The ancient stories that amber fossils reveal
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- from Shaastra :: vol 04 issue 02 :: Mar 2025
Ambers from Gujarat reveal ancient secrets of the Earth.
Hukam Singh's workplace is stashed with amber. Much of it is raw, in fist-sized chunks. Some pieces are like paperweights, polished to a smooth finish. Yet other bits have been pared to slivers, offsetting their translucency. When seen in clear light, these pieces often reveal remains of life from millions of years ago — a scrap of fungus, some ground dirt, the broken leg of an insect, or a part of its wing. Occasionally, an entire arthropod, flower, or leaf is preserved. All these provide a window into the Eocene, a time when the Earth was much warmer than it is today, and the continents were still drifting.
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