Ancient Mycenaeans Wore Amber Jewelry to Symbolize Their Elite Status

 In a new study carried out by the Director of the Polish Archaeological Institute of Athens, it has been revealed that the earliest Greeks carried amber to symbolize their connection to the Sun and to signal their elite social status.

“The Mycenaeans, the first Greeks in the Bronze Age, probably came here with amber,” said Professor Janusz Czebreszuk, in an interview with the Polish news agency PAP. “Amber has been present since the very beginning of Mycenaean culture.”

Researchers from the Polish Archaeological Institute of Athens know about the importance of amber to ancient Mycenaeans because of it presence in elite graves found in Greece that date to the second millennium BC. The oldest Mycenaean amber has been found only in the most elaborate burials, in the form of necklaces and various types of decorations worn on the head or in the hair. It was apparently worn by both genders.

Collection of seventeen amber beads found at Potidaea (Macedon) dated 600BC-480 BC. (© The Trustees of the British Museum)

Mycenaean Culture and its Links to Sun Worship

The Mycenaean civilization rose to prominence in the late Bronze Age in ancient Greece, enduring from 1750 through 1050 BC. The advanced culture of the Mycenaeans was the first of its type to appear in the region, and is known from the archaeological record for its elaborate palaces, complex urban planning, unique artistic achievements, and the development of its own writing system.

Despite their association with the lands of mainland Greece, the Mycenaeans did not originate there.

“We know that the Mycenaeans came from the north,” Professor Czebreszuk said. “From what north, no one knows for sure. It is most often said that this north was Macedonia and Epirus, those areas that are within the borders of modern Greece.”

Wherever they migrated from, it seems they brought amber with them. Amber is a golden-colored gemstone made from fossilized tree resin, and its beauty has attracted the attention of rock collectors and jewelry makers since the Neolithic period (10,000 to 2,000 BC).

It was apparently associated with Sun worship and spirituality in some societies, and Professor Czebreszuk believes the Mycenaeans must have valued amber primarily as a symbol of the Earth’s solar companion.

He states:

“Already in the Neolithic in Central Europe, we have disc-shaped artifacts with radial decorations that clearly point to the Sun. Amber probably also comes to the south as a solar material. And the Sun is power, it is the most important celestial body, so it is also a heavenly body, it is also heaven. And all these symbols together gather into one beam, which made it such an important raw material.”

Wearing an amber necklace or other type of jewelry would have signified that a person was blessed by the Sun, which would have acted as a justification for their aristocratic status in the class-conscious Mycenaean society.

In Bronze Age societies in general, the elites thought of themselves as a separate and distinct group that had more in common with elites in other societies than they did with average citizens in their own. Consequently, Professor Czebreszuk explains, they remained in contact with each other and traded with each other over long distances. Amber would have been exchanged across this trade network, ensuring that elites would have exclusive access to this coveted gemstone.

An amber gemstone being held up in the sunlight. (Björn Wylezich/Adobe Stock)

The Source of the Mycenaean Amber is Revealed

Analysis of the golden gemstones used by the Mycenaean elite has shown that most of it is Baltic amber, which is also known as succinite.

“It had a large distribution: it is known from the British Isles to Ukraine, but the main deposits that were known in prehistory are those on the Baltic Sea and the North Sea,” Professor Czebreszuk said. “Actually, the largest that we know, but were also already known, for example, in the Roman period, are the deposits on the Lower Vistula, the Gulf of Gdańsk. To this day, Gdańsk is the center of amber. And it was already the center two thousand years ago, [and] probably earlier.”

Further research into the characteristics of the amber may help determine not just where the stones came from, but where they were made into jewelry.

“There were different production traditions in different places. On this basis, we can also determine where it came from, where the workshop was and what the knowledge of this manufacturer was,” the director of the Polish Archaeological Institute of Athens explained. “And, of course, there is also the dimension of studying fossil resin, i.e. whether it is succinite or something else, because there are countless fossil resins.”

The Tears of the Gods

The link between the power of the Sun and amber is verified in ancient Greek mythology. According to legend, when the son of the solar god Helios, whose name was Phaëton, died, his sisters were so distraught that they transformed into poplar trees. In this form they shed golden tears over the loss of their sibling, and it was these tears that ultimately turned into amber.

Given this legend, it is easy to see why elite Mycenaeans would have coveted amber. Possessing it and wearing it would have signaled their connection with the gods in a culture that worshipped the Sun.

Top image: Natural amber. A piece of yellow transparent natural amber on large piece of dark stoned wood.   Source: lukjonis/Adobe Stock

By Nathan Falde