The Beginnings of Jewelry

Nowadays, many people simply think of jewelry as personal decoration. People all over the world use it to express their individual personalities. Some use it as decoration to increase the perception of beauty. Other people may use it as a display of wealth; showing what they can afford. But, throughout history; jewelry was used for many other purposes. It was used for utilitarian purposes from time to time. It was also used to show rank and for spiritual and superstitious purposes.

Jewelry comes in a few different forms. These forms include necklaces and neckware; bracelets and armware; earrings and earware; pins and body jewelry. Body jewelry was more popular back in earlier times. It disappeared from popularity for awhile. It then experienced a resurgence in popularity as it became part of the style of current pop culture. Modern jewelry and jewelry made in past times has been engraved and marked to show affection and ownership. Some engraving techniques included embossing, filligree, and etching. Jewelry is made out of metal, glass, beads, fabrics. A lot of popular jewelry items are made gems and with semi-precious stones such as turquoise, ruby, and jade.

Jewelry came after clothing. Clothing was made to cover the body and provide warmth. After these needs were met; many people wanted to decorate themselves a bit more. They wanted something to express to others their tribe and clan. They wanted to show their stature and they wanted something that was eyecatching to others. They often wanted to catch the eyes of the opposite sex and show that they would make a good mate.

Early jewelry was made from many different materials. These materials included fruit, leaves, berries, nutshells, nuts, found stones, animal and human teeth, animal and human hair, shells, ivory, feathers and accessible metals. Much early jewelry was temporary and did not last long. Many metals were not accessible to primitive people. Some had access to bronze and silver; but many did not. Surprisingly, the only metal accessible to most primitive people was gold.

The oldest examples of jewelry found date back 75,000 years. These items were pea-sized beads made of shell. They were found in a cavve in South Africa in 2004. The beads were thought to probably have been strung into a necklace or bracelet. There were other beads found that dated back around 45,000 years. Jewelry became exquisitely beautiful in the lands of East Asia and Egypt. These lands were very rich in the natural resources that supplied jewelers with pearls, precious stones and sem-precious stones. Time was dedicated to learning and education; so jewelers were especially adept at their craft. Much jewelry work was contracted by kings and pharoahs so the work had to be exquisite and beautiful. The pieces were very colorful with emblems that had spiritual meaning to the cultures that the jeweler was a part of. Some of the emblems that were found on many jewelry items were lotus flowers and scarabs.

The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition 201-07.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewelry