Often described as gemstones, amber and jet are in fact forms of fossilized vegetable matter. The most common variety of amber can be found in the Baltic region, formed under the seabed from the resin of ancient pine forests. The largest deposits occur about the Samland Peninsula and in the Gulf of Danzig. Smaller amounts sometimes wash up on the Dutch coast and along the shores of eastern England (Beck 1970, 8) (Figure 7.1). These latter finds may well have sufficed for the English market in amber before the ninth century; even as late as the early twentieth century, the amber found on the east coast of England was deemed sufficient ‘to supply the demands of the tourist’ (Lethbridge 1931, 45). The blackest type of jet is also formed under the sea, not from tree resin, but from the remains of fossilized wood. A form of soft brown coal, known as lignite, can closely resemble jet and was sometimes used – particularly in Northern Ireland where deposits are found – for the manufacture of arm-rings (Figure 7.4). Historically, however, the best quality jet for ornaments has come from Whitby in northern England (Muller and Muller 2009) (Figure 7.1).
The Roman author Solinus was the first to praise English jet in the third century AD (Mommsen 1895, 102). At that time both jet and amber were used by professional artisans to create a range of products, primarily for feminine adornment with amber beads and with hairpins and ornamented bracelets of jet (Johns 1996, 15–16, 100, 120–21; Allason-Jones 1996). The use of these two gemstones prevailed into the early and mid Anglo-Saxon period (AD 400–900), occurring for the most part in the archaeological record as grave-goods. There is a marked difference between these objects and those that were used in the centuries of Roman occupation. Now the amber beads are large and crudely-worked. Jet artefacts, meanwhile, are rare and commonly comprise reworked Roman objects, such as the cuboid bead discovered at West Stow (West 1985, fig. 275.1). This had originally been the head of a hairpin, since sawn off and pierced to serve as a bead sometime in the fifth to seventh century. Beads predominate in the assemblages of both amber and jet at this time in the British Isles (see Figure 7.4). Following the Viking invasions of the eighth and ninth centuries, jet-working in the north of England appears to experience a renaissance. Gaming pieces and pendants display a high degree of craftsmanship. Large, polished objects of jet are also found from this period in graves in Norway (Resi 2005). These reveal the same level of skill as those from the British Isles. Simultaneously, new fashions in amber-working emerge. Figure 7.4 depicts this explosion of new forms. The phenomenon is not confined to England and Ireland either. These cultural innovations are reflected in the material culture of trading centres across Northwest Europe. The following section turns now to the evidence from York and Dublin to understand the people involved in this process.