Amber collection at the National Archaeological Museum in Aquileia, Italy

Amber collection at the National Archaeological Museum in Aquileia, Italy.

Amber, fossilized tree resin, has been appreciated for its color and natural beauty and traded since Neolithic times. Amber was made into a variety of decorative objects and used as a healing agent in folk medicine.

"Salt from the salt mines of Central Europe—sought after by the peoples of northern Europe—was exchanged with amber from the Baltic shores, which was then sold to Mediterranean peoples. This trade intensified when the Roman Empire expanded north of the Alps, and in some Roman cities the fabrication of amber art wares reached almost industrial proportions.” - Jennifer Billock, Smithsonian Magazine

The so-called amber road ran from a point near modern St. Petersburg, Russia to points near Venice and Rome with other paths branching across Europe and into Asia. Aquileia, on the Adriatic coast in northeast Italy, was an important trading port for amber and the prized gemstone often washed up on its shores regularly. Roman sculptors there carved decorative objects from the stone and some of these have found their way into the National Archaeological Museum of Aquileia.

This excellent Smithsonian Magazine article also provides information on other museums in Europe that house amber artifacts.


Image: Amber carving of Eros and child at the National Archaeological Museum in Aquilea, Roman, 1st-2nd century CE courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor Sailko.

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