Baltic amber inclusion: Nothorhina granulicollis Zang, 1905 (Coleoptera, Cerambycidae)

A mosquito in amber

Spider in Baltic amber.

Wood resin, the ancient source of amber

Cloudy unpolished amber, artificially illuminated

Amber is the common name for fossil resin. It occurs in different colours, and is widely used for making jewellery and other ornaments. Although not mineralized, amber is sometimes considered as a gemstone.

Most of the world's amber is in the range of 30–90 million years old. Semi-fossilized resin or sub-fossil amber is called copal. Baltic amber was called 'Freya's tears' by the Norse and the 'tears of the Heliades' by the ancient Greeks.