- Title: USA: DEBUT EXHIBITION DISPLAYING AMBER
- Date: 4th June 1997
- Summary: WASHINGTON D.C., UNITED STATES (JUNE 4, 1997) (RTV) 1. LV THE MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY 0.07 2. SCU SIGN "AMBER WINDOW TO THE PAST" 0.14 3. SCU MAN LOOKING AT DISPLAY OF AMBER FROM AGE OF THE DINOSAURS 0.22 4. CU AMBER ON DISPLAY (2 SHOTS) 0.35 5. SLV RECREATION OF AMBER FOREST/ DISPLAY OF VEGETATION FROM FOREST 0.44 6. CU FOSSILISED MUSHROOM (OLDEST MUSHROOM 90 - 94 MILLION YEARS OLD) 0.51 7. MV DR. DAVID GRIMALDI, CURATOR OF THE EXHIBIT AND CHAIRMAN OF ENTOMOLOGY AND ASSOCIATE CURATOR AT THE AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY IN NEW YORK SAYING THIS IS ONE OF THE STARS OF THE SHOW, IT IS A GECKO PRESERVED IN AMBER FROM THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC FROM 20-25 MILLION YEARS AGO, IT IS COMPLETELY INTACT, IT IS BEAUTIFULLY PRESERVED (ENGLISH) 1.08 8. SCU/CU GECKO 1.19 9. SCU TREE FROG, THE LARGEST SPECIMEN KNOWN TO EXIST IN AMBER 1.25 10. SCU GRIMALDI SAYING IT IS REALLY UNLIKE ANY OTHER SUBSTANCE. IT IS REALLY THE ONLY SUBSTANCE WHERE YOU HAVE A REMARKABLE PRESERVATION OF EXTINCT FOSSILS PRESERVED, MUMMIFIED IN THE SUBSTANCE. THE SUBSTANCE IS ALSO A DECORATIVE OBJECT, A SEMIPRECIOUS OR PRECIOUS SUBSTANCE, NO OTHER SUBSTANCE IS LIKE IT. I THINK THE MARRIAGE OF ART AND SCIENCE, THE ASTHETICS OF THE EXHIBIT LEADS TO ITS APPEAL (ENGLISH) 1.58 11. SCU ETRUSCAN WINGED DEITY WITH YOUTH POSSIBLY EOS -5TH CENTURY 2.04 12. SCU ETRUSCAN WINGED FEMALE HEAD PERHAPS GODDESS OF DEMETER OR KORE - 5TH CENTURY 2.09 13. SLV/PAN DISPLAY OF OBJECTS FROM AMBER ROOM -18 CENTURY PAN TO REPLICA OF AMBER ROOM 2.18 14. SCU OF REPLICA WALL FROM AMBER ROOM 2.24 16. SCU CHINESE FEMALE FIGURE- GODDESS OF MERCY - 18TH CENTURY 2.28 17. SCU CHINESE SNUFF BOTTLES - 19TH CENTURY 2.32 18. SCU POLISH CRUCIFIX FROM 17TH CENTURY 2.37 19. SLV POLISH CRUCIFIX 2.46 Initials S3 P3 Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.
- Embargoed: 19th June 1997 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: WASHINGTON, D.C., UNITED STATES
- City:
- Country: USA
- Reuters ID: LVAU4EE4KHJUK46NHFUQ0R1QYQL
- Story Text: - INTRO: What organisers are calling the definative display of amber, both fossils and jewellery, is about to make its debut in Washington, D.C.
The exhibit of amber which goes on display at the national Museum of National History on Friday (June 6) includes 146 fossil specimens and 94 decorative objects.
The exhibits include artifacts from Etruscan tombs and mosaics from Catherine the Great's Summer Palace near St. Petersburg, Russia, including a recreation of part of the Amber Room.
Neither a mineral or stone, amber is a natural substance composed of ancient fossilised tree resin. The amber on disply at the museum is particuarly valued scientifically - as resin it oozed from trees millions of years ago.
As the resin oozed it captured a myriad of small organisms - some now extinct - preserving their structural details and DNA unlike any other kind of fossil. The mummified objects provide scientists with dramatic detail of intricate life forms and prehistoric ecosystems.
The exhibit contains the finest amber contained objects yet discovered. Some of the objects date back to dinosaur times.
Highlights of the exhibit include the oldest preserved mushroom, dating back 90 - 94 million years. On display are also small vertebrates including a gecko lizard preserved so well that its toe bones can be seen.
For at least 11,00 years the peoples of Northern Europe have collected the "gold of the north". Ancient Greeks, Italics, and Romans traded the jewel and 18th century Europeans used amber in decorative arts which peaked with the Amber Room, created in Germany and presented to the Russian Czar Peter the Great.
Other artistic items on display are sculptures, including intricatley designed snuff bottles from 19th century China.
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