A yellowish, hard, glassy, translucent fossil tree resin found in largest deposits on the Baltic coast and dating 40-60 million years old. Types of amber are classified by location. Amber is composed of complex mixtures of oxidized and polymerized resin acids and resin alcohols. It has been gathered or mined since Paleolithic times. It is easy to carve and was often used in its natural state for jewelry, beads, amulets, and small vessels. It was also used as an ingredient in paint; dark color oil and amber varnishes are made by dissolving melted amber in amber oil, turpentine oil, or a drying oil. It develops an electrical charge when rubbed with a cloth. It is also valued because very ancient insects and plants may be preserved in the amber.一種呈黃色、質硬似玻璃、半透明的化石樹脂，最大沉積物見於四到六千萬年以前的波羅的海海岸（Baltic coast）。琥珀種類以地點區分，包括波羅的海琥珀（名succinite）、羅馬尼亞琥珀（名rumanite）、西西里島琥珀（名simetite）、緬甸琥珀（名burmite）等。琥珀為氧化和聚合樹脂酸及樹脂醇所構成之複雜混合物，自舊石器時代即開始採集及開礦。琥珀易於雕刻，過去常以天然形態製成珠寶、珠子、幸運物及小型器皿，也可做為油漆成分。在琥珀油、松節油或乾性油中分解已熔化之琥珀，可製成深色油和琥珀亮光漆。與布料磨擦會產生電荷。琥珀之所以具價值，也是因為內部可能保存古代昆蟲或植物標本。