Organic Inclusions
Amber is fossilized resin from ancient coniferous trees that has undergone various natural processes to become the solid substance we know, glowing with a warm light. During its formation, the resin would capture insects, plants, and even small animals, preserving them almost unchanged. These captured objects are called inclusions or inclusions.
Inclusions are valuable not only for jewelry and art but also for various sciences: history, biochemistry, paleontology, and physics. They can be of different sizes, but each one holds significant scientific value. Gemologists study each piece of amber with great care, as even a microscopic inclusion can contain millennia-old information.
Most inclusions are just a few millimeters in size, with the maximum recorded length being 4 cm. Notably, larger insects usually managed to escape the resin, leaving only parts of their bodies behind.
Sometimes, holes that mimic the shape of plants or insects can be found in amber, indicating the gradual decomposition of these inclusions.
The first book on inclusions was published by N. Sendelius in Leipzig in 1742. In the 19th century, specialized works appeared, such as Maravigna's study on insects. In 1883, Goeppert and Menge published a book on conifer remains in amber, followed by Conwentz's second part three years later, focusing on flowering plants.
The number of inclusions in amber is vast. A bibliography published in Stuttgart lists over 300 titles on Coleoptera beetles.
One of the most exciting discoveries of the 1980s was the finding of mummified soft tissues of a fly approximately 40 million years old. Scientists from the University of California, Berkeley, studied this inclusion, confirming its excellent preservation due to the interaction of amber components with the fly's tissues.
Over a century of studying Baltic amber has revealed four types of animals, including 11 classes, 40 orders, and 324 families, encompassing several thousand species. Most of these have changed little over the past 40-50 million years, but their habitats have significantly altered due to climate changes.
In 2011, new technologies allowed the creation of detailed images of a spider trapped in amber 49 million years ago. Scientists from the University of Manchester used computer tomography to study the fine details of this inclusion.
Inorganic Inclusions
Inorganic inclusions in amber are also of interest, although less studied. It is important to distinguish them from organic ones to avoid confusing them with plant or animal remains. Amber, containing various inclusions and air bubbles from ancient atmospheres, is a valuable indicator of past natural environments.