The Amberif Fair, Gdańsk ‐ Development Prospects for the Export of Polish‐Made Baltic Amber Products
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Foreword The Board of the AMBERIF Fair appreciates that research is necessary for the jewellery industry, with amber as its main focus, to develop. This awareness has brought yet again a published volume as its concrete effect and this year it is a piece fitting for the Gdańsk event’s 20th anniversary. The AMBER. RESEARCH—COLLECTIONS—THE MARKET Symposium, the proceedings of which we now give you, enriches the knowledge about amber presented by the symposium contributors at very diverse lengths. These are both short abstracts and papers longer than can be presented during the symposium itself. 32 speakers and 22 contributors behind the poster submissions are not all. The co–authors almost double this number. Today, in view of the enormous methodological possibilities and equipment available only in some laboratories – for more complex subjects – it is important to gather a good research team. These are people of science, collectors or just simply amber lovers. Professor Dany Azar’s paper introduces us to the state of the art in the RESEARCH on fossil resins in the world. And then there is a large dose of knowledge about the Eocene deposits of amber (=succinite) around the Baltic Sea, in Ukraine and in Saxony–Anhalt. Plus deposits which are of the same age but of different type in Fushun, the much older deposits of Cretaceous fossil resin in Myanmar (Burma) and for the first time also from Lebanon’s Upper Jurassic sediments. From the perspective of the temporary shortage of raw amber on the market, we consider with interest the predominantly literature–based research on succinite redeposited in the Quaternary Age and the 19th century methods of its production. For the first time gypsum minicrystals have been described on the surface of amber collected on the beach which, just as barnacles and bryozoans, tell us about amber’s dwelling in the Baltic. A British palaeoentomologist has finally pointed out that it’s really worthwhile to study copal, a source of research material that went underestimated in the past. A German researcher is still trying to convince us about the mediocre merits of "green amber" obtained through the modification of not only copal but also other subfossil or even fossil resins. The most difficult issues of the physico–chemical properties of fossil resins – from the point of view of identification (so necessary and always required at trade exhibitions) but also their use in cosmetics, are presented by a large and experienced contingent of chemists. We have also waited long for the discovery of the diagnostic bands of IR spectra which will allow us to tell natural amber from its modifications. The papers on arthropods in amber are about true flies this time. A large team of authors presents Doug Lundberg’s (USA) discovery in Dominican amber: the traces of a bird, with more than just single feathers. In COLLECTIONS, a contributor from Lithuania, a team from Russia and Polish archaeologists discuss amber routes, amber crafting in various epochs and cultures, based on collections available in museums. This is also where research material is sought by the conservators who are so vital in rescuing amber from the fatally destructive processes which it undergoes. As always, interesting reports about amber in art, both in terms of the documentation of collections and in terms of design, can be read in contributions from recognised experts, educators and art historians. Important MARKET issues for Baltic amber (succinite) include deposits, raw amber and trade exhibitions at which amber products reach the customers. It has become apparent that Poland’s northern Lublin region is the most prospective and recommended for raw amber production. Geologist Krzysztof Czuryłowicz gives us most realistic indications of an existing shallow deposit in Górka Lubartowska. For 13 years now, amber has had its prestigious place in Warsaw at the GOLD SILVER TIME trade show but it was in Gdańsk in 1994 that the first amber trade fair took place. The secrets of AMBERIF, organised this year for the 20th time by the MTG SA Gdańsk International Fair Co. will be revealed to you by its Project Director Ewa Rachoń. Barbara Kosmowska–Ceranowicz, Elżbieta Sontag, Wiesław Gierłowski TABLE OF CONTENTS AZAR D. State of the art in the research on fossil resin in the World ................................................................................ 7 DEPOSITS, EXCAVATION, RESEARCH DEPOSITS AND FINDS: BALTIC AMBER (SUCCINITE) AND OTHER FOSSIL RESINS MALISZEWSKI K., MARCINIAK‐MALISZEWSKA B., KUPRYJANOWICZ J., PIELIŃSKA A. Gypsum crystals on surface of Baltic amber from beach findings ......................................................................................................................................... 8 MAŁKA A., KRAMARSKA R. The mining of Baltic amber deposits in Poland ‐ an overview .................................................. 10 MATSUI V. Geological nature and primary sources of amber‐succinite deposits in Europe ............................................ 16 NOHRA Y., AZAR D., GÈZE R., MAKSOUD S., EL‐SAMRANI A., PERRICHOT V. New Jurassic amber outcrops from Lebanon ......... 17 RAPPSILBER I., KRUMBIEGEL G, WIMMER R. Overview of Bitterfeld amber ............................................................................ 18 SAUL J.,M. “Electrum”: why was the same word used for amber and for the naturally occurring alloy of gold + silver? ........................................................................................................................................................................ 23 SHI G., GRIMALDI D.G., HARLOW G.E., WANG J., WANG J., YANG M., LEI W., LI Q., LI X., ZHANG. R. The geological and gemmological features and age constraint of Burmese Amber ............................................................................... 24 SHPYRKA V., BILYCHENKO P., BELICHENKO O. State of study and industrial development prospects of Volodymyrets amber region of Ukraine ........................................................................................................................................... 26 SŁODKOWSKA B., KRAMARSKA R., KASIŃSKI J.R. The Eocene Climatic Optimum and the formation of the Baltic amber deposits ..................................................................................................................................................................... 28 SZWEDO J., WANG B., ZHANG H. The Eocene Fushun amber ‐ known and unknown .......................................................... 33 COPAL AND OTHER SUBFOSSIL RESINS PENNEY D., PREZIOSI R.F. Sub‐fossils in Copal: An Undervalued Scientific Resource ......................................................... 38 SCHOLLENBRUCH K. Green Amber ‐ a current challenge for gemmologists ........................................................................ 43 PHYSICAL AND CHEMICAL RESEARCH METHODS ARCT J., PYTKOWSKA K., SYNORADZKI L., SAFARZYŃSKI S. Comprehensive research project on the amber and its application in cosmetology ....................................................................................................................................... 46 MATUSZEWSKA A. Chemotaxonomic marks of selected fossil and subfossil resin groups ................................................. 46 ŁYDŻBA‐KOPCZYŃSKA B., KOSMOSWSKA‐CERANOWICZ B., SACHANBIŃSKI M. An atlas of the Raman spectra of amber ............... 51 SACHANBIŃSKI M., CHOJCAN J. Positron Annihilation Spectroscopy (PAS) in amber research ............................................. 53 SOBIECKA A. SYNORADZKI L., HAJMOWICZ H., ARCT J., PYTKOWSKA K., SAFARZYŃSKI S. Application research on cosmetics made of Baltic amber ................................................................................................................................................ 55 SYNORADZKI L. Contemporary methods for determining the structure of amber and the application of amber in cosmetics .................................................................................................................................................................. 55 TUMIŁOWICZ P. SYNORADZKI L., SOBIECKA A., HAJMOWICZ H., ARCT J., PYTKOWSKA K., SAFARZYŃSKI S. An overview of the properties of biologically active ingredients in Baltic amber .................................................................................... 56 WAGNER‐WYSIECKA E. Instrumental methods in amber (succinite) and other fossil resins investigations ....................... 56 CRAFTING TECHNIQUES FOR RAW BALTIC AMBER AND IMITATIONS GRONUŚ‐DUTKO B. The wealth of colours in natural amber .............................................................................................. 59 KOSMOWSKA‐CERANOWICZ B., WAGNER‐WYSIECKA E. Modified Baltic amber identified in transmission and reflectance IR spectra .................................................................................................................................................................. 60 AMBER INCLUSIONS KOSMOWSKA‐CERANOWICZ B., KULICKI C., KUPRYJANOWICZ J., MARCZAK J., LUNDBERG D., FUDALA J. Bird traces in Dominican Amber ....................................................................................................................................................................... 62 SKIBIŃSKA K. The presence of primitive dipterans of the family Tanyderidae in Baltic amber ......................................... 66 SONTAG E. The Collection of Animal Inclusions at the University of Gdańsk, Museum of Amber Inclusions .................