The Origin and Development of Necklace
The origin of the necklace can trace back to prehistoric times, ethnologist believes that the behavior primitive people wearing necklace is not for beauty initially, but for needs of calculation and keeping record of something, for example, they use necklace to record the animal that they hunted in the companion which is the aim for utility. The necklace development from this purpose gradually to the aesthetic had through thousands of years. From the tombs, it is found that these string of beads have artificially traces both in materials and size in the Neolithic period. In the unearthed artifacts, archaeologist found that some of jade strings had been processed. Some scholars think that the human make ornaments is the earliest craft technology.
Africans wearing necklace has the meaning to protect their life. They believe that neck is the key of the life, because it connects head and body. They think they must ornament their necks with necklace and use this to protect them with supernatural magic. Back in prehistoric days, instead of beads, necklaces were often created with bones and shells. Primitive people took animal teeth, horns, shell, turtle shell and hanging them in the collar. Australian primitive people also wear kangaroo hair and teeth. In the distant palaeolithic age, caveman wear small stone, beast teeth, bones in their necks and a lot of people think that this is the predecessor of the necklace.
During the ancient Egyptian period, gold collars were worn by the wealthy. In Greece, during B.C. times, pendants and gold jewelry were worn. After the first century, Romans then began to wear with jewelry created with gemstones. Indians also created a lot of their own jewelry, which consisted of semi precious stones, silver beads and had a variety of beads that were styled from the different regions that they came from.
After enter into the class society, although the poor and the nobility all wear necklace, but there is a big difference in materials have very big difference. The noble decorate themselves with precious gem stone and jade, whole the ordinary people decorate with the screw and shells.
