Fossils in Burmese amber offer an exquisite view of dinosaur times—and an ethical minefield

Some vendors hawk jade or snacks, but most everyone is here for the amber: raw amber coated in gray volcanic ash; polished amber carved into smiling Buddhas; egg-size dollops of amber the color of honey, molasses, or garnet As much as Burmese amber is a scientist's dream, it's also an ethical minefield Demand rose for new amber sources-and that trickle of amber fossils from Myanmar turned into a flood.

Now, in a dimly lit amber jewelry shop, a camera-shy 20-something broker from Myitkyina delivers today's prize: two lizards in amber One specimen marketed as Burmese amber and then subjected to chemical tests contained what would have been the first turtle in amber As Burmese amber fossils slip through the gemstone loophole, "It's like Myanmar's cultural heritage, paleontological heritage, is just being wholesale ripped out of the ground and distributed around the world," Engel says.

In addition to education, its English website also offers amber lots for sale, custom jewelry and fossil procurement, and escorted buying tours to amber markets, suggesting the museum is about commerce as well as preservation. . Source