Author: J. M. de Navarro Publisher: London: Edward Stanford, Royal Geographical Society, 1925. Item is in Original Condition, with Blue Wrappers - As Issued, Complete with All the Ads!!! Notes & Condition: Well illustrated with in-text sketch maps, as well as a large fold out colour map which identifies amber from the bronze age and the early iron age uncovered in central Europe, the author describes the tremendous influence of amber on communications from the North Sea to the Baltic. The author presents a neatly outlined study of the Central routes, the Western routes, and the those in the East, drawing on the expertise of men such as Gottlieb Schumacher, and concluding with a proposed timeline of excavation and trade. The ancient trade route now known as "The Amber Road", is thoroughly examined from an archaeological standpoint, and makes links between civilizations, ultimately showing that pre-historic trade shaped the histories of the continent by the contact it induced among them. For example, the graves and antiquities of the Aunjetitz [Unetice] people settled along the Elbe river, contained antiquities of amber, most likely sourced in Jutland [the Cimbrian Peninsula] to the north. 8vo. 28 pages, plus a fold out color map for illustration. Map measures approximately 63,5 x 39 cm. Original condition with blue wrappers, titles to front, and containing all the ads. This is a complete issue, seldom found in such good and original condition. Excerpt from the introduction: "Apart from a few stray references we have no written records concerning Central Europe and its inhabitants before the time of Caesar and Tacitus... this report shows that the study of prehistoric amber finds, and their distribution, casts no little light on the human geography of that region during the second and the last millenium of the pre-Christian era. ...In prehistoric archaeology, concerned as it primarily is with the more material aspects of civilization, the study of trade relations is of peculiar importance..." End Excerpt. Amber is fossilized tree resin (not sap), which has been appreciated for its color and natural beauty since Neolithic times, and valued from antiquity to the present as a precious gemstone. The Amber Road was an ancient trade route for the transfer of amber from coastal areas of the North Sea and the Baltic Sea to the Mediterranean Sea. Prehistoric trade routes between Northern and Southern Europe were defined by the amber trade. As an important raw material, sometimes dubbed "the gold of the north", amber was transported from the North Sea and Baltic Sea coasts overland by way of the Vistula and Dnieper rivers to Italy, Greece, the Black Sea, Syria and Egypt thousands of years ago, and long after.
