Many of us wear jewelry every day without a second thought, but it’s an interesting question considering how this habit of jewelry wearing began. What was the meaning of jewelry to our earlier ancestors and how did the history of jewelry wearing begin.
It seems that the history of jewelry began around 75,000 years ago, which is the approximate date of the first known jewelry pieces that have been found. The earliest pieces of jewelry were animal hide, leather or reeds decorated with things like animal teeth, bones, feathers, shells, pebbles and berries. Amongst the prehistoric findings exist crude necklaces, bracelets and beads. What possessed our ancestors to make these objects?
Any answers can only be theories, but human nature today and our documented history may help to uncover the reason why the human race likes to adorn their bodies with jewelry.
Once “lower needs” like basic survival needs are satisfied, there are “higher needs” that begin to rear their heads
The famous Maslow pyramid of our Hierarchy of Needs shows that as humans, we have several layers of needs that have to be met in order for us to feel fulfilled with our lives. At the very basic level are our physiological needs, like hunger and thirst. Above this is our need to ensure our safety, which would have involved our ancestors building shelter and finding ways to stay safe from predators. Beyond these basic levels begin some of our higher needs, and precisely these may have contributed to the rise of jewelry wearing.
Wearing jewelry as a sign of social status
The higher human need for social and self-esteem fullfilment sometimes comes with a desire for positive social recognition and status.
In the early prehistoric times, jewelry might have been seen as a novel, creative innovation, marking the wearer as a type of pioneer. Perhaps someone who was clever enough to create jewelry with tools was also a dab hand at using tools for more practical things which would have raised their status in society.
As the history of jewelry progressed through time and more ornate materials began to be used, the significance of jewelry shifted from a display of “usefulness in society because of creative skills”, to become an expression of wealth and success, another quality that demonstrated social status. The richer the family, the more ornate the jewelry, with kings and emperors being the most opulently decorated.
Again, the need to exhibit wealth and social status can be linked to the more basic need of attracting a mate. Giving expensive gifts of jewelry was also associated with people of high status. Although it can purely be a symbol of your love for a person, it could also be a symbol of a provider’s capability to take care of their mate financially.
Social status is not only associated with wealth, success and skill, sometimes it’s also to do with “who you know”. Jewelry served its role here too as group members marked their affiliation with a certain group by wearing matching jewelry. Ancient groups and societies have done this in the past, and in modern times, groups like university fraternities may still wear jewelry for this purpose. The need to affiliate with a group in this way is partly for securing a certain social status and partly to secure our need to belong. Best friends or couples who each wear half of a heart on a pendant to demonstrate their relationship are demonstrating their joy at fulfilling their sense of belonging.
Wearing jewelry to satisfy the need of self-expression
As our ancestors became more self-aware and began thinking more about who they are and their identity as individuals, jewelry became a means of self-expression; a means of showing the world more about who they were.
Professor Zilhao, professor of paleolithic archaeology at the University of Bristol notes that since prehistoric times, age, sex, family, clan affiliation, status and more may have been communicated through jewelry.
Today jewelry is still used as a means of self-expression. The designs you choose can be delicate or bold, colorful or subdued, intricate and expensive or economical and simple. Symbols on pieces of jewelry each carry their own meaning too, projecting a message about you to the world, whether you send out this messages intentionally or not. In a way, jewelry can be seen as a small reflection of a person’s personality.
http://www.saywhydoi.com/the-history-of-jewelry-why-do-we-wear-jewelry/