Editing Amber Road (section)

==Antiquity==
The oldest trade in amber started from [[Sicily]]. The Sicilian amber trade was directed to Greece, North Africa and Spain. Sicilian amber was also discovered in [[Mycenae]] by the archaeologist [[Heinrich Schliemann]], and it appeared in sites in southern Spain and Portugal. Its distribution is similar to that of ivory, so it is possible that amber from Sicily reached the [[Iberian Peninsula]] through contacts with North Africa. After a decline in the consumption and trade of amber at the beginning of the [[Bronze Age]], around 2000 BC, the influence of Baltic amber gradually took the place of Sicilian amber throughout the Iberian Peninsula from around 1000 BC. The new evidence{{which? |date=March 2025}} comes from various archaeological and geological locations on the Iberian Peninsula.{{cn |date=June 2024}}

From at least the 16th century BC, amber was moved from Northern Europe to the Mediterranean area.<ref>{{cite journal |first=J.M. |last=de&nbsp;Navarro |date=December 1925 |title=Prehistoric routes between northern Europe and Italy defined by the amber trade |journal=The Geographical Journal |volume=66 |issue=6 |pages=481–503 |doi=10.2307/1783003 |jstor=1783003|bibcode=1925GeogJ..66..481D }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NAwGLzAfyhEC |via=Google Books |first=Anthony F. |last=Harding |year=2001 |section=Reformation and barbarism in Europe, 1300–600&nbsp;BC |editor-first=Barry W. |editor-last=Cunliffe |editor-link=Barry Cunliffe |title=Oxford Illustrated History of Prehistoric Europe |place=Oxford, UK |publisher=Oxford U. Press |isbn=978-0-19-285441-4}}</ref> The breast ornament of the Egyptian Pharaoh [[Tutankhamen]] ({{Circa|1333–1324}} BC) contains large Baltic amber beads.<ref>{{cite book |last=Reeves |first=C.N. |year=1990 |title=The Complete Tutankhamun: The king, the tomb, the royal treasure |place=London, UK |publisher=[[Thames & Hudson]] }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Serpico |first1=M. |last2=White |first2=R. |year=2000 |section=Resins, amber, and bitumen |editor1=Nicholson, P.T. |editor2=Shaw, I. |title=Ancient Egyptian Materials and Technology |place=Cambridge, UK |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |at=Part&nbsp;II, chapter&nbsp;18, pp&nbsp;430–475, esp. 451–454}} as cited by Gestoso Singer</ref><ref>{{cite conference |last=Hood |first=S. |year=1990 |title=Amber in Egypt |editor1=Beck, C.W. |editor2=Bouzek, J. |book-title=Amber in Archaeology |conference=Second International Conference on Amber in Archaeology |place=Liblice, PL |series=Institute of Archaeology |pages=230–235 |publication-place=Prague, PL |publisher=Czech Academy of Sciences}}</ref> Schliemann found Baltic amber beads at Mycenae, as shown by [[Spectroscopy|spectroscopic]] investigation.<ref>{{cite journal |first1=Curt W. |last1=Beck |first2=Gretchen C. |last2=Southard |first3=Audrey B. |last3=Adams |date=1972-12-15 |df=dmy-all |title=Analysis and provenience of Minoan and Mycenaean amber, {{grey|[part]}}&nbsp;IV Mycenae |journal=Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Studies |volume=13 |issue=4 |pages=359–385 |issn=2159-3159 |url=http://grbs.library.duke.edu/article/download/9401/4541 |via=[[Duke University]] |access-date=2023-08-04 }}</ref> The quantity of amber in the [[Royal Hypogeum of Qatna]], in Syria, is unparalleled among known second millennium BC sites in the [[Levant]] and the [[Ancient Near East]].<ref>{{cite journal |first1=Anna J. |last1=Mukherjee |display-authors=etal |year=2008 |title=The Qatna lion: Scientific confirmation of Baltic amber in late Bronze Age Syria |journal=Antiquity |volume=82 |issue=315 |pages=49–59 |doi=10.1017/S0003598X00096435 |url=http://archiv.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/propylaeumdok/892/1/Pfaelzner_Qatna_lion_2008.pdf}}</ref> Amber was sent from the North Sea to the [[Temple of Apollo (Delphi)|Temple of Apollo]] at [[Delphi]] as an offering. From the [[Black Sea]], trade could continue to Asia along the [[Silk Road]], another ancient trade route.

In [[Roman Empire|Roman]] times, a main route ran south from the Baltic coast (modern [[Lithuania]]), the entire north–south length of modern-day Poland (likely through the [[Iron Age]] settlement of [[Biskupin]]), through the land of the [[Boii]] (modern [[Czech Republic]] and [[Slovakia]]) to the head of the [[Adriatic Sea]] ([[Aquileia]] by the modern [[Gulf of Venice]]). Other commodities were exported to the Romans along with amber, such as [[Fur trade|animal fur]] and skin, honey, and wax, in exchange for [[Roman glass]], [[brass]], [[gold]], and [[non-ferrous metals]] such as [[tin]] and [[copper]] imported into the early Baltic region.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Jovaiša |first=E. |authorlink=Eugenijus Jovaiša|year=2001 |title=The Balts and amber |journal=Acta Academiae Artium Vilnensis |volume=22 |pages=149–156 |url=https://etalpykla.lituanistikadb.lt/object/LT-LDB-0001:J.04~2001~1367162393242/J.04~2001~1367162393242.pdf}}</ref> As this road was a lucrative trade route connecting the Baltic Sea to the Mediterranean Sea, Roman military fortifications were constructed along the route to protect merchants and traders from Germanic raids.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Schachinger |first=Ursula |year=2020 |title=The coin finds from the survey and the excavation in Strebersdorf (Burgenland, Austria) on the Amber Road (2008–2017) |journal=Vjesnik Arheološkog muzeja u Zagrebu |volume=53 |issue=1 |pages=123–159 |url=https://hrcak.srce.hr/file/357168 |access-date=2023-08-04 |df=dmy-all}}</ref>

The [[Old Prussians|Old Prussian]] towns of [[Kaup (emporium)|Kaup]] and [[Truso]] on the Baltic were the starting points of the route to the south.<ref>{{cite web |title=Latitude:&nbsp;54°.2667N, Longitude:&nbsp;19°.2636E |department=GPS coordinates of Truso, Poland |website=Latitude.to |url=https://latitude.to/articles-by-country/pl/poland/58615/truso |access-date=2020-09-13 |lang=en}}</ref><ref name=Jones>{{cite book |first=Gwyn |last=Jones |year=2001 |title=A History of the Vikings |publisher=Oxford University Press |place=Oxford, UK |isbn=0-19-280134-1 |page=167}}</ref> In [[Scandinavia]] the amber road probably gave rise to the thriving [[Nordic Bronze Age]] culture, bringing influences from the Mediterranean Sea to the northernmost countries of Europe.<ref>{{cite journal |first1=Kristian |last1=Kristiansen |first2=Paulina |last2=Suchowska-Ducke |year=2015 |title=Connected Histories: The dynamics of Bronze Age interaction and trade 1500–1100&nbsp;{{sc|BC}} |journal=Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society |volume=81 |pages=361–392 |doi=10.1017/ppr.2015.17 |doi-access=free }}</ref> [[Kaliningrad Oblast]] is occasionally referred to in Russian as 'the amber region' ({{lang|ru|Янтарный край}}).<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Billock |first=Jennifer |date=28 August 2019 |title=Follow the ancient Amber Road |department=Travel |magazine=Smithsonian Magazine |url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/follow-ancient-amber-road-180970609/ |access-date=2020-09-13 |lang=en}}</ref>

{{further |Kaliningrad Regional Amber Museum}}