CHAP. XL] THE DISTRIBUTION OF AMBER. 419 



variety found in Greek and Etruskan tombs at Cumse 

 and Bari, Nola and Palestrina, was probably derived 

 from Sicily. The Italian amber is believed by Prof. 

 Capellini to have been used by the old Etruskans of 

 Lombardy, while the Sicilian, although it is not men- 

 tioned before A.D. 1769, was known to the ancient 

 Greeks. Among other European localities revealed by 

 modern engineering, we must notice many of the low 

 plains of Germany and Wallachia, 1 where it occurs in 

 considerable abundance. A dark red variety is met with 

 in a deposit in the district of the Lebanon. 2 



Amber may have been derived in ancient times from 

 any of the above-mentioned districts, but the golden 

 variety cast up by the waves of the sea, shining brightly 

 in the light of the sun, would naturally be the first to 

 attract the attention of man. The vast quantities cast 

 up by the sea in Samland and Denmark must have 

 rendered those two districts the two most important 

 sources of supply known to the ancients. From these, 

 as we shall see presently, when we deal with the trade- 

 routes of the Mediterranean peoples, Greece and Eome 

 obtained the greater part of their yellow amber. These 

 districts must have benefited by the wares and the arts 

 introduced by the traders from the beginning of this 

 commerce. 



Amber was employed for purposes of ornament in 

 the Neolithic age in Scandinavia, France, and Britain. 

 In the Bronze age, however, in Scandinavia and on the 

 shores of the Baltic it was rarely used. In those 

 countries, according to M. Stolpe, 3 its use did not be- 



1 Conyr. Int. Archtol Prehist., Stockholm, ii. p. 777 et seq. 



2 Franks, Congr. Int. Archdol. Prthist., Buda-Pesth, 1876, 433. 



3 Stolpe, op. cit. Montelius, Antiquites Sutfdoises. 



