Amber (or succinite) is fossil resin that changed due to oxidation, activity of micro-organisms and other processes. It exuded from pine-trees, which used to grow in the south of Scandinavian Peninsula and in the neighbouring regions 50 million years ago and which are now lying under the waters of the Baltic Sea. 50 million years ago the then sub-tropical climate grew warmer and coniferous trees started producing more resin. For that reason any damage caused excessive exuding of resin, which flew down the tree and on the ground, hardened on the bark or on the trunk, and, due to various physical and chemical processes, changed and gradually turned into amber. Of course, no variety of pine similar to the now-extinct amber-tree survives on the present-day earth.

The earliest record about amber dating back to 883 BC was discovered in Egypt carved on a stone obelisk. It reads: "Ashur-Nasir-Apal, the ruler of Assyria, sent his people to the land of amber where the seas wash amber ashore like copper…"

In the Baltic lands amber trade started in the New Stone Age. From Jutland and eastern Baltic countries including Lithuania where it was found, amber spread to Central and Eastern Europe reaching as far as Egypt. Beads of the Baltic amber were discovered in the pyramid of Tet and the tombs of pharaohs (3400-2400 BC). During his excavations at Troy from 1871 to 1890, the German archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann found amber beads among other artifacts. Scientists established that this amber article was brought from the Baltic coast 3000 years ago. The archaeologist discovered the Baltic amber on the Isle of Crete when he uncovered the Micenaean domed tombs built around 1600-800 BC.

In 1-3 centuries AD amber was intensively traded with the Roman Empire and its colonies over the so called Amber Route. Amber was highly valued by the Greeks and the Romans who called it the "Gold of the North". At the times of the Emperor Nero (54-68 AD) an amber statuette was worth more than a young healthy slave. In his work Historia naturalis, Pliny the Elder (Gaius Plinius Secundus) describes the times when a messenger sent by the Romans brought back so much amber that there was enough of it to decorate not only the amphitheatre but also the gladiators' clothes and arms. On the way to the Roman Empire amber was stored at a number of intermediate points. Three hiding-places were uncovered in the neighbourhood of Wroclaw where about 3 tons of amber were found.

By the end of the 3rd century trading routes to the east along the Dnepr, the Dnestr and the Prut rivers flourished, relations were established with Slavic settlements and Roman colonies on the coast of the Black Sea and later with the Byzantine Empire and Arab countries.