Ancient Jewelry and the Use of Local Material
It stands to reason that when it comes to fashion, there’s a practical element. Humans wear clothing and jewelry not simply to look good but to stay warm and protected. In prehistoric times, jewelry was used as a form of protection and adornment. Later, jewelry came to reflect status.
Jewelry were commonly created from the materials humans had at their disposal. If a tribe of people lived by the ocean, for example, one could surmise that shells, fishbones and colored pebbles would be used to create jewelry.
Inland ornament material would include matter used from animals that had been killed for food, like antlers, tusks and animal bones.
Regardless of the material, ancient jewelry provides us a keen insight into the era from which they came, not only the location but the type of humans imprinting their creativity, their expression and their stories.
