy, because it is a fossil resin that occurs in many varieties. Baltic amber, known as succinite, is the most frequently used one, dating from prehistory until present day. Its deposits are located in Central Europe, from the shores of the North Sea to the central Dnieper basin in Ukraine. But besides succinite, many other varieties occur on all continents, from which Europe in particular is the most abundant.
The paper presents the geological genesis of amber as well as its physical and chemical properties. Next, the issues of amber varieties and the time of their formation are going to be discussed. The characteristics of various types were initially described basing on geological data. Currently, amber is being analysed with many methods of modern physics and chemistry. The most important ones are going to be discussed during the lecture. The aim of amber research remains the same: to find a method that will allow for an unequivocal distinction between individual varieties of amber. It is not an easy task to achieve, and the reasons for this will be shown in the lecture. On the other hand, contemporary researchers of the importance of amber in archaeology are in a much better position than their predecessors. Based on physics and chemistry, they have tools in their hand, thanks to which certain determinations can be made, that are helpful in studying the origins and provenance of the raw material from which amber artifacts were made during prehistory in various regions of Europe, including the Mediterranean zone. This will be the topic of the final part of the paper.