6 CHAPTER 2 THEORETICAL FOUNDATION 2.1 History of Jewelry the Word Jewelry Means Personal Ornaments That Are Worn As an Adornme

6 CHAPTER 2 THEORETICAL FOUNDATION 2.1 History of Jewelry The word jewelry means personal ornaments that are worn as an adornment that can enhance the beauty or the status of someone who wears it. The word jewelry itself was adopted from the Latin word jocale, which means "plaything," and the word jewel, during the 13th century was translated into English from the Old French word "jouel (dictionary.com, 2013). Jewelry can symbolize affection, wealth, loyalty, piety, grief, status, power, and it can even signify more complex emotion. Those functions has not change much since the discovery of jewelry; therefore this fact makes it possible for jewelry to be a timeless piece and a target for constant development and refinement (historofjewelry.net, 2013). The used of jewelry in its most basic form was known as early as the beginning of the mankind, along with knowledge of clothes and tools of the first mankind. It is believed that jewelry started out as a functional item used to fasten articles of clothing together, and was later adapted for use as an object for purely aesthetic decoration, spiritual and religious symbol, protection from the dangers of life or as a mark of status or rank (vam.ac.uk, 2013). During that time, jewels were produced from any kind of materials that were available, for example animal teeth, animal skins, feathers, bones, stones, plants, shells, wood, and semi precious natural made materials such as obsidian. In the late 1800s, British archaeologist Archibald Campbell Carlyle said of primitive man "the first spiritual want of a barbarous man is decoration"(F. Rogers, A. Beard, 1940). Therefore, mankind’s desire to admire the beauty in life is almost a constant reminder that differentiate us from the animal kingdom, just like a saying from Claudia Lady Bird Johnson “Art is the window to man’s soul. Without it, he would never been able to see beyond his immediate world; nor could the world see the man within.”(womenhistory.com, 2013) Moreover, the making of a more advance jewelry began with the ancestors of Homo Sapiens. Over 40,000 years ago as the early Homo Sapiens began to migrate from the cradle of civilization in central Africa to the Middle East, the Indus Valley, and to the continent of Europe. As these early humans traveled the land they collected objects of curiosity, turning them into jewelry, which would tell the story of their journey 7 (allaboutgemstones.com, 2013). By 8000 B.C., as the ancient world discovers how to work metals, this event played an important stage in the development of the art of jewelry, which enabled craftsmen and artisans to start taming metals and precious gems into works of art that influenced entire cultures and many modern jewelry styles (vam.ac.uk, 2013). To know more about the origin and the function of jewelry this is a brief history of jewelry and explanation of how it has evolved from the early years of mankind up until today : 1. The Ancient World Before early human were able to shape metal or carve stone they adorned their bodies using simple beads made from seeds, berries and shells. By 30.000 BC huntsmen in different regions of Europe were wearing pendants made form the bones and teeth of animal, possibly intended as a good luck charm for successful hunting as well as for decoration. The most common artifacts found as the evidence of the early settlements was beads. As technical abilities developed, jewelry variation increased. The next breakthrough in jewelry came when people learned to work with metals. Prized for its rarity, beauty, malleability, untarnishing gleam, and its ability to withstand fire, was the reasoning why gold was the principal metal used for jewelry in the ancient world. It was found in Egypt, Nubia, Arabia, and Anatolia, and further west in the Balkans, Spain and Ireland. Most early gold jewelry was made from thin sheets, hammered out between layers of leather or papyrus. The Sumerian civilization of the southern Mesopotamia has left some of the earliest examples of gold jewelry, from c. 2500 BC, buried in the royal tombs at Ur. The extravagant funerary customs of the court meant the entombment of servants, guards, and musicians along with the deceased, and large quantities of jewelry were uncovered. The most magnificent pieces were found in the tomb of Queen Pu-abi, who was dressed in a robe encrusted with beads and fastened at the shoulder with three gold pins. She wore necklaces, a belt and a garter all made of carved stone beads, large crescent-shaped earrings, and a ring on each finger. By her side was found a complex headdress made form strings of tubular beads, gold and lapis lazuri discs and garlands of gold leaves, with a lattice of gold ribbons surmounted by a tall crest of three stylized gold flowers. Amongst her sixty-three attendants the women wore headbands of gold leaves, earrings, chokers, necklaces, bracelets, and rings, while 8 the man wore earrings, necklaces, armlets, bracelets, and pectoral ornaments. Figure 2.1 Reconstructed Sumerian headgear necklaces found in the tomb of Puabi, displayed on the British Museum. Retrieved from http://jaspersgems.blogspot.com/2013/10/jewelry-through-ages-ancient-sumer.html The discovery of the tomb of the boy king Tutankhamun in the Valley of the Kings in Egypt reveals that at the time of his death around 1327 BC Egyptian jewelry was at its height. With its strong colors and highly developed symbolism it was the culmination of a tradition of jewelry making. Jewelry played a very important part at all levels of Egyptian life, adding color to the simple white linen costumes. It was also extremely important in rituals surrounding death, and this funerary aspect is the reason why so much has been preserved. Egypt and the land to its south were major sources of gold in the ancient world, so the royal mummies could be provided for magnificently. The dead were splendidly adorned, usually in pieces that they had worn while alive (although others of thinner gold were made specifically for funerary use), and their coffins were both covered and lined with gold. Even the poor were buried with simple necklaces. 9 Figure 2.2 One of twenty six pectoral ornaments or pendant found in the tomb of Tutankhamun. Retrieved from http://www.greenandbenz.com/1606/a-journey-into- jewellery/ The Romans were influenced and adopted the jewelry style of the Etruscans and Hellenistic Greece. The Etruscans had settled in northern Italy by the late 8th century BC and later defeated by the Romans in the 3rd century BC. They mastered the difficult technique of granulation, which they used to create textured surface patterning on their gold work. Hellenistic is the period of ancient Greek and Mediterranean history between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the emergence of the Roman Empires. One of the most distinctive features of Hellenistic jewelry is its polychromy, using specially cut panels of colored stones or glass and enamel. Garnets were frequently used, and even emeralds, amethysts and pearls towards the end of the period. Gem engraving reached increased levels of sophistication. During Bronze Age (1800 – 600 BC) new skills and styles of self-adornment arise as the goldsmith’s craft flourished. Although there were some distinct regional styles, basic forms common to widely different localities emerged during this period. In Ireland, two types of ornaments were made during the Early Bronze Age: large 10 discs decorated with a central cross, which were sewn onto garments, and crescent- shaped neck-rings or lunulae (literally little moons). In Central Europe a style of jewelry where both form and pattern were created from conjoined spirals of bronze or gold wire was established during the Middle Bronze Age: fine example have been discovered in Hungary and Germany. Bulky pieces like neck-rings and arm-rings were made in the same manner using thicker gauge metal. During the final centuries of the Bronze Age Ireland enjoyed a major cultural revival. In this later period, the typical pieces are dress fasteners with conical terminals: gorgets or ribbed crescent- shaped collars with circular bosses; and biconical ornaments of gold wire known as lock rings which it is thought were worn in the hair. During the Iron Age, Europe was dominated by the Celts. Two archaeological sites have given their names to the basic chronology and principal styles of decoration: Hallstatt in Upper Austria represents the simple configurations of triangles, arcs and dots of the 6th and 5th centuries BC; and La Tène on the shore of Lake Neuchâtel in Switzerland covers the mid 5th century BC until the Roman conquest. La Tène forms are more complex and, following Celtic activity in northern Italy, influenced by Greek Art. The most universal Celtic ornament was the brooch, which also served as a garment fastener. Typically these are ached or bow-shaped with a prominent spring across one end, and a foot and catch plate at the other, which curves, back towards the bow (Phillips, 1996, pp. 7-32). 2. Byzantium and Early Europe The Byzantine Empire had originated with the founding of Constantinople on the site of the Greek city of Byzantium in AD 330 as the capital of the Eastern half of the Roman Empire, but it survived after the crumbling of Roman power in the West, long right through the Middle Ages until 1453. The Byzantine world was hierarchical and strictly regulated, and as jewelry conveyed status, there were attempts to restrict its availability through sumptuary laws. Every man and woman had the right to wear a gold ring, but the wider use of gold and precious stones tended to be restricted to the court and the Church.

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