Amazing Artefacts: The Amber Bear Of Slupsk
This is the Amber Bear of Slupsk. It looks delightfully like a gummy bear, but it’s actually 3,000 years old!
Found in a peat bog near Slupsk, Poland, this little amber bear is thought to be roughly 3,000 years old. Some archaeologists think it might be even older as similar amber bears (and other little amber animals like birds and elk)
Many of them have faint grooves that appear to have been caused by the rubbing of string. What could this mean?
The Amber Bear of Slupsk. Faint grooves are visible around the torso. Photo credit: Muzeum Slupsk
If the grooves on these ancient animals were caused by the rubbing of string, then it suggests they were tied on and worn as a necklace, bracelet, or kept safely attached to clothing and carried around for years, with the grooves being gradually worn in over time. Were they worn as a lucky charm? Archaeologists seem to think so!
Either way, they’re adorable and whoever lost this little bear to the bog all those years ago must have been devastated. Thankfully, it’s now safe and sound at Szczecin Museum in Poland.