Amber offerings

Many of the amber beads have been found in a context that can be interpreted as sacrificial. Most of the amber hoards were deposited in the course of a few centuries in the middle of the fourth millennium BC. Often the sacrificial finds consist of up to several thousand beads of different types. Some are fully manufactured and others are preliminary stages of the beads. But why was the amber abandoned? At least 80% of the known amber hoards from the period have been found in bogs and other wetland areas. It is highly improbable that they would have been hidden in such places if people had wanted to go back and fetch them later. They must therefore presumably be regarded as sacrifices to the higher powers.