Wednesday 26 December 2012

Necklaces Through The Ages

A necklace is a piece of jewelry which is worn around the neck. Necklaces are frequently formed from metal or beads of any material. There are others too, that are woven or made from cloth and embellished with gemstones or pendants. The use of necklaces for ornamentation can be traced back through history. There are many pictorial representations that show that in the olden days, they were worn by both men and women.

The oldest known sample of necklaces is around 75,000 years old. It was found in a cave that archeologists found while excavating in South Africa. It contains the fossilized remains of over 40 mollusks, strung together. The experts believe that its use had to be as neck jewelry. Later samples, from around 2500 BC are made of metals like gold and copper. These chunky necklaces also used beads and colored stones quite like the chokers and necklaces of today.

Beaded Necklace
Similar studies in Egypt have shown that they were even more advanced when it came to neck adornments. They had necklaces ranging from single strings of beads to really complicated, intricate patterns. The wealthy or the royalty had even more elaborate neck pieces, from the broad collar kind of necklace to the choker necklaces of metal in various designs. These can be seen from the mummies that were buried in the famed pyramids. Jewelry for the neck was an important part of their attire, as can be seen from the sculptures and drawings too.

Historical evidence points at the Greeks having used gold in abundance in making necklaces and a host of other jewelry. The Romans on the other hand did not appreciate too much jewelry, though they seem to have been the first ones to use cut gemstones in their jewelry.

As time passed, necklaces as fashion accessories went through many ups and downs. There were times when the number of necklaces a woman wore would show her status in society. There were also times when no one used necklaces. Nowadays necklaces for women are a popular fashion accessory across ages, cultures, classes and races.

Necklaces have been around for too long to ever disappear completely. They will remain a type of jewelry that will be constantly resurrected in keeping with the times and materials in vogue. They have graduated from animal bones and teeth to rare and precious gemstones, from shells and macaroni to pearls and metals.
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