I don’t think we appreciate, enough, the time and skill evident in the mundane items our primitive ancestors made- The treasured and necessary possessions of the times made with simple tools, bare hands and ingenuity. We look at the artifacts and say oh how folksy and naive the decoration is. Could we do as well today? No modern technology. No examples to emulate. A totally original creation. That’s hard to even conceive today where we are all influenced, intentionally or not, by what we see and learn. And then to use such precision and skill that their personal treasures would last forever- as they pretty much have.
What were those important items? Weapons certainly. But they were beautiful weapons. (Now there’s an oxymoron.) When you consider people got to own maybe 2 or 5 or 10 things. Each of those things was certainly very special. They were probably held and admired a lot. Treasured. Ornaments were apparently essential.
There was always lots of jewelry and personal adornments. Stylish to its own time and fashion sense, but still desirable and lovely to our modern eyes.
We still aspire to drape our bodies with the same sort of stuff, blinding sparkles and intricately shaped precious medals, dangling earrings for our pierced ears are as common now as back then. And solid gold is still coveted.
Oh sure, man has always loved extraneous ornament. Perhaps that is finally something that is inherent only to man. Natural embellishment seems to be enough to satisfy other life forms, but not man. We even project our love of decoration onto our animal friends. Do you think Poochie really likes wearing that little turtleneck sweater?
Bronze Age Horse ornaments found in Yorkshire England
People have always loved to fashion and craft purely decorative items. An artist embeds a little bit of his essence into a creation. And back when money meant nothing the artist’s labor must have been one of pure love… and then to have your finished work admired or even desired. Everyone just had to have one of Glug’s shell pendants! That’s where trade comes in. The artists probably traded with each other. You would have to get something pretty awesome for your handmade masterpiece. What was an opulent neck piece, or armband going for back then I wonder? Had to be pretty pricey.
You can bet no two guys ever showed up at a party wearing the same mass produced helmet. Who made this mirror and etched it all over with intricate swirling designs?
Who held it up and what face did they see? Who wore this amazing bronze-age ring? Was it just a bauble or a was there a symbolic meaning behind it? We give great significance to certain rings even today. Wedding rings speak volumes about the status of the wearer. Did the finger disappear over the ages with the ring still on it? Was it passed from generation to generation? Did the fashion change and the ring cast off for a newer style? Some real person wore this 5,000 years ago.
