缅甸琥珀简史( S/ e4 E/ a+ C+ \2 P. F
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( B+ f6 c! M2 f* T! i) ~' IBurmite or Burmese amber has been known since the distance past. This amber is from the Hukawng Valley in Kachin
6 I+ y8 |0 h7 `7 K3 e* }$ w; yState the northenmost state in the union of Myanmar formally known as Burma . According to ancient Chinese sources % `: m) I/ q2 k0 s
amber from the Hukawng Valley was mined as early as the first century AD and shipped to Yannan Province in China . + \+ I+ M3 H% U/ G" K5 m
From there, burmite may have found its way along the Silk Road as far west as the Roman Empire , where amber was 2 p2 V: h( d v5 X) P7 E
highly prized. It is said that that a good piece of amber was worth the price of a slave. The oldest written record referring
$ t) N2 m# ?: u* t. [3 `" B9 ^to Burmese amber was in the Annals of the Han Dynasty (205-265 AD). Thus, burmite has been known for about two ' l6 h0 q6 {9 X6 V
thousand years. Much of the exquisitely carved Chinese amber has its origin in the Hukwang Valley . Amber was also 2 _) c" V0 q2 a( }2 }
used and is still used in Chinese medicine.
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8 Q$ R' b# P; T S C; x( `$ PThe first mention of burmite in the western world by a European was by a Portuguese Jesuit Missionary Father Alvarez % a& y: s* V: L7 {* S0 n& ~
Semedo in 1655. He noted that red amber from Yunnan Province in China . In 1738, there is another brief reference to ' G; x3 t. `9 Y
red amber from Yunnan Province by Du Halde. 8 r- j$ ?2 m3 _" Q9 S
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In the 19th Century, there were a series of reports about the location and mining of Burmese amber By Brester (1835) 2 s# d" ]- h9 L1 n# ]- |1 Q9 ]
and Pemberton (1837). Captain S. F. Hannan was the first westerner to visit the amber mines in the Hukong (Hukawng) ( ]: q0 H/ l- W% w$ |2 s
Valley. He described the primitive mining method utilized by the miners to recover amber consisting of digging shallow 3 b2 V; r$ k( _3 ~' X
pits with sharpened bamboo and wooden shovels. Description of the amber mines was given by Griffith in 1848 from the * O% N) U* G9 f
“Hookhoom” Valley. Some pits, he observed were up to forth feet deep. % b1 f$ p" P5 e" t
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In 1885, the British invaded and conquered Upper Burma deposing and sent into exile the Burmese Royal Family to 8 a) p* \* a6 ?5 X6 c- ^- k% V; H
India . Burma became an annex of India . With the arrival of the British the main trading route in amber went south to ( V2 f5 v y3 v9 U7 G2 X5 R8 q+ F
Mandalay rather than to China . The Geological Survey of India sent Dr. Fritz Noetling to evaluate the resources of ; b$ y& O1 w& u
northern Burma in 1892. Amber recovered from the Hukwang Valley was examined by Otto Helm who gave the name
+ K# i8 L/ B, ^# ^' E8 a: Pburmite to the amber from that area. Noetling also noted the presence of insects in amber thought to be from the area in 2 b/ `8 Y* o/ y1 V2 R0 Q# o0 j
1893. * | p2 w( U: Q( X, u* J+ W
+ T' `8 v2 O/ J+ h' gIn the first half of the twentieth century, scientific study and production continues until 1939. With the advent of the
1 F! q0 u' Y' v( b) DSecond World War, both the production and study languished until the 1990’s. This was due not only to the war but also
! z) h! I/ i. I% @; B! e3 Jinternal turmoil within Burma following its independence from Britain in 1947. $ b) B. {( U1 D& V
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Cockerell (1917) published the first scientific paper on insect inclusions in burmite. He considered burmite to be possibly
- e9 q: F D5 _# \ Y- nUpper Cretaceous in age. The Indian Geological Survey published yearly production figures from the Myitkyina District - m" u$ b' r$ d" M, z5 M1 K
from 1898 until 1940. During this period a total of approximately 82,656 kilograms of amber were produced from the 5 v5 f" h) s7 y' v' s5 V
Hukawng Valley . Scientific papers during this period include work by Stuart (1922), Cocherell (1922), Williamson ! T/ D6 S7 e, v, h/ M
(1932), and Chibber (1934). These authors concluded that the age of burmite was Eocene or about the same age as
# S! W. J* {. N$ ?3 p; [& o5 DBaltic amber. This interpretation was based on a single observation of limestone debris dug from one of the amber pits.
- U8 U( w' G, v. _8 s: \Chibber (1934) contains the most detailed report of the amber mines in the Hukawng Valley during this period. + W C) |6 r+ b2 r
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During the Second World War there was much fighting in the Hukwang Valley between the advancing allies and the 9 y% W! A4 t. T/ u1 c( l
Japanese Army culminating in the fierce battle for Myitkyina the capital of Kachin State in 1944. The war also saw the
% x& |0 a: F/ \construction of the Ledo Road through the Hukwang Valley from Ledo in India to Mytiknina to Lashio where it connected
" z- k7 Q' J' g7 f# lup with the Burma Road to China . This road provided a back door to supply China with desperately needed war
9 G9 |) `7 t+ o( W! J5 bmaterial. 5 T4 f `. J2 b1 p& I/ u
8 b" R8 J3 Q2 g- V7 ]Since independence, Burma has been racked by internal insurgencies including fighting between the Kachin
$ N, ^, G B8 G' U$ ?9 u6 L( b! pIndependence Army (KIA) and the government. It was not until the 1990’s that a peace treaty was signed and limited
% ]+ w' G$ H4 Z* V, U$ c7 d. kaccess to the amber mine was possible. In 1989, the county was renamed Myanmar , which was the original Burmese
) J3 }5 J: ]6 I& I% l) Z; Bname of the country. : C% x9 g4 i+ V$ C
0 ?0 c& ]6 @1 H7 E0 ISince the beginning of the Second World War until recently there was been a sixty year hiatus in production. Dr. David
+ m, j; `# @' _; ?+ C, BGrimaldi comments in his book on amber published in 1996, “Today, burmite has almost legendary appeal, in part 2 Q, s* ^# v' n0 f/ E9 `
because the deposits are no longer mined and the supply is generally not available.” j4 L* ^! r( h" C4 `) G/ ^
, U6 U- J6 C- pLeeward Capital Corp., a Canadian Mining company began exploration in 1996 in northern Kachin State for gold and
( j& }. ^7 l3 `, {platinum. With the collapse of the junior mining market due to the Bre-X Scandal in Indonesia and the drop in the gold : L6 R" p1 J' `( n! S
price, this exploration ceased due to the lack of funding. In 1999, Leeward began to evaluate the possibility of reopening 5 _5 H' N7 P1 D0 q4 r/ T
the amber mines in the Hukwang Valley . Limited production was achieved in 2000, and is currently about 500 kg per - ~7 K; r$ T* `' \5 f4 A2 t2 T" I
year. The initial 100 kg gathered in the first two years was sent to Dr. Grimaldi at the American Museum of Natural
0 @2 j8 {- f1 t JHistory in New York for scientific study. In 2000, Zherikjin and Ross of the Natural History Museum , London published a ; S0 j& |2 R7 e( T
scientific paper on burmite in which they determined a Cretaceous age for burmite. Grimaldi et al (2002) published a
) B; r3 N2 V( [+ Fscientific paper confirming the age of burmite as Cretaceous. Also in 2002, Cruichshank and U Ko Ko published a 9 ?# s$ y- ^; e) T* {
description of the amber mines in the Hukwang Valley giving the amber a an Albian or uppermost Lower Cretaceous D, ~' @$ P+ u4 |/ m/ O
age. This dates burmite as at between 100,000,000 and 110,000,000 years old. Burmite is thus the oldest locality from
v/ h" Z7 y) F! L! Y) c6 B) S& g8 j2 twhich commercial deposits of amber can be mined. Leeward remains the sole exporter of this rare and precious amber. + p+ V5 ^5 K; I$ v
0 v4 q' b5 \% a* X0 ~' GSince scientific study of burmite began, there have been numerous scientific papers on the unique biota found in
& g b5 S% T- a3 g5 r- bburmite. This book illustrates the diversity of animal and plant life preserved in this ancient amber. |
狗仔卡
发表于 2011-1-14 04:20:54
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