Amber from the Dominican Republic
Deciduous trees from the legume family are said to be responsible for the resin of Dominican amber. Its age is estimated at about 20-24 million years. Its colour variety, namely yellow, green, red or the rare blue, which is the result of volcanic activity, makes it popular (see photos).
The Dominican amber has become known only in the last 20-30 years. The mining is done by hand in the simplest way. The amber is cut out of the sandstones in the narrow galleries by young men in dangerous work with hammer and chisel. They work mostly sitting or lying and often have too little lighting. On our trip we visited such tunnels.
