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Amber
Fossilized tree resin / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For other uses, see Amber (disambiguation).
Not to be confused with Ambergris, i.e. "gray amber".
Amber is fossilized tree resin. Examples of it have been appreciated for its color and natural beauty since Neolithic times,[1] and worked as a gemstone since antiquity.[2] Amber is used in jewelry and as a healing agent in folk medicine.
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There are five classes of amber, defined on the basis of their chemical constituents. Because it originates as a soft, sticky tree resin, amber sometimes contains animal and plant material as inclusions.[3] Amber occurring in coal seams is also called resinite, and the term ambrite is applied to that found specifically within New Zealand coal seams.[4]