Amber hunters chasing dinosaurs in Myanmars conflict-ridden north SE Asia News & Top Stories7/1/2018 MYITKYINA, MYANMAR (AFP) – “Amber hunters” on a quest for a Jurassic Park-style discovery of dinosaur stays sift via mounds of the valuable resin in Myanmar – a profitable commerce that captivates palaeontologists but additionally fuels a decades-long battle in the far north. The morning amber market on the outskirts of Myitkyina, the capital of Kachin state, throngs with merchants utilizing torches and magnifying glasses to scrutinise items of the honey-coloured fossilised tree sap. Some promote rough-edged uncut chunks. Others tout completed merchandise: pendants, necklaces and bracelets comprised of rigorously polished items. The buying and selling takes place just some dozen kilometres from the preventing between Myanmar’s military and ethnic Kachin rebels battling for autonomy, land, id – and pure sources that assist finance each side. The jade and ruby industries dwarf the largely artisanal amber commerce, however the resin can nonetheless fetch massive sums for whoever controls the mines. In Myitkyina’s market there’s cash to be made, mentioned dealer Myo Swe. His speciality is “inclusions”, sap that has trapped elements of vegetation, animals and even dinosaurs earlier than hardening into amber – historical past suspended contained in the resin. Find the fitting purchaser and he might pocket as much as US$100,000 (S$136,290) a chunk in a shady business that sees most amber smuggled throughout the border to China. “Even if it just contains an ant or a mosquito – every piece is interesting,” the 40-year-old informed AFP. “I value every one of them.” Amber, traditionally coveted as jewelry by the Aristocracy from China to historical Greece, loved a revival in standard tradition due to the 1990s hit film “Jurassic Park”, set in a theme park the place dinosaurs have been cloned by extracting DNA from mosquitos preserved in the resin. However, most amber heralds not from the Jurassic however from the later Cretaceous Period, as much as 100 million years in the past. The greatest preserved “inclusions” provide as we speak’s scientists and collectors a three-dimensional fossil, with some creatures even frozen mid-movement. There are amber deposits discovered all around the world however, for palaeontology, the mines of Kachin are irreplaceable, explains 36-year-old Xing Lida from the China University of Geosciences in Beijing. “The amber mining area in Kachin is the only Cretaceous period amber mining site in the world that is still engaged in commercial mining,” he mentioned. “There’s no better place than Myanmar.” Dr Xing shot to fame amongst fellow palaeontologists in 2015 when he introduced again a part of a feathered dinosaur tail to China from Myanmar that dated again some 99 million years. The pleasure of his discovery, although, was tinged with disappointment when he returned to attempt to discover the supply. “They said they did not know. They had probably already sold or smashed it. This dinosaur might have even been a complete one with a head,” he informed AFP in Beijing. Amateur amber hunters apart, the principle problem for merchants and collectors is working in a battle zone. An upsurge in preventing between the military and the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) over latest years has left greater than 100,000 folks displaced in the area. Leaflets dropped by military helicopters in June final yr even warned folks dwelling across the mines to depart the realm or be thought of to be cooperating with the rebels, in line with Human Rights Watch. Now solely the hardiest of amber hunters try to go there. “We almost could not reach the mining area because it was very dangerous,” Dr Xing mentioned of his 2015 journey. “We sneaked in when the situation eased quite a lot, but no scientist was able to go inside after that.” He added: “This is a severe problem because, for palaeontology, you obtain a lot of useful information from the geological conditions and strata – but we were not able to do this.” Amber, jade, timber and gold are additionally main drivers of the battle in northern Myanmar, mentioned Ms Hanna Hindstrom from monitoring group Global Witness. Without sourcing responsibly, any firm buying and selling Myanmar amber “could be causing or contributing to a range of harms including conflict and human rights abuses”, she added. Mr Akbar Khan, a 52-year-old self-described “extreme fossil in amber hunter” who runs a streetside stall in downtown Bangkok, shrugged off the dangers and moral questions. He makes frequent visits to Kachin and explains the adrenaline rush he will get from discovering dinosaur elements is like nothing else. “You feel like you’re walking in clouds, in heaven,” he mentioned. “If people have a big diamond, so what? The world is full of big diamonds…but the world is not full of dinosaurs in amber.” //
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