Multidisciplinary approach to the provenance investigations of early medieval amber finds discovered in Santok and Milicz (original) (raw)
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The aim of presented work was to establish the provenance of unique amber jewelry dated back to Early Iron Age discovered in burial chambers of archeological excavations in Domasław, Lower Silesia (Poland). To assess the origin of the archeological amber objects, there was performed a comparative analysis of over 100 artifacts and reference material originated from amber sources within reasonable proximity to the axcavations. Succinite (Baltic amber) from tertiary deposit at the seashore from North Harbor in Gdansk (Poland) and Sambian Penisula, Yantarny near Kaliningrad (Russia) valchovite or/and neudorfite from Valchov in Moravy (Czech Republic) dated back to Upper Cretaceous and amber originating from Lower Silesia (cenoman from Boleslawiec, Poland) were used as a reference material. Raman and positron annihilation spectroscopies have been previously successfully applied in provenance studies of archeological amber jewelry, and both techniques were accepted as a method of choice in current investigation. All Raman measurements of valuable amber objects were performed in situ. Raman spectra collected for analyzed artifacts confirmed their Baltic origin. The study showed that annihilation positron spectroscopy is effective toll in the provenance investigations of raw amber material but can be misleading in analysis of previously processed material.
Analytical methods to differentiate Romanian amber and Baltic amber for archaeological applications
Central European Journal of Chemistry Volume: 7 Issue: 3 Pages: 560-568 Published: 2009
The study aims to establish several definite criteria which will differentiate Romanian amber and Baltic amber to certify the local or Baltic origin of the materials found in archaeological sites on the Romanian territory, by using light microscopy and performing analytical methods, such as Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy-variable angle reflectance and liquid chromatography with mass spectrometry detection. Experiments especially by Fourier transformed infrared spectroscopy, were applied to a wide range of samples with controlled origin. The methods were optimised and resulted in premises to apply the techniques to analysis of the archaeological material.
Baltic Amber in Hungarian Bronze Age. New Data and Current Stage of Research
Sprawozdania Archeologiczne, 2023
Amber was one of the key raw materials distributed in Bronze Age Europe. One of its varieties-succinite-was exchanged over a vast area stretching from its sources on the southern shores of the Baltic Sea to the shores of the Mediterranean Sea. The chemical identification of Baltic amber significantly expands our knowledge of the dynamics and nature of the relationships connecting different regions of Europe in the first half of the second millennium BC. One of the most significant cultural-geographical areas reached by this amber was the Carpathian Basin. This text presents a summary of the current state of knowledge about the context, chronology, and the extent of amber occurrence in the Hungarian Bronze Age. At the same time, it supplements the catalogue of finds with artefacts acquired in recent years, providing new information regarding radiocarbon dating and spectral analysis of selected amber artifacts.
The spread of amber in Lithuania and its popularity over different periods, application of amber in ornament production, changing trends in amber jewelry wear as well as the links of these customs with gender, sex, and, more generally, with the Lithuanian ivorld outlook, are the issues usually discussed based on ungrounded assumptions that the amber artifacts found in Lithuanian burial sites and the cultural strata of hill-forts and settlements had originated from the Lithuanian coast. It is unexpected, but credible possibility, that Baltic Sea amber artifacts, belonging to different archeological sites across Lithuania, are not only local products, but also imports via different trade routes. As far as analysis of Lithuanian amber artifacts has established, raw amber was exported from the coast southwards. Lathed and semi-lathed amber beads found at the cemeteries in central Lithuania, the lower Nemunas region and even in coastal Lithuania and dated to the late Roman Iron Age—early Migration period, are imports of several workshops in the lower Vistula, Kuiavia areas, Mazurian Lakeland, Sambian peninsula and other regions. On the other hand, it should be noted, that amber beads of common shapes known since the Roman Iron Age onwards, figure-eight shaped beads-pendants and these of other less common shapes, as well as beads and other amber artifacts typical of the Vendel and the Viking Age were produced by local amber crafstmen in coastal Lithuania.
The Significance of Amber in the Bronze Age in the Eastern Baltic Region: Some Remarks
The Amber Roads, 2016
In this paper the Author presents the results of his studies on Stone Age use and popularisation of amber in the distinct South Baltic macro-region (Vistula macro-region). The paper provides analysis of the cultural, chronological and regional characteristic of the finds, different potential uses of amber and its processing, as well as the development of local and long-distance amber exchange. The author also discusses some aspects of how the exchange was organized, the methods of transportation and goods offered as exchange for amber. The last part presents a general overview of amber use and working (processing) by the Late Neolithic people (RZC) in the Niedźwiedziówka micro-region. Niedźwiedziówka remains the largest concentration in the world of seasonal camps with remnants of hundreds of amber-processing workshops, thousands of halffinished ornamental products, industrial waste and tools.