Do you like to wear jewelry ? If so, you are continuing a tradition that is at least 30,000 years old.

Jewelry has been worn since ancient time by all cultures. Michael Weinstein in The World of Jewel Stones (Sheridan House, 1958) says that "personal adornment was considered more important to primitive man than any kind of garment." He believes that jewelry was "worn long before clothes." Our ancestors made the first jewelry from natural materials, such as seeds, nuts, feathers, shells, and bones, that could be easily worked.

Archeologists think the oldest kind of jewelry is the pendant. Early Stone Age people strung materials like animal bones on plant fibers to make the first pendants. Near the end of the Stone Age, about 17,000 years ago, humans learned how to bore holes through stone. They also mastered the the technique of surface polishing. Although people carved bone and ivory long before then, the objects they fashioned were not worn.

Historians say drilling and polishing stones to make beads was the first major alteration of raw materials to make jewelry.

Necklaces, at first as pectorals that covered the whole chest, evolved from the prehistoric pendants.

According to popular mythology, the god Prometheus wore the first ring. Zeus had Prometheus chained to Mt. Caucasus as punishment for giving humans fire. When Prometheus was finally released, he made a ring from a link in the iron chain. Rings, especially signets, were very important to the early Romans. They also began the tradition of marriage rings.

Historians aren't sure of the origins of earrings. According to the available evidence, Asian men and women were the first to wear earrings, somewhere around 3000 B.C. The Egyptians didn't wear earrings until about 1500 B.C. Screw-backs and clip-ons weren't developed until the 20th century. Until then, everyone who wore earrings had pierced ears. Most of the other kinds of jewelry that we wear today, such as tiaras, hair ornaments, bracelets, anklets, and brooches have been worn since early times.

According to archeological evidence, prehistoric men and women both wore jewelry . Later, as civilizations changed, only people of noble birth wore jewelry. In some societies, only men decorated themselves with gems; in other societies or times, women bedecked themselves. Today of course, both sexes are free to decorate themselves with their choice of necklaces, earrings, rings, etc. Now, as in times past, no part of the body is exempt from adornment.

J. Anderson Black, in The History of Jewelry (William Morrow, 1974), writes, "Since the dawn of civilization, jewels have compensated for three of man's basic insecurities: vanity, superstition, and the desire for material wealth. These are facets of the human character that are as old as man himself."

Although some of the first jewelry may have been for adornment only, most of it was worn as talismans or amulets. The purpose was to protect the wearer from diseases or evil forces, or to impart strength or wisdom. Today's practice of wearing crystals to benefit from their powers is a modern manifestation of those ancient beliefs.

Coins were invented around 4000 years ago-until then, jewelry served as a form of money. The wealth of some nations is still found in their crown jewels. Jewelry later served as badges of office, military insignia, or to denote rank. These practices continue today.

Because of their beliefs in life after death, several early civilizations buried jewelry with their dead. Archeologists have recovered many beautiful pieces of ancient jewelry from tombs, particularly in Egypt. Funerary jewelry is sometimes the best example we have of what people wore. For other cultures, drawings, paintings, and sculptures provide the only knowledge of how ancient people decorated themselves.

Historian Vladislav Kuszel (A Book of Jewelry, Artia Prague, 1962) says, "The history of jewelry developed more or less along the same lines in all European peoples and in the other great civilizations of the world." The jewelry of each culture, however, reflected the materials that were easily available as well as the customs and religions of the people.

The Egyptians used color in their jewelry, first with gemstones and later with techniques like enameling. Greeks preferred gold and didn't use gemstones extensively until much later. Chinese craftsmen used more silver that gold, and valued jade more than other gemstones. Countries like India, Thailand, and Burma had rich gemstone deposits, but little gold. Their jewelry emphasized the use of colorful gems.

The first gemstones used were those found easily in each area and were usually the softer stones like lapis lazuli, turquoise, and agate. Those stones were simply drilled and strung. After they learned metalsmithing, lapidaries (stone cutters) began using gold and gemstones together. Metals were first used about 3000 B. C. in Sumer, an ancient civilization located in the region now known as Iraq Because Sumer didn't have deposits of gold or gemstones, the Sumerians traded extensively for their jewelry-making materials. Trading helped spread skills and techniques widely throughout Sumer, Greece, the Mediterranean countries, and as far away as China.

Working in metals allowed craftsmen to make designs in jewelry. Because most of the early jewelry was protective amulets, the first designs usually represented snakes, scarabs, falcons, or other magical symbols, while nature inspired the Greeks.

Geometric shapes, often believed to have magical powers, were also widely used. The Sumerians discovered the technique of cloisonné. The Egyptians, however, perfected the technique and made greater use of it than did the Sumerians. Cloisonné was made be fitting thin strips of gold to form a "cell" around small pieces of gemstones. The stones were then ground and polished until they fit securely in the cell. By 1500 B. C. the Egyptians had modified the technique by pouring molten glass into the gold cells, rather than fitting gemstones into them.

Jewelry making flourished throughout Europe by 1200 B. C. The Etruscans, in Italy, perfected the art of granulation, covering their creations with minuscule spheres of gold. Skilled Greeks were carving cameos by 400 B. C. The Romans borrowed heavily from the Greeks, then developed their own style. The Egyptians discovered emeralds, but the Romans were first to incorporate the harder stones, like emeralds, sapphires and rubies, as well as uncut diamonds, into their jewelry making.

By the sixth century A. D., the Roman Empire had yielded to the Byzantine Empire. The Byzantines moved their capital to Constantinople, now known as Istanbul.

Greece, Egypt, North Africa, the Near East, and Asia all influenced Byzantine jewelry, which used gold and gemstones lavishly. Designs were heavily influenced then by Christian symbols.

Six hundred years later, Europe entered the Medieval period. Clothing was very simple and the common man didn't make or wear much jewelry. The little jewelry worn was usually amulets shaped like animals.

The Renaissance began in the 15th century and jewelry design and manufacture developed rapidly. Opulent jewelry was an important part of fashion for both men and women. Natural and abstract designs replaced the earlier religious symbols and animals. Gemstones were very popular. The first pattern books appeared in the 16th century. Faceting became practical in the 17th century and diamonds became the favored gemstone, a position they still hold. Black says the 18th century was the first time " different jewelry was designed for use during the day and at night time. "

Plastic was invented in 1835. Bakelite was in use by the early 1900s, by which time the Industrial Revolution had made mass-produced jewelry possible.

Although the early plastics were sometimes unreliable (celluloid, the first plastic, was highly flammable), plastic manufacturers quickly refined their products.

Plastic today comes in every color, shape and texture. Its status comes both from its ability to imitate other materials and its own merits, such as being an inexpensive, easy-to-obtain, and versatile material with which to work.

Early in the 20th century, Tiffany introduced designer Rene' Lalique and the Art Nouveau movement to the United States. The design of the jewelry, rather than the materials from which it was made, became important. Organic materials, such as bone and horn, as well as imitation gems and other nonprecious materials, were extensively used. Known as costume jewelry, these designer pieces were wildly popular until the mid-1970s, when a resurgence in the popularity of gold overshadowed them.

Jewelry today is made from every imaginable material and in a huge variety of designs. Men and women adorn themselves whether their destination is a gala ball or the supermarket. From the first necklace of animal bone a plant fiber, to Prometheus' iron ring, to the opulent gold and diamonds of the Renaissance, to the ubiquitous plastic of today's fun jewelry, humans have found pleasure in decoration themselves. While the may be using entirely different materials 30,000 years from now, it's safe to predict they'll still love jewelry.