Amber bead

Amber is a material that’s only found in a few places in the world. In Europe it’s found almost only in the north, or more specificially in the area around the Baltic. So what was an amber pearl doing in the Alps in the Stone Age?

Archaelogists say that people traded in precious materials and objects even in prehistoric times, sometimes over long distances. Amber was a very valuable material because it was so rare. Perhaps people thought that it even had magic powers. Only important people owned jewellery made from amber.

Amber is actually petrified tree resin, not a mineral. Sometimes a drop of resin fell from a tree onto an insect or a flower and completely encased it, like in the photo …