Burmese Amber
Burmese amber (or burmite) can be found in Chinese records as early as the 1st century AD. Hu-Gaung amber has a deep red color and clear, thus called “blood amber” by the Chinese. Prof. Wan Bo of China’s Nanjing Institute of Geology and Fossil Studies has written that he has found the first prehistoric snail fossil in amber in Kachin State.
This little marine creature, which dates back more than 90 million years, found whole in amber, which is a remarkable discovery. It was a bit strange because “ a kind of snail in the deep sea was in the amber from a tree on land”
How amber formed?
The resin (or pine oil) turns into a fossil over many years and turned out into amber. Typically, only creatures that depend on forests have amber blocks. The tree resin suffocated them, and because they were unable to escape, they died from being caught. Amber contains roughly 40 different species of animals.
Usually, most are lice. Researchers said “the amber with these small sea creatures is strange. If we really continue to study, I think a solution will come out”
In Myanmar, the main output regions of Amber are Kachin State, Hu-Gaung Valley, Tenai District, and Sagaing Division. Apart from Myanmar, there are other countries that produce amber Poland, Romania Canada, and the United States. The quality of the amber from Myanmar is great the prices are higher because they include insects and pieces of branches inside.
How did this amber leave Burma?
“Amber is having in Myanmar’s gem law. According to the previous laws, foreigners cannot buy it. You can only buy it after auctioning at the gem fair,” the authority said.
The inner shell of the coiled snail was filled with sand and its outer shell was fractured in that amber. So, the little ones found on the beach most likely passed away there before being preserved in resin. According to researchers, the resin fell onto the shore, and the beach’s atmosphere at the time was preserved in the resin’s amber block.
Is this amber officially out? Burmese geologists believe that it is possible to smuggle out of the market somewhere in Kachin State across the illegal border area.
Myanmar amber market after searching for dinosaur tails
In Kachin state (northern Myanmar), 99 million-year-old amber was discovered in 2015. Inside it, the world’s first intact Nosaurus tail stuck. After this, the international market is more interested in the Myanmar amber market.
Now the amber market has changed. Authority said that according to the latest approved jewelry law, Myanmar citizens can send any jewelry that they have legally acquired into their hands after paying legal taxes.
The story of Shan who took the dinosaur tail fossil Amber by pretending to be a local and went to the Kachin region controlled by the armed forces started to be interesting on the world news pages. “In the past, they were illegal because they did it secretly,” he said.
Some estimate that Myanmar amber trade is worth thousands of millions of dollars.
Ref : BBC Burmese New
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