Stratum.black

Glossary · Preservation

Amber versus copal

Amber is fossil tree resin that has fully polymerised over millions of years; copal is younger, incompletely polymerised resin (hundreds to a few million years) that is softer, tacky in solvents and dull under UV.

Amber is fossil tree resin that has fully polymerised over millions of years; copal is younger, incompletely polymerised resin (hundreds to a few million years) that is softer, tacky in solvents and dull under UV. Both carry inclusions; only amber is a fossil in the usual sense.

Sources

Cite this article

Stratum Study. "Amber versus copal" (Glossary). Stratum Study pack 2026.09, as of 2026-09-16. https://stratum.black/study/glossary/amber-vs-copal. Accessed 2026-09-20.

BibTeX · CSL-JSON

@misc{stratum-amber-vs-copal,
  title        = {Amber versus copal},
  author       = {{Stratum Study}},
  howpublished = {\url{https://stratum.black/study/glossary/amber-vs-copal}},
  year         = {2026},
  note         = {Glossary article, Stratum Study pack 2026.09, as of 2026-09-16; sources: stratum. Accessed 2026-09-20.}
}

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Sources for this article: Stratum editorial (Stratum editorial). As of 2026-09-16; Study pack 2026.09. Written by Stratum in our own words; the works cited are where the science lives, and none of their text is reproduced here.

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