Kauri resin specimen

The kauri resin specimen from New Zealand weighs 42 kilograms. It joined the exhibition on 3 August 2022. This material, known as kauri gum, comes from Agathis australis, a tree growing on New Zealand's North Island. These trees still produce resin, so the material's name alone does not establish the age of an individual find.

The oldest kauri resins may be about a million years old, but most pieces found are only a few thousand years old. Baltic amber, by comparison, is dated to 38-42 million years ago. This compares types of resin; it does not date the museum specimen. The difference extends well beyond weight: similar-looking materials can come from distant periods and different parts of the world.

In the 19th and 20th centuries, kauri gum was an industrial raw material used in products including varnishes. Diggers recovered hardened pieces and sold them to merchants. Loads were taken to Auckland and exported overseas. Kauri resin ranges from golden to brown, and finds can be covered with bark or weathered material. The youngest resin remains sticky, while older finds are hardened. The term kauri gum therefore covers resin at different stages of change.