Our Love of Jewellery

Just how long have men and women been decorating themselves with jewellery?  Has it been going on since Roman times?  Or did the gold-loving Aztecs start the whole thing off?  Well, you may find it surprising, but jewellery has probably been around as long as men and women have walked the Earth.  And there is a growing amount of evidence to back this up.
Archaeologists recently discovered a collection of beads made from nassarius shells. These are thought to be around 100,000 years old and are the oldest items of jewellery ever found.  It would seem that we have been wearing necklaces, bracelets and anklets for far longer than anyone had previously thought.
Of course, the first items of jewellery were all to do with religion and spiritual matters.  They were magical or holy symbols that were worn specifically for religious ceremonies and rituals.  The men and women of 100,000 years ago did not get ‘blinged-up’ ready to attend a dinner party or to go out clubbing on a Friday night!  The jewellery of those times had a far deeper meaning.
Through the centuries, jewellery began to take on a different purpose.  It still had religious connotations a lot of the time, but it slowly became more to do with decoration than anything else.  Jewellery was also a huge indication of a person’s wealth.  The upper classes would love to wear ludicrous amounts of it as a declaration of their ‘superiority’; and in some ways this still goes on today, doesn’t it?  Think about the kinds of necklaces, rings or bracelets that are worn by modern celebrities.
Over the centuries, jewellery has been created from just about every material imaginable.  Bone, wood, clay, shells, teeth and stone have all been turned into beautiful items to be worn.  But of course, most of us will automatically think of gold or silver when we hear the word ‘jewellery’!  These precious metals lend an even greater value to pieces and their natural gleam increases the beauty of any jewellery a hundredfold.
A large amount of the human body can be decorated with different items of jewellery!  We can choose from rings, earrings, necklaces, anklets, bracelets and toe rings.  Even our missing teeth can be replaced with gold ones!  And if that is not enough for you, then there are a myriad amount of different decorative piercings to consider.
It certainly doesn’t look as if our fascination with jewellery is going to be going anywhere soon.  Every week, thousands of us will go out and spend money on new pieces to wear.  Some items are only cheap whilst others are far more expensive.  However, the end result is always exactly the same; we are decorating a part of ourselves because it makes us feel good.  It may be to do with boosting our self esteem; it could be something that makes us feel beautiful or it might be to do with our religious beliefs.  Jewellery can mean so many different things to us.