Amber research in the Netherlands

Although amber is native to some Tertiary and Quaternary deposits found in the Netherlands, it has never been the subject of specific or detailed geological research. In fact investigations have been restricted to the compilation of an inventory of occurrences of natural amber in the country. This was followed by some observations in the years 1976-1990. Despite this lack of scientific interest, amber has always been sought after by amateur-geologists and collectors, and this has resulted in many finds. These include, for instance, the most favoured pieces of amber, those enclosing insects, and more interestingly, amber still connected to the wood from which it was derived. Amber is commonly found during archaeological excavations in the Netherlands, and has therefore received more attention from archaeologists. A short review of the archaeological ambers is presented in this paper, with an emphasis on prehistoric material. The development of ideas regarding the provenance of Dutch archaeological ambers is then discussed. This is not the first review of studies into Dutch archaeological ambers. Brongers and Woltering have presented an outline of the use of amber in Dutch prehistory using an economical-technological approach. Since then many new finds have come to light, some of which are summarized here. In addition, this paper deals with the chemical and physical analysis of amber from the Netherlands.