People explained the origin of amber with many legends and myths.
Scientists and sages held their own theories:
ninus (king of Assyria 13th century BC?)
Amber is the concentrate of sun rays washed ashore by the sea.
Assurabi (king of Assyria 10th century BC)
Amber was formed when the sun heated the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean near the Cefizio Islands.
democritus (460-370 BC)
Amber is solidified lynx urine.
Plato (427-347 BC)
Amber and magnetite (lodestone) are of the same origin, as they both attract small particles.
romans – Tacitus (100 AD)
“Amber is no other than tree resin. It keeps land animals and even winged insects trapped in runny tree resin; unable to break free they remained preserved in hardening resin”. However, this recording was forgotten.
georgius Agrikola (1494-1555)
He thought that amber was formed of liquid bituminous material, which was deep in the earth, and hardened in the air.
gerolamo cardano (1501-1576)
Amber emerged from the foam of the North Sea, formed from the secretions of whales.
Christoph girtanner (1760–1800)
Amber is solidified results of vegetal oils mixed with the acids produced by giant wood ants.
george-louis leclerc, comte de buffon (1707-1788)
Amber is formed from honey
Mikhail lomonosov (1711-1765)
Amber is fossil resin
august breithaupt (1791-1873)
Used for the first time the term succinite in mineral registers.
