Bronze Age Elite Status Came From Being Blessed by the Sun

…Amber is a golden-colored gemstone made from fossilized tree resin, and its beauty has attracted the attention of rock collectors and jewelry makers since the Neolithic period (10,000 to 2,000 [BCE]).

It was apparently associated with Sun worship and spirituality in some societies, and Professor Czebreszuk believes the Mycenaeans must have valued amber primarily as a symbol of the Earth’s solar companion. He states:

"Already in the Neolithic in Central Europe, we have disc-shaped artifacts with radial decorations that clearly point to the Sun. Amber probably also comes to the south as a solar material. And the Sun is power, it is the most important celestial body, so it is also a heavenly body, it is also heaven. And all these symbols together gather into one beam, which made it such an important raw material."

Wearing an amber necklace or other type of jewelry would have signified that a person was blessed by the Sun, which would have acted as a justification for their aristocratic status in the class-conscious Mycenaean society.

In Bronze Age societies in general, the elites thought of themselves as a separate and distinct group that had more in common with elites in other societies than they did with average citizens in their own. Consequently, Professor Czebreszuk explains, they remained in contact with each other and traded with each other over long distances. Amber would have been exchanged across this trade network, ensuring that elites would have exclusive access to this coveted gemstone.

— Ancient Mycenaeans Wore Amber Jewelry to Symbolize Their Elite Status – Ancient Origins