Abstract: Amber and copal belong to the natural resin,which are similar and transitional in the physical and chemical properties.But there are some differences between amber and copal according to the maturity.On the basis of the domestic and foreign literatures,the formation and evolution process of amber and copal are analysed and the differences and similarities are compared in the essential properties,FTIR,Raman,¹³C NMR spectroscopy with the thermal analysis.Due to the low maturity of copal with high concentrations of labdanoid diterpenoids monomers,the spectral characteristics of copal are slightly different from that of amber.Finally,the maturity could be the judgement for differentiating the amber and copal,combining with the physical and chemical properties and spectral characteristics,which could acquire the scientific conclusion.