90 Million Year Old Stones in Bitlis
Enver Yücel, a businessman from Bitlis, brought amber stones he obtained while conducting mining activities in Ukraine to Turkey. The age of these stones varies between 30 and 90 million years, which makes them extremely old and valuable. These stones provide important scientific data as part of natural processes that have occurred throughout history.
After Yücel brought the stones to Bitlis, he learned about Dr. Cihan Önen’s interest in stones. Yücel contacted Önen and gave him fossilized stones that were between 30 and 90 million years old. Dr. Cihan Önen stated that by examining the stones with ultraviolet light and a digital microscope, the animal and plant fossils inside were clearly revealed.
Thanking Yücel for gifting him the stones, Dr. Cihan Önen said: “I have been making nature and space observations for many years. I produce documentary projects by recording my observations. In addition, I have a great interest in stones. I have created a stone collection from many parts of the world. Our aim is to bring these stones together with young people and to raise their awareness of nature. In the future, we want to bring these stones together with more young people through events such as exhibitions. I am grateful to Enver Bey for his contribution to us. He gifted us the most valuable stones in his collection.
Giving information to journalists about the stones, Enver Yücel stated that a fossil was determined to be 99 million years old in the examinations carried out in China. Yucel, “Thanks to my 17 years of boxing, I have had various experiences in the countries I have visited. I met this special stone called drop amber in Ukraine. When we had friends from Turkey who requested it, I turned to its trade. We rented the mine site for 4-5 years and started operating it. However, we had to return to Turkey when the war broke out. Among the valuable pieces we brought with us were the fossils of living animals and plants found in the stones. In line with our teacher Cihan’s interest in these stones and his intention to convey this to the youth, we decided to give these stones to him as a gift.
Yücel emphasized that the age of the stones is between 30 and 90 million years, but a fossil that is 99 million years old has been identified in recent studies, “These stones are not ordinary resin. The fact that the tree species that produces this stone is extinct increases the special feature of the stones.”he said.
