Copal inclusions

Copal is sometimes sold as amber and can be difficult to distinguish, especially for people not used to handling the materials. It is also used as filler or glue in the manufacture of faked amber inclusions, as it has the same colour and specific gravity as amber, and is therefore less easily detected than other materials. 

Copal is generally paler than amber, and is often the pale yellow colour of dry sherry (Fig. 1.34). Having been produced in the same way as amber it, too, can contain lots of flora and fauna inclusions. Copal is less stable than amber and the surface deteriorates relatively quickly, displaying the typical crazing which produces a whitish powder, sometimes referred to as dandruff (Fig. 1.35). The surface of amber can also craze with time, but the pattern is darker and does not produce white powder. 

Kauri gum is of a darker colour than most copals (Fig. 1.34), and, like the Japanese copal, some of it is turning into amber. It is mosdy transparent and it contains few inclusions. Insect inclusions are extremely rare. It has been successfully worked into a variety of decorative objects and jewellery. 

This copal, like the local amber, is from the genus Hymenaea. It is the typical pale yellow colour of most copals, and is extremely rich in plant and animal inclusions which are beautifully preserved and very distinct in the clear, pale material. It is usually sold cut and polished to show off these inclusions (Figs 1.34 and 1.3). 

There is a lot of copal on the market from Madagascar. Its age is not known but it is rich in inclusions, especially flat-footed beetles. 

---