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The chemical identification of baltic amber at the Celtic oppidum Staré Hradisko in Moravia

1978; Elsevier BV; Volume: 5; Issue: 4 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1016/0305-4403(78)90053-5

1095-9238

Curt W. Beck, Jacqueline Greenlie, Michael P. Diamond, Angela Macchiarulo, A.A. Hannenberg, M.S. Hauck,

Insect and Arachnid Ecology and Behavior

Abstract The Celtic oppidum Stare Hradisko north of Brno in Moravia, CSSR, has long been noted for its wealth of archaeological amber artifacts. Since there are several substantial deposits of fossil resins in the immediate vicinity of the site, it has been an open question whether the settlement was a centre of exploitation and exportation of these local raw materials, or whether it was an entrepot of Baltic amber on its way to southern and southeastern Europe. Because of extensive weathering, many of the amber finds at Stare Hradisko cannot be identified by infra-red spectroscopy. A new analytical method, which determines the amount of succinic acid by means of gas chromatography, has been developed to show that the amber of Stare Hradisko is, in fact, of the Baltic variety called succinite.