Copy of an anthropomorphic figurine from Juodkrantė

The so-called Juodkrantė Treasures were discovered in the second half of the 19th century when the German company Stantien und Becker was mining amber from the bed of the Curonian Lagoon near Juodkrantė (Schwarzort) which lies on the Curonian Spit. In total, the collection consisted of 434 archaeological amber works that have been dated to 3000 BC. Richard Klebs wrote about these unique works in his book “Stone Age Amber Jewellery” (1882). The value of these works led to the collection becoming known as the Juodkrantė Treasures. A large part of the collection disappeared during World War II, and only a few individual works survived, along with the descriptions and illustrations published in R. Klebs’ book. Their fate was unknown for a long time, and it was widely believed that they had disappeared forever. However, later 18 items were found not far from Göttingen in Germany. In 1958 they were handed over to the Geology and Mineralogy Institute and Museum in Göttingen University.   This is the largest anthropomorphological figurine made of amber along the entire southern and eastern Baltic Sea region. Archaeological research suggests that the faces of the Juodkrantė Treasures amber figurines feature the same stylistics as wooden idols: there is a prominent eyebrow bow.