Official Blog of the Author

Research on a novel I expect to finish later this year has taken me to the origins of the Amber Trail on the Baltic Coast of Poland near Gdansk.

Man has searched for amber since prehistoric times and the road to the greatest source began in Pruszcz where small amber caravans from Rome came each year in mid-summer.  The journey was perilous because once traders passed Carnuntum, a fortified Roman army camp on the Danube, they entered Barbaricum and the domain of fierce tribes who demanded tribute.  Traders traveled in groups of about ten using horse or ox carts.  There were no roads, but the last leg of the journey – from north of Krakow to the coast – followed the Vistula River by boat.  The overall journey was more than 2000 miles and took about six months.

To commemorate the trail and its history, a first century AD fort and settlement called Faktoria are being built in Pruszcz.  I visited the site and met the archaeologist in charge of the project.  Agnieszka Ruta is an expert in documenting settlement remains, particularly in urban areas.  It was exciting to see how her vision has taken shape on the ground: from the massive watchtower at the entrance to her sprawling fort, to the sharpened longs that form its palisades.  Huts inside replicate where amber-makers and blacksmiths would have worked and lived.  Tasks performed by blacksmiths were crucial to survival, according to Ruta; they made weapons for defense and the tools needed plant and grow crops.

Archaeologists have found more than 1000 graves from Roman times in Pruszcz.  Ruins of wooden houses from the period have been found near the site of Faktoria, but fortifications have not yet been identified.  The City of Pruszcz and the European Union have funded the construction of Faktoria which will open this summer.  Ruta and her number two, Daria Zarowna, bring a level of zest and energy to the project that should make it a popular tourist attraction.  Special programs for school groups will be featured at the site.

The best amber in the world is found in Poland.  Winter storms often stir it up and leave it below the surf or lying on the beach.  Amber “fishermen” still work the beach much as they have for centuries.  A large amber mine operates in Kalliningrad, a part of Russia that adjoins Poland’s northeast frontier.

Amber began to form forty million years ago when resin secreted from trees.  Droplets slid down the trunks, encasing insects, buds and other natural object inside.  These fossilized inclusions became mineralized and are often called Baltic gold.  Although amber is found in Canada, Mexico and the Carribean, it is only found in its purest form (succinite) in Poland.

The demand for amber predates recorded history.  It has been found in Egyptian tombs and is mentioned by Homer in the Odyssey.  In the first century BC, the famous Roman historian, Pliny the Elder, wrote that people with throat diseases should wear amber collars.  At that time in Rome, a fine piece of amber had the same value as a young healthy slave.

The Rome-Pruszcz axis was not the only amber route.  Many traders traveled down the Vistula to a point near modern-day Sandomierz where they headed east with amber for Greek colonies on the Black Sea.  Another amber route went down the Elbe River in what is now Germany.  Ruta believes traders also sailed the Atlantic Ocean and the North Sea to the Pruszcz area.  She points out that the Nydam, a type of warrior ship, was common in northern waters; that those who sailed it interacted with far-away cultures.

The presence of Roman traders in Pruszcz has been documented by Ruta and other archaeologists by objects found in graves: ornamental wine cups, glass, spoons, bracelets, clasps and toys for children.  She says Roman silver coins found in Pruszcz had great local appeal because they were so unusual.  For centuries, amber was used on the Baltic Coast as money.

“While the Roman traders were afraid of the barbarians, at the same time they knew a lot about what was going on here,” Ruta says.  She points out that traders were forbidden to deal in weapons.  At one time iron was banned and no iron is found in graves from certain centuries.  At other times, the worship of weapons did occur, she notes.  “Weapons were regarded as a gift from god.”

I was glad to see the Faktoria as construction was being finalized.  Ruta has an ambitious goal: to recreate what life was like in the era when Christ lived and when Rome dominated the known world and even extended certain influences to the far-away Baltic coast.  I think the site will prove to be a popular tourist attraction.  While the Silk Road is better known, Amber Trail extends much further back in history; it too stimulated a great many cross-cultural links.  And its secrets, thanks to archaeologists like Ruta, are still unfolding.