Necklaces

The History of Necklaces

The history of necklaces goes back a long way. In 2004, archaeologists in Africa discovered pearls that were dated to be 75,000 years old. It is assumed that they formed a necklace at that time. Before that, only necklaces that were made around 30,000 years ago were known.
In the early days, necklaces were made exclusively from natural materials such as shells or animal bones. It was only when people began to work with metal by melting and casting that these original natural materials were replaced.
The oldest find of gold necklaces was made in Iraq in the royal tomb of Ur; it is estimated that this was made around 2,500 BC. Sumerian necklaces are known to date from 2,000 BC, for which a variety of patterns were already assembled from colored gemstones and the metals silver and copper.
In ancient Egypt, necklaces developed from rather simple to elaborately ornamented forms.

In ancient Greek culture in the 5th and 4th centuries BC, necklaces with artistically designed pendants were particularly popular.
Under Roman rule, cut gemstones were increasingly used to decorate necklaces. Along with the development of processes for the differentiated processing of gold, necklaces with colored gemstones were created that were connected by gold elements.
Necklaces became particularly popular in the late 14th century, when women's cleavage was increasingly shown and aesthetically emphasized. During this period, voluminous necklaces were used to emphasize female curves.
At the end of the 16th century, under Spanish influence, more restrained forms with more subtle applications using colored gemstones and pearls were once again able to prevail.