Unknown Inclusion in Cretaceous Amber

[Ramon]

Hello, a couple of weeks ago I bought a piece of amber. All the seller told me was that he had no idea what it could be. It has some cracks, I presume that’s why he sold it to me for a really low price. The piece is less than an inch in length. It is from the early cenomanian (98-99 million years old). It comes from the Hukawng Valley in northern Myanmar.

 

 

 

 

[Ramon]

More pictures..

 

 

Specimen under 100x magnification

[LordTrilobite]

Looks like something that has filled in the cracks.

[caldigger]

Looks like natural crazing.

[Ramon]

8 hours ago, LordTrilobite said:

Looks like something that has filled in the cracks.

 

That is possible, but I still think there’s a chance this is organic in origin. 

[daves64]

Organic is a possibility. See the dark layer along the bottom side & on the one end? Most likely soil or decayed bark that got absorbed into the resin when it dripped from the tree. The oils in the resin itself could cause some of it to seep into the fractures after it had hardened. It could also explain the darker areas around the cracks/tendrils in the amber itself, similar to mineral staining on or in a rock. See the "fuzzy" area showing on the dark patch in the pic with the ruler? Soil deposits in amber look like that when polished. Those are also fractures, but laden with soil or something.

[Mark Kmiecik]

Might it be moss? Moss is common at the base of trees where sap is likely to fall.