Amber – the gold of the North

Finds of amber show that connections did not just flow from the south to the north. The amber that circulated amongst Europe’s peoples in the Bronze Age came from the areas around the Baltic or from the North Sea coast of Jutland. The 3.3 kg of unworked amber from Understed in northern Jutland, together with finds from settlements in Thy, suggest where the amber originated. The Scandinavian amber reached as far as Greece. Amber jewellery has been found in royal graves at Mycenae and Pylos, dating to c. 1600 BC. Here amber was a beautiful and exotic gift, that accompanied only the wealthiest people in their graves.