Some remarks on amber usage tradition and amber provenance in the interfluve of Nemunas and Daugava rivers in the migration period
ENBaltic amber (a fossil resin), commonly known as succinite, occurs naturally from the Frisian Islands in the southwest (Gulf of Riga) and in the northeast (Saaremaa island). We suppose that people of the interfluve of Neman (Memel) and Daugava (Western Dvina) have their own raw amber sources in the Migration Period. The determination of amber origin is important task not only for archaeologist, but also for geologist and chemist. The commonly used non-destructive infrared spectroscopy developed at 1960s can easily estimate if the amber belong to the succinate or not. In this article, we present the new method for more precise determination of amber origin – laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry. The obtained data show the strong connection among cemeteries/settlements at western Lithuania and raw amber from sea-coast. With increasing distance from seashore, the influence of Lithuanian seacoast amber is decreasing. So, the other raw amber deposits must be taken into account. Despite established fact, that part of the amber beads imported to interfluve of Neman and Daugava amber-wearing traditions were flourishing in this region during Migration period, compared with the Roman Period. The confirmation of this fact is the huge amount of amber artefacts in burial sites (i.e. single beads, necklaces strung of amber beads). Amber was worn in such a quantity as never and not after this. It could be called as a ‘golden age’ of amber in the territory between the rivers Nemunas and Daugava. Note that present-day Lithuania is the northernmost area of the Barbaricum where the use of amber was so widespread.
