Amber is fossilised resin produced by different types of plants such as conifers and angiosperms. Known to man since ancient times, amber was used in the past not only for ornamental purposes, as is still the case today, but also for therapeutic purposes. Fossil resins often preserve countless living forms, such as microbes, vertebrates, spores, and the remains of higher plants, thus becoming a kind of treasure chest of time.
The oldest known amber dates back to the Carboniferous (about 320 million years ago), while the most recent ambers are 2.6 million years old.
Amber deposits are known all over the world, even in Italy. A few decades ago, amber was found around Cortina d’Ampezzo (Belluno) in Upper Triassic sandstones in form of droplets or fragments. This amber from the Dolomites, which is about 230 million years old, is the fossilised resin of extinct conifers and is the world’s oldest amber containing fossil artropods.
