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Jewelry has been around nearly as long as human beings. The ability to trace the history of jewelry is due primarily to the custom, beginning with the earliest peoples, of burying the dead with their most valuable possessions. As far back as the Old Stone Age, people made and wore jewelry. Using their primitive tools, they fashioned necklaces of bones, animal teeth, pebbles, feathers, shells and leather. Although some were probably worn as adornments, others may have been worn to ward off dangers, evil spirits or sickness. Jewelry made of gold and silver is believed to have made its first appearance with the ancient Egyptians. Gold was used because of its warm, glowing color and its ease to work, being relatively soft and pliable.