History of gems
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The oldest known gemstone jewelry was not created by modern man – Homosapiens – but by our extinct relatives – the Neanderthals.
More specifically, in the Cueva de los Aviones cave, shells were found that had holes purposefully cut into them. Later it was found that these holes used to be filled with red gemstones called Hematite. Researchers estimate that these personal jewels date back to around 115,000 years ago.
Archaeologists assume, therefore, that precious gems were already mined in the Paleolithic Age, using simple stone tools, and further processed into jewelry.
The birth of gems
Of course, the period of origin of gemstones lies much further back. While researchers recently hypothesized that the oldest crystals were formed about 3.1 million years ago, recently diamonds have been found dating back 4.4 million years.
Precious stones in the Stone Age
According to recent research, the history of jewelry and gems goes back to the dawn of Humanity. The first pieces of jewelry known today were mostly simple but sometimes multi-unit chains. These consisted, for example, of snail shells or shell parts, fish whirls, animal teeth but also of Pearls or Amber.
Scientists hypothesize that the gems used were easy to find and work with. In addition to Amber, the ancient gems included Turquoise, Coral, Lapis Lazuli, and Malachite. These gemstones are soft enough to be processed with materials used at that time, such as stone tools or sand.
Amber is without question one of the oldest gemstones used for jewelry. The fossil resin could be shaped relatively easily. Among other things, the oldest examples of Amber jewelry have been found in the Orient, Morocco, Afghanistan, and the Baltic region.
Antiquity, Middle Ages and modern times
In antiquity, gemstone jewelry was in bloom. People began to combine the jewels with other precious materials such as gold and silver. Gemstones such as the Ruby, Sapphire and Emerald are mentioned as far back as in the Old Testament.
From antiquity to the Middle Ages, gemstones were generally cut round. The so-called faceted cut formed later on in the early modern period. Because Diamonds are so hard, they were only really used for jewelry during modern times.