Amber
Fossil tree resin 40+ million years old. The Baltic "gold of the north" from Gdańsk and Kaliningrad (90% of world amber) washes up on Polish shores; Dominican blue amber fluoresces under UV; Burmese amber preserves Cretaceous insects.
Known origins & mines
Gdansk Amber Coast · Poland
Storm tides still wash Baltic gold onto Gdansk beaches where the Amber Road began Roman-era trade — Polish workshops dominate European amber…
Simojovel Amber Mines · Mexico
Chiapas highland amber worked since pre-Columbian Maya times - golden fossil resin with exceptional clarity and insect inclusions.…
Yantarny Baltic Amber Mines · Russia
Palminikh open pit holds 90% of world amber reserves — Eocene "earth" resin 44 million years old extracted by hydraulic washing near Yantarn…
Dominican Blue Amber Mines · Dominican Republic
Miocene copal-like amber from Cordillera Septentrional lignite shafts fluoresces cobalt blue — Dominican blue amber is the rarest amber vari…
Hukawng Valley Amber · Myanmar
Cretaceous burmite 99 million years old preserves feathered dinosaur tails and the oldest bees — conflict-zone extraction shadows its scient…