Doctor of Historical Sciences, R. Rimantienė

More than one location on the coast of the Baltic Sea keeps the layers of amber but they are deep underground. A primitive was able to learn about amber only when nature itself had opened up its secrets. In Schleswig Holstein, in undermined amber layers, people began to collect this nice mineral and make a variety of ornaments and figures of it in middle Stone Age. However, these reserves were too little. In Neolithic period amber layers opened on Semba peninsula. As long as the sea level was low, Baltic Sea did not undermine these layers. After the climate became warmer and humid, sea level began to rise and water began to disassemble amber layers. Water brought the light mineral to shallow locations. People from Stone Age began to collect amber pieces on our coast.

For centuries people were used to do a variety of decorations of materials, which were found in nature: animals’ teeth, stones and plates of birds, thin stones. So, they immediately applied amber pieces to their adornments.

In Lithuania Narva culture population wore ornaments of amber already in 4^th millennium BC. It was easier to do pendants of amber than of bones or stones and amber ornaments were more beautiful. People wanted to do the same amber ornaments like they did it of stone or bones. They loved to wear the necklaces in the form of tube (of birds’ bones), so they tried to polish amber in this shape. They started to produce tubular amber beads, while the natural shape of amber pieces was a disadvantage. Amber buttons and figures were started to be cut, and previously they used horn, bone, or even flint for that.

In the Stone Age settlements very beautiful pieces of amber are found near the artefacts of amber. Stone Age people did not like colourful but honey-coloured amber.

In the 4^th millennium BC fishermen and hunters lived relatively closed community life and they did amber jewellery for themselves. Therefore, there were just few of them and very simple.

In the 3^rd millennium BC Finno-Ugric began visiting the seaside and news about the sea amber widely spread to the north. Our exchanged artefacts of amber are found in Estonia, Finland, Novgorod region, etc.

In the 3^rd millennium BC even amber workshops started to be set up (e.g. the 23^rd settlement of Šventoji, Lithuania; in Latvia near Lubana lake) producing uniform pendants and buttons for northerners. The most interesting ones, with all their beauty shining among Juodkrantė’s Treasure items were made for themselves. They were not only ornaments. Figures in the form of people or animal were not used for adornments; their real meaning remains a mystery for us. Speculating about the meaning of these figures it is not possible to break away from every day life, that is the key to understand the mentality of fishermen and hunters. Perhaps the figures depicted the guardians (Gods of the world) and were used as amulets. Maybe it was a female being, because sometimes a female character can be seen - a female triangle mark and tress. On the other hand, gender could not be necessarily defined.

In the middle of the 3^rd millennium BC neighbours from the south got interested in our amber. They were people of upper culture (Globular Amphora culture). They were stockbreeders and farmers. Dealing with them, our fishermen learned to work in the production of livestock and land. With the generation of agriculture the attitude changed, it became abstract. Because of the Globular Amphora culture, our people became acquainted with new expression and new symbols. These neighbours were not content with primitive ornaments, which were transported to the north. Their conception of the universe is reflected by models of the world - round (and sometimes other forms) plates with crosspiece of points (because the world is composed of two intersecting axes). A pendant in a shape of trapezium with some rows of points depicted a human. Round and quadrangular buttons complemented round ones. Tubular beads were thickened in the middle.

Thus, the evolution of amber jewellery reflects the evolution of mindset and relations with neighbours, and later will still reveal things unknown to us.

The settlers of late Neolithic culture adorned with very beautiful pendants of amber, but they also wore just natural amber piece with a hole. They believed that amber was like a miracle material. At that time, the centre of amber production and exchange was concentrated in Poland. However, there are also some products of this period in Juodkrantė’s Treasure.

Therefore, we could raise a question of how artefacts of a variety periods and kinds of culture got in one place. There were some suppositions that raw amber could be washed ashore from the Stone Age settlements of Semba peninsula through the waterway (at that time Kuronian Spit had several of waterways). However, it was also doubted that the treasure was washed ashore to one particular place. Could it be a permanent place of sacrifice? It is known that sacrificial sites remained for centuries in the same place. In addition, in the Stone Age sacrifices were often sunk in water, the burning of sacrifice occurred only when farming emerged.

All historical interpretations strengthen our admiration of these wonderful artefacts; we are fascinated by their beauty with a history of 5000 years.

Source:http://www.ambergallery.lt/en/disp.php?itm=en_museums_3%2Fen_museums_3_10%2Fen_museums_3_10_2

Stone Age people liked honey-coloured amber	People also wore just natural amber piece with a hole	Reconstruction of amber workshop of Neolithic age	Stone Age people liked honey-coloured amber
R. Rimantienė's lecture "Amber in Stone Age " (Artists' House)	Neighbours from the south got interested in our amber	Amber articles from Stone Age	People produced tubular amber beads
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