Scented Trails: Amber as Aromatic in Medieval China

Abstract

Amber has been known since antiquity in Europe, made into pendants, and used for perfume containers in large quantities since the first millennium bce . It is a naturally occurring fossilized tree (a certain kind of northern pine) resin, composed primarily of carbon-hydrogen-oxygen (C 10 H 16 O). It is rather soft (Mohs hardness 2.0–2.5), hence easy to carve, and possesses a resinous luster when polished. Its colours range from transparent to translucent deep orange-red to brown and sometimes a more opaque yellow. Solid amber has no smell, but when powdered it gives off an agreeable aroma. When warmed or burned it has a characteristic pinewood fragrance. It softens at about 150°C and, if heated above 200°C, it will break down to give an “oil of amber” and a black residue. In his Historia naturalis (XXXVII), Pliny the Elder considers its scent when heated to be the most reliable proof of real amber.