Amber Jewelry Blog...

Saturday 19th May 2012 08:59:51 PM •

Reference: Bibliography

What is amber?

A common misconception with Amber is that it is tree sap; it is actually fossilised resin from ancient forests. The tree resin is exuded for a number of reasons such as protection for an injury to the tree, protection against biological or insect attack etc. The resin has then hardened and been preserved in the earths crust. Although Amber is regarded as a gem it is actually an organic substance that does not have the organic matter replaced by minerals. Pieces of amber are not cold and hard like most other gems. I have seen it described as 'organic plastic' to try and describe its weight and texture. Whilst I understand this description I think it takes away from the mystery and romance of this gem. Amber is also sometimes known as Succinite.

What are the different colours?

The huge variety of colours and the uniqueness of every piece is partly what makes this gem so popular. There are over 250 identified shades. The differing shades are due to the kind of tree the resin came from, the inclusions, the age of the amber and also the area in the world it comes from. Although amber deposits can be found all over the world there are only approximately 20 where it can be commercially mined.

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What are Inclusions in Amber

Inclusions are small objects which become embedded in the resin prior to it hardening and are part of what makes this gem truly fascinating. It was the very inclusion of a mosquito in a piece of amber that started the fictional theme park 'Jurassic Park' and it was at this point that Amber became more popular and fascinating to a wider audience in modern day. Because of this tree resin it means that anyone can own something that is millions of years old. This is part of its charm and romance.

A variety of small animals have been caught in these resin 'traps' such as fleas, ticks, millipedes and mosquitoes as well as items like seeds, roots, spores and Lichen. What I personally find the most fascinating are the ones that got away! Pieces of amber have been found with animal paw prints and have, on rare occasions, contained a few hairs or feathers from animals that have fled from its sticky clutches. All of these inclusions have enabled scientists to build an accurate picture of some of the plants and animals these forest contained and build more accurate pictures of earth in those times.

Amber From the Baltic.

The class of organic gemstones is quite small, but includes some unusual varieties which are important in the gem trade, including pearl, coral, ivory and amber. All the organic gems are rather unusual, but none more than amber. Amber is the fossilized hardened resin of the pine tree, Pinus succinifera, formed mainly in the Eocene epoch of the Tertiary period, about 50 million years ago. Amber has been used since prehistoric times for jewelry, amulets and religious objects. The most prized pieces contain inclusions of insects or plants or pyrites.

Yellow, orange and brown are the most common colors for amber, though rare blue amber is found in the Dominican Republic. The term "amber" has entered the English language as the color that is halfway between yellow and orange. The clarity of natural amber ranges from transparent to opaque. Most pieces have bubbles or inclusions. When polished amber has a resinous luster.

Unlike most gemstones, amber is amorphous rather than crystalline. It is fairly soft, with a rating of 2-2.5 on the Mohs hardness scale. While it is durable enough to have survived for millions of years, it is sensitive to acids, caustic solutions, gasoline, alcohol and perfume. It will burn if ignited by a match, releasing an incense-like odor.

One of the most unique characteristics of amber is that it is exceptionally light. It has a density or specific gravity of only 1.05 to 1.09. Amber is so light that it will float in salt water. Amber's low density makes it difficult to imitate with glass or plastic, which have much higher densities. By way of comparison, the total volume of a 5 carat piece of amber is 2.5 times the volume of a 5 carat piece of zircon (one of the denser gem materials).
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What has Amber been used for?

Currently Amber is enjoying a resurgence in its popularity as a gem that can make truly unique and beautiful jewelry, but has had many varied uses in the past.

The Romans used it in coins amongst other things.
A variety of religious objects including rosaries.
Amber attracts lint with static electricity when rubbed.
In the past it is thought to protect the wearer from kidnapping and aging and keep evil spirits away.
Cure for a variety of conditions such as headaches and rheumatic pain and enhance fertility.
Amber brings the wearer good luck in a variety of situations from going to war to getting married.
Often used as grave goods for a variety of reasons.
Thrown into fires to release aromatic fragrances.

Amber has always been popular and its use can be traced back to Neolithic times. The uniqueness of the gem has inspired different cultures throughout history to marvel, wonder and sometimes kill for it. We have always loved Amber and so it was only fitting that the first web site we set-up was to sell Amber Jewelry. The article is drawn from many years of reading about amber to satisfy our curiosity. My sister and I hope this will be the first of many articles on this fascinating topic. Please visit our site http://newamberjewelry.com/home to see if you agree with us regarding the diversity of this gem.

American National Election Studies - ANES - Bibliography of citations of known published works and a large number of unpublished papers that make use of NES data. Offered as a research and teaching resource and available for download in pdf format.
Biblical Studies - An indexed catalogue of internet resources.
Bibliographic Resources Spain - Links to academic, history, literature, language and culture readings. Resources specific to Latin America are excluded.
Bibliographical Society of Australia and New Zealand - Focuses on scholarly interest in physical bibliography and the history of the written word. Includes membership, publications and conferences.
Bibliographical Society of Canada - Scholarly study of the history, description, and transmission of texts in all media and formats, with a primary emphasis on Canada. Includes membership, publications, and conferences.
Bibliographical Society of the University of Virginia - Scholarly society devoted to analytic bibliography and textual criticism. Includes links to online journals and texts.
Bibliographies of the Hypertext Bibliography Project - Searchable database of a range of individual subject areas.
Bibliographies on Diversity Topics - Offers a collection of bibliographies that are focused on issues relating to multicultural and diversity areas. Created by librarians at Central Michigan University.
Bibliography of Julian of Norwich - Materials related to the "Showing of Love" from The Godfriends Library. Includes manuscripts, book reviews, and library links.
Bibliography of the Grand Canyon and the Lower Colorado River. - Lists books, periodicals, serials, maps, audio-visual works, and electronic media produced between 1540 and the present. Includes an introduction and table of contents.
Bibliography of the Hebrew Book 1473-1960 - Searchable database of books published in Hebrew languages. Provides researchers with multi-level full-text search, navigation and data manipulation tools for both Hebrew and Latin characters.
Bibliotheca Canadiana - Exhibition of a historical survey of Canadian bibliography. Includes the images and selected text currently on view in the library exhibit.
Black American Feminism Bibliography - Includes bibliography of writings from across the disciplines, dating back to the early nineteenth century.
Body of Knowledge on Quality Management - Database containing citations and abstracts to journal articles, and books on the subject of quality and performance improvement. From the Carlson School of Management.
Booklist Center - Collection of book lists including lists of book awards and prizes and their winners and recommended lists of books by leading authorities. Listed by subject category.
British & Irish Archaeological Bibliography - Searchable database for references to material published from 1695 to 1991, including the early antiquaries, post-processualism and planning-led contract archaeology.
Dental Amalgam Research Bibliography - Features a listing of selected scientific research on the health effects of mercury accumulation .
Drug Discrimination Bibliographic Database - Listing of references published since 1951 and includes abstracts, journal articles, book chapters and books. The database is searchable and available for download.
EBSCO Publishing - Offers a broad range of full text and bibliographic databases designed for research. Subject areas include: academic, biomedical, government, school, and corporate libraries. Requires registration.
Eastgate Systems - A brief and idiosyncratic bibliography of hypertext, with an emphasis on storyspace and the systems that have influenced it over the years.
EconLit - The American Economic Association's electronic bibliography of economic literature. A source of journals, abstracts and citations covering all fields of economics.
Economic Working Papers - Provides links to a range of online resources for bibliographies and working papers.
Edinburgh Bibliographical Society - Focuses attention on bibliography of and in Scotland. Features membership, publications, and meetings.
Eighteenth Century Bibliography - Published and unpublished texts that were printed and circulated between 1680 and 1810; texts can be browsed by author and decade.
Eighteenth Century Current Bibliography - ECCB - An interdisciplinary bibliography of "long eighteenth-century studies" (1650-1800). Editor details, documents and guidelines for contributors, and subscription data.
Environmental Archaeological Bibliography - Published reports of biological, pedological and geological work on material from archaeological excavations. Features a queries builder, subject codes, and related links.
Feminine Moments - Listing of books on fine art made by lesbian, bisexual and queer women in visual arts. Also features links to web galleries, art projects, and art theory.
GetCited - A member-controlled academic publication database, directory and discussion forum, edited by members of the academic community.
HTML Bibliography - Collection of resource links including hypertext design guides and style manuals, language guides and tutorials, and history.
Institute for Theme Park Studies - Books, articles and journals on the academic study of theme parks and amusement park tourism.
International Bibliography of Sign Language - Focuses on modern sign language research, and records text related to deaf culture, sign language interpreting as well as education of the deaf. Includes academic literature, abstracts, and journal articles.
Is It A Book? - Bibliography of materials relating to nonlinearity and literature, concrete poetry, surrealism, film, the book arts, typography, and the book as a physical object.
Jazz Bibliography - Indexed listing of books and magazines with prices for which these have been recently offered or sold.
Language Learning in Tandem - Provides detailed bibliographical information on new research . Includes authors' full first names as well as exact page references .
Marjory Stoneman Douglas - Features books, pamphlets, plays and articles by this writer and environmentalist, cataloged by date .
Museum Management Bibliography - Features links to books, manuals, technical leaflets and articles. From the National Park Service.
Mythological Booklist - Features a listing of book titles, authors, publishers, and ISBNs. Categorized by geographical area.
NYU Literature, Arts, & Medicine Database - This online journal resource produced by New York University's School of Medicine serves as a dynamic annotated bibliography for journals and magazines dedicated to various forms of alternate healing.
NoodleBib - The MLA Bibliography Composer - Free service that simplifies the process of creating and editing MLA-style bibliographies.
Oriental Institute Research Archives - Guide to introductory readings on the peoples and cultures of the ancient Near East including Egypt, Nubia, and Mesopotamia. Indexed by subject.
Oxford Bibliographical Society - Encourage bibliographical research. Details programme of events, publications and how to join.
Panel Study of Income Dynamics - Offers a listing of publications, working papers and government reports.Searchable by author or by area of study.
Patent Information Users Group - Annotated bibliography of books and articles of professional, scientific and technical interest. Includes links to related bibliographies.
Population Index - First published in 1935, a primary reference tool to the world's population literature. Offers a searchable annotated bibliography of recently published books, journal articles, working papers, and other materials .
Religious Studies - A substantial listing of links to bibliographies of use to researchers involved in academic study. Categorized by religion.
Repertorium Bibliographicum in usum scholarum - Index of bibliographies, catalogues, and bibliographic reference works. Intended for educational and reference purposes. Indexed by author, title, and country name.
Scholarly Electronic Publishing Bibliography - Presents selected articles, books, and other printed and electronic sources that are useful in understanding publishing efforts on the Internet. Available for download.
South Asia Bibliographies: Afghanistan - Listing of printed material from the library at the University of California, Berkeley. Includes links to related resources .
Stormwater Finance Materials - Annotated bibliography of previously published materials concerning stormwater management and finance programs. Available for download in pdf format.
Tennis Book Bibliography - Listing of publications catalogued by author, year of publication and publisher .
The American Bibliography of Slavic and East European Studies - Records journal articles, books, book chapters, book reviews, dissertations, and selected government publications on eastern Europe, Russia, and the former Soviet Union.
The Bibliographical Society - Objectives include historical, analytical, descriptive and textual bibliography. Features membership, publications, fellowships and bursaries.
The Bibliographical Society of America - BSA - Scholarly society dedicated to the study of books and manuscripts as physical objects. Features membership, publications, meetings, and fellowships.
The European Union : Collections Bibliography - Official depository of publications held at The University of California, Berkeley. Includes primary and secondary legislation, treaties, and policy documents.
The Evolution of Poker - Bibliography of books from the early 1800s to the present, sorted by date of publication, author, and genre.
The Library - Subscription based journal of the Bibliographical Society includes general and economic history of production and distribution of books.
The NLS Annotated Bibliography - Searchable record of research based on data from all cohorts of the National Longitudinal Surveys. Contains citations and abstracts of journal articles, working papers, conference presentations, and dissertations.
WWW Psychedelic Bibliography - Collection of literature references concerning over 60 years of research on psychedelic compounds. Include single keyword searching of all records fields.
What is an Annotated Bibliography - Provides explanations and preparation advice. Includes a sample entry for a journal article.