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Dominican Stones |
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Amber is fossilized tree resin, not to be
confused with tree sap.
In ancient time people thought Amber was created
when the rays of the sun struck the surface of
the ocean, but it is actually the fossilized
resin from a coniferous tree.
The oldest piece of amber altered by man was
found in the area of Hanover, Germany. It was
dated at approximately 30,000 years old! It
probably served as an amulet (good luck charm).
Thousands of archeological findings in Central
Europe reveal that amber was used by prehistoric
humans for personal embellishment and
glorification of religious rituals. One
archeological excavation found a center of amber
craft which existed around 3000 B.C. in today’s
Lithuania.
 Around 1600 B.C. amber was first described by
the ancient Greeks, who were fascinated by with
its properties. They thought amber was created
when the tears of a river nymph dropped into
water. In “The Odyssey”, Homer describes an
amber necklace belonging to a distinguished
Phoenician merchant. From Greece amber was an
important trade commodity which was carried to
other Mediterranean nations. Objects made with
Baltic amber were even found in the tomb of King
Tutankhamen, 1400 B.C., and in Mesopotamia, 900
B.C
 Dominican amber differentiates itself from
Baltic amber by being mostly transparent and
often containing a higher number of fossil
inclusions. Dominican amber found on the world
market is natural amber, and has not been
enhanced or received any chemical or physical
change. Although all Dominican amber is
fluorescent, the rarest Dominican amber is blue
amber. It turns blue in natural sunlight and any
other partially or wholly ultraviolet light
source. In long-wave UV light it has a very
strong reflection, almost white. Only about 100
kilos of this fossilized tree is found per year,
which makes it valuable and expensive. |
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Links and
Articles |
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It was not until 1974 in the coastal province of
Barahona, a flash of blue in the beach sand
caught the attention of Miguel Méndez and Peace
Corps volunteer Norman Rilling. Miguel promptly
took his young daughter's name Larissa and the
Spanish word for the sea (mar) and formed
Larimar. An upstream search revealed a
outcrop and soon after the Los Chupaderos
mine tapped the only known larimar deposit in
the world.
