Jewelry has long been associated with treasures, such as gold, gemstones, and precious metals, but its origins were quite different. Jewelry was made of non-precious materials in prehistoric times, long before humans began working with metals. Burials in Europe dating back to 30,000 B.C.E. show that people at the time made jewelry out of locally available materials like shells and pebbles, as well as animal teeth and claws in hunting societies. As evidenced by existing examples, geometric patterns were engraved on the pieces, and later, zoomorphic images were added. Since jewelry was a form of decoration in its earliest form, Researchers have found evidence that organic materials, which are now decomposed, were used in the past by some primitive cultures. People didn’t start wearing jewelry made of rare and expensive materials until much later in human history.

Humans have worn jewelry since the dawn of time. Regardless of their gender identity and age, both men and women need self-adornment, irrespective of their culture’s material and style preferences. Throughout history, people have worn jewelry as a form of personal adornment, regardless of where they lived or how long ago it was.

Jewelry is a form of decoration and a means of communication in both prehistoric and contemporary societies. Jewelry is a way to show one’s status in the community, as it symbolizes one’s position in the social hierarchy. An accessory that appears to be merely decorative can represent a person’s or a society’s loyalty. Jewelry can be an effective way for both sexes to make a good first impression on each other. However, its most potent attributes are jewelry’s amuletic and talismanic powers of warding off evil or bringing good luck.

Since the beginnings of jewelry, these properties have been present. Good luck charms are still prevalent in today’s societies. Aside from being used as a form of protection, jewelry was also given to the deceased as a token of gratitude.

As a symbol of love, jewelry was also worn to signify milestones in life, such as reaching a critical age, joining a religious order through baptism or confirmation, or attaining a position of aristocracy, marital status, or motherhood. While jewelry is a sign of wealth and style, it also reflects and communicates the wearer’s personality and temperament.

Except for finger rings, jewelry has been influenced by the day’s fashions throughout its history, except for a few notable exceptions. Materials and symbolism helped determine the type of jewelry worn, while different necklines and sleeve lengths influenced the jewelry worn. There is no limit to the types and styles of wearable jewelry made by a goldsmith.

Many types of jewels known to have existed, if not passed on as a family heirloom or given for the person’s afterlife, have not survived. Precious metals and gemstones have always been destined to be broken down and repurposed, either as financial resources or in a new fashion, regardless of the time or culture in which they were made.

These jewels have survived because it was too difficult and expensive to remove enamel from the gold chains, whereas the enameled ones were the first to be melted down because of their weight. As a result, images of jewelry and how it was worn from antiquity are scarce. In addition to Fayum’s mummy portraits from the Roman era, the ancient Egyptian mummies’ masks and wall paintings, old Greek gods, Etruscan tomb sculpture, Roman tombstones, and Etruscan vase painting all provide valuable evidence.

Religious paintings and tomb effigies depicting the Virgin Mary and saints described jewelry in the Middle Ages. Jewelry can now be studied in depth thanks to developments in portrait painting and depiction of individuals, which were supplemented in the mid-nineteenth century by photography, allowing us to recreate many types that are now extinct.

People in the prehistoric period used resources available to them in their immediate surroundings. Venus of Willendorf, a 20,000year-old statue, depicts a fertility goddess wearing a bracelet, and snail and shell necklaces have been found in burials, indicating fertility and motherhood. To show their power over the animal kingdom, men wore animal teeth and claws to symbolize their ability to hunt, feed, and protect their families. The presence of these objects may have indicated a person’s social status. When jewelry first came into existence, its primary purpose was to protect its wearers from the harsh realities of life.

Some of these more traditional attitudes toward personal adornment can still be discerned in some conventional peoples who have been able to resist the influence of Western religion and culture up until recently and even in the early 2000s. Some of these societies viewed tattoos and other forms of personal adornment as a way to communicate social and gender roles; they were also used to ward off disease and other evils, as well as to work magic against their enemies; they were used as a way to show their reverence for the gods. For example, blue glass beads are worn in the Middle East and parts of Africa to ward off the “evil eye,” and this practice is widespread if somewhat diminished.