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Amber is relatively easily carved and comes in a variety of colours from light yellow to deep reddish brown and in the transmission of light, it can be near transparent to complete opacity. Dazzling, sparkling arrays of internal fractures often can be seen. While it is not difficult to carve, it is a bit brittle and can splinter or break easily.
Its light weight and smooth finish made it a prized material for beads worn next to the skin. Its oldest and most continuous use has been for adornment in the form of beads or amulets.
The oldest amber bead artifacts, thus far excavated, come from England at Gough�s Cave in Cheddar and Cresswell Crags, Starr Carr and are dated to between 11,000 to 9000 BCE of Paleolithic times. The amber used for these pieces was probably washed ashore from the Baltic Region of the European continent.
There are other early scattered amber artifacts excavated in the Baltic region, but it was not until the Early Neolithic period around 3400-3100 BCE that there appears to be a great amount of amber artifacts being produced. Near Sarnate in the eastern Baltic area some early tools of bone and flint have been found which may have been used to carve the amber. As evidenced by archaeological finds, carved amber production burst forth on a large scale during the Middle Neolithic era (3100-2500 BCE) and would continue to be popular through the Mesolithic period in north Europe and into the Bronze Age. By this time, the amber craft produced not only beads and amulets but more substantial carvings like cups.
The Bronze Age developed first in southern Europe. It is thought the early trade in amber from the north for metal ores in the south helped to bring the bronze technology to the north, and this allowed the northern European peoples to escape the Stone Age and develop their cultures. Therefore, amber must be regarded as a very important commodity which greatly influenced the course of cultural development.
During the Iron Age, both Greece and Italy traded wine, oil, bronze vessels, salt, tea and gold for amber to make jewellery and decorative objects. Some stunning small amber Etruscan and Etrusco-Italic sculptures from the 7th to 5th century BCE have survived.
Baltic amber trade with southern Europe, usually transported by boat or ox cart, reached a golden age during the time of the Roman emperors. Along with amber coming from the Baltic region, the Romans traded for ivory from Ethiopia, frankincense from Arabia, silk from China and pepper from India. Emperor Nero even sent explorers to find the source of amber about 54 to 60 CE. The thriving amber carving industry in Rome produced small pendants and adjunct handles to figurative sculptures and elaborate vessels for table use. With the decline of the Roman Empire by the third century CE, amber trade quickly dwindled.
The next important historical period for amber in Europe occurs in 1283 with the rule of the Teutonic Knights in Prussia, who came to control a monopoly on Baltic amber trade. Amber became a major trading
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