The Historical Origin of Jewelry

It is difficult to accurately verify when humans wore jewelry. But it is not difficult to infer that since humans began to realize the importance of decorating and beautifying themselves, they have also formed an inseparable bond with it. The most primitive jewelry of humans can probably be traced back to the distant Stone Age.
From the collection of data from the Paleolithic era discovered around the world and from modern primitive tribes, it can be found that early primitive forms of body ornaments mainly included necklaces, waist ornaments, arm ornaments, wrist ornaments, headwear, etc. Among these forms, necklaces and waist ornaments were the main ones. They are largely decorated around the human reproductive area, and the reason for this is not only that these parts have the ability to support the wearing of objects, but also that a large amount of research shows that this choice has another purpose.
The colors and patterns on animals are also a form of body decoration. Natural body decoration, male bird headwear, Colliers, chest ornaments, tail ornaments, etc. often show regular changes and displays during the breeding season, and these decorations are effective in attracting the opposite sex. A large amount of biological materials have confirmed that animal bright decorations have great advantages in the process of sexual selection. Tattoos on the human body are a similar form of body decoration, and body decoration is a qualitative change that extends the natural decoration of animals.
The earliest human ornaments discovered in the late Paleolithic period around the world, whether they are animal teeth, feathers, or stone beads, all have a very significant characteristic: smooth, regular, small, and beautiful. And this characteristic further illustrates the important psychological motivations behind body decoration, such as makeup, self-expression, and attracting the opposite sex. Therefore, it is very scientific to derive the aesthetic sense of body decoration from psychological and physiological instincts. The “human body beautification” function derived from this origin is the most primitive and fundamental function of jewelry.
There are two other important factors in the origin and development of jewelry, one is the religious functional factor, and the other is the social functional factor, both of which are based on physiological instincts and have developed and evolved on this basis. Religion originated from the witchcraft of prehistoric humans, and the religious motivation for the development of body decoration was gradually formed and deeply rooted in people’s thoughts under the guidance of this witchcraft ideology and the witchcraft activities of prehistoric humans. In the process of labor practice, primitive humans gradually developed a vague and mysterious view of some materials closely related to their lives in nature, such as plant fruits, seeds, animal feathers, teeth, bones, and stone (jade) materials. They even regarded them as objects of worship in their witchcraft activities, endowing them with mysterious power.
If they hang the fruits or seeds of plants on the mother’s body to pray for reproduction; Wearing the fur, teeth, and bones of hunting animals on their bodies in order to achieve success in hunting and their own safety; The worship of stone (jade) materials originates from the deep affection of primitive people for stone tools. Those with slight luster and bright colors are regarded as gifts from a mysterious master in their hearts. They carefully collect and protect them, and in this process, gradually enrich the connotation of this natural worship object. The initial enlightenment thought of Chinese jade culture originated from this. In various cultures of the Stone Age in China, jade has always been regarded as a natural worship object with rich spirituality, widely used in witchcraft rituals. And it was carried by prehistoric people as a decoration to beautify themselves, as well as a mascot to ward off evil and disasters, and to turn misfortune into good fortune. In the ancient western civilization, colored gemstones have been familiar for a long time. They have also been endowed with some mysterious religious power in the process of being familiar and used. Ancient Babylon offered emerald to the goddess statue 6000 years ago to pray for some mysterious power. Hailan gem stone is regarded as the essence of sea water to pray for the safety of navigation or fishing.