WHAT IS THE COPROLITE ?

COPROLITE: Fossilized or desiccated human or animal feces. The study of these remains can provide information about human or animal activity in that particular locale, such as diet and disease; the study of these remains is called coprology. Coprolites only survive in exceptional circumstances – arid, frozen, and occasionally waterlogged deposits. They can be reconstituted by the addition of chemicals like trisodium phosphate, and can then be analyzed for their plant and animal remains. This gives additional insight into what was being eaten at a site, since the evidence from pollen analysis, or flotation, only suggests what was being grown.

WHAT IS THE AMBER ?

AMBER: Fossilized pine resin, a transparent yellow, orange, or reddishbrownmaterial from coniferous trees. It is amorphous, having a specific gravity of 1.05–1.10 and a hardness of 2–2.5 on the Mohs scale, and has two varieties – gray and yellow. Amber was appreciated and popular in antiquity for its beauty and its supposed magical properties. The southeast coast of the Baltic Sea is its major source in Europe, with lesser sources near the North Sea and in the Mediterranean. Amber is washed up by the sea. There is evidence of a strong trade in amber up the Elbe, Vistula, Danube, and into the Adriatic Sea area. The trade began in the Early Bronze Age and expanded greatly with the Mycenaeans and again with the Iron Age peoples of Italy. The Phoenicians were also specialist traders in amber. The soft material was sometimes carved for beads and necklaces.