Amber Beads

A group of amber beads strung together. Five are translucent orange in colour, one is translucent yellow, the other is opaque marbled orange and yellow. They are believed to have been gifted to the Grierson collection in Thornhill by a local women, a Mrs Smith in 1875.    Amber is fossilised pine resin and Europe's major source is along the south east coast of the Baltic. It was greatly valued and Bronze Age people were willing to trade over long distances to obtain it. These trade routes allowed other goods and ideas to spread, making amber an important factor in European prehistory.