In Lebanon, the 'Amber Man' digs up golden time capsules from the age of the dinosaurs

Azar, who holds a joint position at the Nanjing Institute of Geology and Paleontology in China and the Lebanese University, stares at the dirt and rocks before him. It doesn’t look like much — but he knows what he’s after.

Before long, Azar stops. Among the dirt and stones at his feet, he spots a piece of amber not much bigger than a grain of rice. Then he spots another, and another — shiny golden fragments glinting in the sunlight.

“This is one of the 450 outcrops of amber that I discovered in this country,” says Azar, who’s originally from Lebanon.