Savaria - A Vas Megyei Múzeumok értesítője 24/3. (1997) (Szombathely, 1997)
Horváth Tünde: Adatok a középső bronzkori borostyánleletek vizsgálataihoz
SAVARIA A VAS MEGYEI MÚZEUMOK ÉRTESÍTŐJE SZOMBATHELY 24/3 (1998-1999) PARS ARCHAEOLOGICA 1999 CONTRIBUTION TO THE STUDY OF HUNGARIAN AMBER-FINDS HORVÁTH TÜNDE Kulturális Örökség Igazgatósága Budapest In this paper I would like to deal with the scientific and the study connection with amber finds, which be found in the Middle Bronze Age in Hungary. The word „amber" in the Hungarian language („borostyán") became Magyarized from the German word „Bernstein", from the Low German „bernen, bornen" verbal form, which means „burn, burning stone". The ancient Greeks called it „electron", because the amber gets electric charge from rubbing. The Romans named „succinit", from the word „sucus" = (fluid). The English name is „amber", from the French „ambre" word = (ambergris), refer to the pleasant smell like incense, which issue from the burning of amber. The chemical compositions are: organic susbstance, petrified resin of the Pinus succinifera. Chemically it is polyester of diabiethin-acid (Ci 0 H 16 O), contains a little hydrogen-sulphide (H 2 S) also. It softens on 150 Q C, melts on 25O-300 s C, burns with smoky flame, exudes incense-smell. Its hardness is 2-2.5, tough material, the fracture is chonical, the density is 1.05-1.09, most often 1.08. The refraction of light is simple, n = 1.54, shows anomal double fracture, because its structure is amorphous. Its fluorescence is: the long UV is bluewhite, the short UV is yellow-green, the Burmán amber is blue. The colour of amber spreads from the light yellow to brown. Common inclusions are mainly water and turpentine-oil in small bladder, and sometimes pyrith-crystals. The animal and vegetal remains are very important, because increase the value of the stones. The fine bubbles often inconvenience the transparency of amber, which can be removed usually by cooking in colza-oil. The main European amber-quarries: Poland, the coast of East-sea, on the territory of 300 km 2 . In the same place can be found „gedanit", a very tough, nice wineyellow, almost opaque amber variety. Very rare type is the „glessit", brown-yellow, on the edge semi-transparent, otherwise wholly opaque amber. In Sicily, the so-called „simetit" amber-type have been found (from the Simeto river, south of Catania), the colour of which is red-yellow, red-brown. In Romania, on the foothill of the East-Carpathians, in river and stream-valleys the „rumenit" amber-variety have benn found. The colour of it is brown-yellow, yellow, but red or black also appear. The copal, an amber-like resin of natural origin, partly fossil can easily be mixed up with the amber. The colour of it spreads from brown to yellow, and the measuring dates standing close to amber. The distinctions can be made with for example ether-test (when dropping ether on the surface, the copal becomes dull, while the amber not). Copal occurs in environs of Ajka („ajkait") 1 in precious stone quality, collecting on surface or in the lower coal-layers in Hungary. The substance-characteristics of ajkait: the Upper Cretaceous coal-beds originated from a kind of fern and pine at Ajka. The copal spring from the resin of these, in form of small points, sometimes nut or egg-sized inhabitation, frequently with insect-remains. The fracture is chonchoidal, honey or golden-yellow and dark redbrown colour. Extremely tough, the density is 1.05-06, hardness is 2.5, after dehydrate almost white, the refraction of light n = 1.5412, on the pieces analyses observe weak double fracture. In the darker pieces the Ocontent is higher. The S-content of ajkait is higher, than the amber 2 . Unfortunately, the spectra-inquires are absent. Consequently the resin-types (and thus quarries of those) should be distinguished from each other on the basis of their individual characteristics: the different colours, hardness, fracture, thickness, and so. But the 1 OBERFRANK-RÉKAI 1993. 2 ZECHMEISTER 1926 and KOCH 1985.
