Inclusions

Insects and plant fragments enclosed in amber are remains of an ancient forest. Sticky resin coated bark, leaves and small animals, and later flows covered whatever had become caught on its surface. This is how organic inclusions formed. A single piece can contain organisms of one or several species.

The exhibition presents a world from more than 42 million years ago through specimens, enlarged displays and sound. Ants and flies are among the subjects shown. Magnification makes details of these small organisms easier to see. Preserved body parts help researchers identify ancient animals. Plant fragments, in turn, provide information about the vegetation of the amber forest.

The exhibition includes an epigram by Martial about an ant enclosed in amber. A literary image of a small creature preserved in resin meets palaeontological evidence. Yet not every inclusion contains an organism: air and water bubbles are inorganic inclusions. Sand and dust also occur inside the pieces. An apparently empty specimen may therefore hold a trace of the environment in which resin flowed, rather than an insect's outline. This room also contains a quotation from Stefan Żeromski's “Wiatr od morza”.