The use of jewelry dates back to the beginnings of humanity. Recent research indicates that people adorned themselves with shells as far back as 100,000 years ago. Stone Age people crafted their necklaces from shell and snail shells, animal teeth, fish vertebrae, and beads. Pendants were made from bones, stones, and even amber. With the discovery of processing techniques for copper and bronze, these materials were fashioned into spiral rolls, plates, metal beads, rings, and discs. The use of organic materials such as animal teeth and amber, on the other hand, declined. In pre-Christian times, jewelry was also used as grave goods alongside other items. The author Ernst Bassermann-Jordan describes in this volume from 1909 the purpose and types of jewelry from the Stone Age to the Classicism of the late 19th century.