Collecting and Mining Amber

Prior to the 17th century Amber was collected from the beach. Storms would erode the soil inland exposing and freeing amber stones that would wash into the streams. Amber sinks in fresh water and would tumble along the bottom of the rivers toward the Baltic Sea. Storms would flush the Amber into the sea where it floats in salt water and is pushed toward the shore by the winds. Traditionally men would walk through the shore waters using nets and collect the amber, especially in storms. Amber would also be collected from the sand along the beach.

In the 17th century dredging of coastal dunes and open cast mining began being used. Mining is the common method of collecting Amber today. This is obviously very destructive but once the miners have finished they must regenerate the area to its natural beauty.