Amber

Amber is actually a tree resin, and often contains insects or plant particles. Amber was often used as money and jewlery.

History of Amber

Amber was one of the first commercial products, and has been traded for centuries. It has been found in the form of pendants dating from the Paleolithic Era (c. 12,000 B.C.). Evidence of amber jeweller's workshops has been discovered by archeologists tied to the Neolithic period. During the 1st-4th Centuries BC, the Celts were great Amber sellers, but the Romans were better.

The Romans used amber in a number of different objects, including coinage. Amber was mentioned by Homer in the Odyssey, and Pliny the Elder stated that "the price of a small single piece of amber sculpture was worth more than a healthy slave."

During the Dark Ages the main place of amber production was Gdask, After the Teutonic Knights returned from the Crusades, in the latter part of 1200 A.D., they became absolute rulers of Prussia and the Baltic sources of amber, as well as the manufacture of amber objects--mostly religious objects such as Paternoster beads (Christian rosaries). The Knights ruled with an unyielding fist. Anyone caught with a piece of amber that was not part of a rosary was subject to severe punishment and, often, hanging. Art prints (lithographs) from that time commonly depict amber fisherman portrayed along with gallows, a grim warning to all who would appropriate amber for themselves.*

We offer several types of Amber, to enchance your reenactment experience. You can use these Amber chips as money, jewlery, feality tokens, given as gifts, or just to display your wealth. The vikings wore their amber as a measure of their worth.

Our amber is from the Baltic region, and each chip has a hole. The amber comes on a string as pictured.