Amber Road was an informal network of routes that merchants used to transport the gem amber for thousands of years. The Amber Road originated in the Baltic region of northern Europe and extended across Europe and Asia. The Amber Road linked many cultures and was one of the first global trade routes .
Amber is a hard, fossilized resin from prehistoric trees. Millions of years ago, a vast pine forest stood in northern Europe where the Baltic Sea now lies. As resin oozed from gaps or wounds in the tree bark, it ran down the trunk and began to harden. The trees were buried underground or underwater for tens of thousands of years. Today, currents sweeping the sea floor unearth pieces of amber from the remains of the ancient forest. The amber then floats to the surface and is washed ashore.
Ancient people found an abundance of amber along the Baltic shores. Amber was highly valued in Asia and in other parts of Europe, where it was much harder to find. People used the amber for many purposes, such as crafting beads, rings, and decorations. Amber was found in the breastplate of the ancient Egyptian pharaoh Tutankhamun . Ancient people also believed that amber had medicinal properties.
People began trading Baltic amber throughout Europe and Asia as early as 3,000 B.C. The first routes to transport amber over land were established by foot and cart travel and by boat travel along the Vistula and Dnieper rivers. These routes eventually led to ancient Greece . The principal land route of the Amber Road ran south from the Baltic Sea through what are now Lithuania, Poland, the Czech Republic, and Austria to the port city of Aquileia, in what is now Italy, on the Adriatic Sea . From there, trade continued by ship across the Mediterranean Sea . Once amber reached the Black Sea , it could be taken to Asia via another ancient trade-route network, the Silk Road . By the early 100’s A.D., the ancient Roman Empire had conquered nearly all known land routes and controlled the amber trade.
After the West Roman Empire collapsed in 476, the amber trade declined significantly. In the 1200’s, a group of German crusaders called the Teutonic Knights conquered the Baltic region, bringing an end to the Amber Road. The Teutonic Knights strictly controlled the amber supply, and anyone caught trading amber without their permission was put to death.
