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Baltic Amber Trade

Type Object Region Europe Time c. -500–1670

A luxury goods and raw-material trade network based on Baltic amber deposits, extending by land and sea to Central Europe, the Mediterranean, and eve…

Timeline

  1. c. -500–1000Amber Coast (mouth of the Vistula) · PolandFishermen and gatherers along the Baltic coast collected alluvial amber and shipped it south via the Vistula River and overland routes to the Roman Empire and the Mediterranean world, forming the famous 'Amber Road'.
  2. 1200–1600Danzig (Gdańsk) · PolandThe Hanseatic city of Danzig became a center for amber processing and export; craftsmen carved rough stones into rosaries, jewelry, and inlaid objects, which were shipped via Bruges and Lübeck throughout Europe.
  3. 1661–1670Gdańsk · PolandIn the 1660s the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and Brandenburg-Prussia jointly controlled Gdańsk's amber mining rights; guild craftsmen continued to supply carved amber objects to European courts, and the trade network extended to Northern European and Ottoman markets.

Sources