Amber with Insect

Amber is fossilized resin from pine trees which grew in prehistoric forests. Resin running down a tree occasionally trapped small insects and preserved them for the ages. Mosquitoes trapped in amber were the source of dinosaur DNA in the film Jurassic Park.

Baltic amber comes from the coniferous tree, Plinus succinifera, which dates from the Eocene Epoch (55-40 million years ago). Study of the insects encased in this amber provides science with a wonderful window into a world that otherwise might never have been known.

Thousands of archeological findings in Central Europe have shown that Baltic amber was used by prehistoric humans for personal embellishment and religious rituals!